Damsel took this photo earlier this month before we cleared out the Red Bird shrubs in the courtyard. A nice butterfly lit on one of the last flowers of the season to sip its nectar. The shrubs are now cut to the ground and will be dormant for the next several months. Photo courtesy of Damsel — Click on the image to enlarge.
We had some rain showers over the last week or so and today the temperatures are quite a bit cooler than when Damsel took the photo above. Then, the highs were in the mid-nineties and today the high was below eighty. Brrrr. It’s time to break out the longies and put the shorts away until spring.
We enjoyed the weekend despite the cooler weather. We had excellent food on the table both days: Cajun Gumbo on Saturday and Jägerschnitzel today. Click on the links for photos and details. Both meals were consistent with our low-carb, low-sodium diets (within reason, that is) and were excellent. Damsel did most of the work, but I collaborated by performing the sous chef tasks she required. What a good eating weekend — and there are leftovers for during the upcoming week.
We will be changing out of our summer garb in favor of the flannel and hoodies we wear during the cooler months. Of course, we are blessed that we live in a climate that isn’t as harsh as some places in the world. We will deal with our climes just fine as we have in the past years since we moved here.
In closing, just a quick note — we’re suffering as many in the nation who are on a fixed income with the increased cost of living due to Brandonomics™. We’re dealing with it, however, and hope that after the coming midterm elections that we can turn the corner back towards fiscal sanity, border security and (thanks to the SCOTUS) Second Amendment rights restoration. Just remember to get out and VOTE. Tell your friends, neighbors and family to do likewise
Temps have started going below 32F here, and the Freeze Warnings are out. Still no snow, but some snow showers are expected later this week. Grass is dormant, the trees are about bare, and soon as the wind dies down some, I’ll try my new blower/vacuum/mulcher on the leaves. Should cut the number of bags to be dragged to the dump to a more manageable level. Last year we had my truck and my son’s truck packed to the gills with bags of leaves!
I guess that I shouldn’t complain about the lows in the 40s. It just seems freezing when you’ve been used to 105 daytime highs and 80s at night.
Our Mesquite trees are deciduous and lose all their leaves in the winter, but they are tiny bipinnate leaves and the critters plus the wind take care of the cleanup.