September Ruminations

Things I Learned in September: 

It is possible to have an outdoor wedding & reception even if it rains & rains while the guests are arriving and the venue lawn gets trampled into a muddy mess in some spots. Being dessert servers was fun anyway. Super happy for this couple that waited for the Lord's timing.  

That al fresco pallet dinners are fun to host but age is a definite factor to consider in sitting criss-cross-applesauce on cushions. Oops! 

The whole reason I go to the fair is for the FOOD! New reason- to take the grands on the rides. 

10 out of 10 recommend.

That the best part of camping with friends is learning new camping hacks and recipes. 

oh wait, it's the fellowship!

It's super fun to kayak 6 miles together.  Especially on a river with a current vs on a lake. 

Construction signs on the river. For real. Who knew?!

And I learned a tie dye technique called shibori at the campground. 👍

My grandma reached the ripe age of 99. I learned her genetics are strong enough to outlive the queen of England. 

I learned that an air fryer feature on a [new] stove/oven is totally worth it. Happy dance for my cholesterol numbers. 

I learned that a local pumpkin festival is worth checking out. And that I need more than 2 hours to experience it. Lived here 30 years and never once went. While folks from all over flock to it.  

I learned way more than I was interested in knowing about mouse bait when our cat got into some. Most of the information on mouse poison on Google sounds very dire. After much research, thankfully, the variety of pellets we put out to keep mice out of the camper this winter turned out to be low toxicity rodenticide which is not toxic to pets. The active ingredients are actually corn gluten meal and soybean oil, which are also in the cat food we've been feeding him all long. 🤷 I was curious how it kills mice if it's not harmful to cats. The short answer is dehydration. You're welcome.    

It's been "ages" since I was at a barn social, but I'm happy to discover it's just as amazing as it used to be. Hint: Meal tickets at our school benefit auction are the bomb! I recommend coming on Oct. 21 to score some this year.

I had "scads" of dahlias last year. This spring I planted them and approximately 90% of them rotted in the ground. A couple weeks ago I dug up the spindly little shoots that indicated a spark of life left in a couple tubers, transplanting them around the mailbox. In their new location, those brave little tubers took off like shots out of a cannon! Hooray, I got a few blooms this year after all. Hmm, there might be a life lesson in there somewhere... 

I had no idea which ones survived, so I'm thrilled to learn my October Sky dahlia is among them!  

I'm bummed about the varieties I lost but choosing to focus on the positive. 

(However, if anyone has surplus tubers, I'm in the market.)