September flew by for us. Writing, running, walking, planning, rain, more rain, visits with family. One Saturday “we” rebuilt the woodstove chimney at our family homestead on the western edge of Quabbin Reservoir (setting for my Swift River Valley books). I provided an apple pie. Joe could have passed for a chimney sweep. It was a great day with most of my siblings.

My granddaughter celebrated her birthday with a cake that involved a lot of sprinkles. Or you call them jimmies? It was fun and delicious. She’s gluten-free and we all love the King Arthur Baking GF mixes. SO good.

My youngest sister (I have three sisters) visited this past week. We had gorgeous weather and hiked up to the Pogue, a 14-acre manmade pond on top of a hill in the Marsh-Billing-Rockefeller National Historic Park in Woodstock, a few miles from us. Then we did the stunning canopy walk at the Vermont Institute of Natural Science.

We love the VINS raptor center, too. These are birds–owls, hawks, eagles, vultures–that can’t live in the wild. We’ve “adopted” various raptors over the years. When our grandson was small, he thought it meant he’d get to keep one in his room. 🙂

October means a lot of “leaf-peepers” are here in Vermont, enjoying the scenery. With the late freeze this spring, the July floods and the continuous (it seems!) rain, I don’t know what the leaves will be like as we reach “peak” foliage, but, regardless, I hope everyone has a good time.

Happy October! Happy autumn!