Probably The One Thing I Hate Most Of All

...is having to wash the kitchen floor because "someone" stepped in mud while taking the recycling out to the can.

Washing the kitchen floor is a cathartic experience. No, really. Don't look at me like that. Even the girls like the clean of a freshly washed floor, after they realize it's no longer wet. I like to have the door open in the late spring, summer and fall to facilitate the drying. It just feels better, you know.

Then enter winter and early spring. The ground melts and freezes and melts again. That thin veneer of snow from a day ago hasn't melted in the shade of the recycling bin. Step up, open the can, dump the recyclables and come back into the house. It was both feet. Fortunately, I realized I was tracking up the floor before I wandered around the house.

It's way, way too cold to keep the door open once the washing is done. I just sighed and gave some thought to a spray bottle of cleaner and paper towels, but given how I tromped all over the floor, I might as well wash it. Step 1: move everything that's on the kitchen floor to the living room. Step 2:  See if the bucket is still okay. Part of the lip broke this summer. Well, I've only had the bucket for 10 years. It's bound to fall apart at some point. Step 3:  Sweep the floor and Step 4: scrub it. The girls and I will be happy once it's done, it's just getting to that part.

Maybe I could take the broom and just sweep the mud off...

Beverage:  Dr Pepper

Deb

So You Don't Have To

One of my Facebook friends alerted me to a new seasonal M&M's flavor.

Now, I love pumpkin. It, along with apple cider, define fall. I love pumpkin bread, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin waffles. The pumpkin donuts from Dunkin' Donuts are kind of meh to me, as are the apple cider donuts that people rave about. Give me warm pumpkin pie with a sidecar of cinnamon ice cream. Oh my. That's pretty close to heaven there.

But Pumpkin Spice M&M's? Well, they were on sale at Target so I decided to give them a try.

Black, orange and forest green. I suppose in a candy dish this might be an appealing color combination. Coming out of the bag, not so much.

And the taste? I'm not sure whose idea it was to create this but they should never be allowed to suggest flavors again. Initially, there was a flavor of pumpkin. Now, after having about half the bag over a week's time, I'm not finding them appealing at all. I would like to have weighed in on this attempt before they decided this was a good idea.

Dear M&M/Mars,

Not every season or holiday needs a special flavor. Stick to what you do best, chocolate.

Sincerely,

Deb

In other words, I can't recommend these at all and I dumped the last quarter of the bag on the deck table because I couldn't stomach them anymore. The raccoons liked them.

Beverage:  Seltzer

Deb

I Am Not Prepared

Seen at the grocery on Saturday.

While fall is my absolute favorite season, I am not prepared this year. I am not ready to let go of summer. We have had an unusually cool summer. I believe my air conditioning ran all of 10 days sprinkled throughout the season. I turned the heat on one night just to take the chill out of the air.

Football is on the horizon. Soon, there will be pumpkins and Christmas decorations. In some places of the country, school has been in session for a week. I'm not ready.

Are you?

Beverage:  water

Deb

Fly Away!

I saw this guy in the driveway this morning as I headed to work.

Doesn't look like much but that's a robin, a quite fat robin, at that.

It's the middle of November. I don't remember robins hanging around that long, although I'm sure it's just because I don't remember. He was attempting to drink out of an ice-covered puddle in the drive. The bird bath had a sheen of ice on it. The flowers I left out have been frost killed. I need to put the last deck chair away. And there is a robin still flitting about my yard.

The cardinals have become more active lately. There are two pair that call my yard home. With the change of seasons and the change of birds in the yard, they have become the noisy ones. I anticipate hearing the chickadees soon, too. And then I think, I really need to get a bird feeder up, when I know the seasons by the bird songs in the backyard.

Beverage:  Rooibos tea

Deb

Heralds of Fall

I always know fall is just around the corner when the quarter-sized spiders start spinning webs next to the house.

There are three separate webs here; one at the upper right, one at the lower right and one at the left middle. I saw the occupant of the lower right for awhile over the last two weeks but he/she has been absent since Thursday. I won't touch these until all the leaves have fallen off the tree at the NW corner of the house. The leaves on the bottom tiers are dropping but it's still green along the canopy top. I guess I can anticipate the spiders moving inside now too. Usually when they make webs next to the house they are preparing for coming inside.

The leaves float or are driven, depending upon the wind, onto the deck and some wind up in the birdbath.

I rather liked the image of the leaves in the water. I changed it however and put fresh water in because the bath gets slimy if leaves are left in it. There are a pair of cardinals using the bath exclusively now. I haven't seen any robins in it but the robins haven't left for the year. There were two in the trees singing yesterday.

Fall is just around the corner. It's been quite the summer.

Beverage:  Water

Deb

It is officially Halloween season.

Yes, I got a package of Halloween Oreos. No, they are not all gone. I can't eat a whole package over 2 days anymore. Below is the box I got at Hallmark for the candy to be distributed on Halloween. It's kitschy to be sure, but it's wood-ish so if I drop it, it might break but it won't be a mess to clean up. Plus, when you open the top, it says some ridiculous Halloween-ish messages.