Slight Detour: The Lists of Fall

Most of today's photos were taken from the back of my lawnmower.

That means life is getting back to normal, and there's a certain sense of urgency to go along with it.

Not urgent enough, however, to hinder the total enjoyment of being home in the midst of the fall color show.

Yesterday was spent marking "to do's" off the list.

Fill the bird feeders.

Pick apples.

Organize the potato harvest.

Fix the electric fence around the barnyard---for the second time in two days.

Silly me.

The first time I repaired the wire fencing, I did not take time to walk the fence line where other wire and insulators had been pulled away from the boards by bored horses during my absence.

As mentioned before, nothing keeps horses more honest than a little jolt from the electric fence when they start gnawing away at the board behind it.

My electric fence does not work 365 days a year; instead, I plug it in maybe once a month or whenever I see that some teeth have chewed away a new section of board.

One jolt and the whole crowd knows to stay away from the fence, but they're not dumb. They test the wire every so often, and if it doesn't bite back, they take the license to bite at the wire or the boards.

Nothing more fun than latching on to a piece of electric wire, pulling it away from the fence and then watching it snap back.

Great horse game, to say the least.

Well, eventually, that wire gets so stretched that it comes loose, as do some the insulators to which it's attached.

AND, most importantly, if the wire is not connected clear around the barnyard, the fence charger doesn't work.

So, my horses enjoyed a double bonus when they pulled two sections of electric wire away from the boards.

And, I should have walked the fenceline to see that everything was in place.

I won't forget to do that again AND I'll report that this morning, even in the darkness, after fixing the whole fenceline and plugging in the fence charger, I could see a new wave of respect among Lily, Lefty and CB.

This respect will last a while, especially if I plug in for the next few nights.

Back to the list:

Vacuum the house and all the leaves that have been tracked in on the bottom of shoes.

Mow lawn.

I've been working on that project for two days now because I did not ask Elisabeth to mow while we were gone.

The grass had grown a bit, thanks to rain, but mowing has been relatively easy, 'cept for the layers of leaves that have fallen.

My mower will be very busy for the next month, especially after I put the bags on behind. Falling leaves usually number in the gazillions, so I just keep at it in hopes that the lawn will be clean for spring.

I must say that mowing the lawn for the past two days has been delightful. The mower offers the best place to be sitting and moving on these gorgeous fall days.

It's downright exhilarating, and the views aren't bad either.

I'll also be doing the same soon with the fields, only sitting on the tractor with the brush hog grooming the fields.

The lists of fall work are plentiful but very satisfying as flower beds, boxes and planting pots are cleaned, new dirt is dumped on the garden and implements are put away and secured for the many months of winter.

My time for completing these projects is cut short because of our trip, so I'll move a little faster but still enjoy every minute of this seasonal work, knowing that the more difficult tasks are coming with the snow.

Happy Monday.