Nesting

This weekend was the kind of weekend that makes us all happy!

It was cool and sunny... and even more important ... bug-less!!

The horses were happy after all these months to finally go without their fly masks.

The donkeys were thrilled...
and to think we just got Chloe to wear one about two weeks ago.

Nighttime temps dipped down into the 30's this weekend

and we awoke to frost on Sunday morning.

The heat lamp was turned on in the pig house so the girls could snuggle warmly into their

bed of hay for the night.

Cooler weather gives me the urge to nest and to cook.

I picked the last of the apples in the orchard and made apple dumplings.

Yummy!

I also used some of the apples to make individual servings 

of apple/walnut/cinnamon baked oatmeal... made in a muffin pan.

Feeling like autumn had finally arrived,

I got out the autumn decor.

Here is how the dining room table is supposed to look...

Here is how it actually looks...

If you have a cat, then you know that whatever it is you are doing...

they need to be helping.

"So you folds the tablecloff like zis?  I is a big help!!"
Yes, Ivy... you are most certainly a help!

Last week I showed you the skunk trap that Hubbs had ordered.

We woke up Saturday morning to a putrid smell outside and found the door to the trap closed.

Could it be?

Had we caught the skunk that quickly?

Luckily we had a game camera pointed in the direction of the trap, so we could see what animal

we had caught...

The cat at the end of the photos is a feral cat that we sometimes see around our house.

Sunday morning we awoke to a closed trap again.

This time the possum was inside the trap.

Needless to say, he had a long truck ride and was re-located a few miles away.

Now... to get back to luring a particular skunk.

I got a final harvest of tomatoes from the compost pile...

and roasted them in the oven.

I will freeze these for use this winter.

The pile of basil will go into a batch of pesto...

probably the last of the season thanks to the frost!