This photo is from the 20th of October, a view from our guest room out over the vineyards to our west. Most of these leaves are gone now. Temperatures are still mild, but a couple of windy days was enough for the leaves to drop.

Ken's choucroute was delicious yesterday. So much so that we're going to eat the leftovers today. But that won't be the end of it because we froze several kilos of the stuff to eat all through fall and into winter. It's nothing like what comes in a can or a bottle. As you probably know from his blog, he buys raw 'kraut, rinces and blanches it, then, either cooks it or freezes it for cooking later on. Yum!  

Under the maple trees

Here's another view of one of the two maple trees that grow over the driveway.

Pretty, but messy. This is part of the same view as yesterday, only zoomed in a bit.

This will be a short post 'cause I'm heading out to get some Alsacien wine for Ken's choucroute (sauerkraut). It'll go into the chou as it cooks this morning and then into us as we enjoy the meal later.

Make like a tree

And leaf! I think I learned that one in grade school. I did get a lot of the leaves, maybe half, blown to where I want them. The rest will have to wait because the rain is back.

The driveway before. I don't have an after pic. One of our cars is under the carport (out of the frame on the left), the other is in the garage (out of the frame on the right). 

Ken and I had a hard time getting the leaf blower going yesterday. There was a lot of swearing. @#!%#%!! The thing is brand new! (although we've had it for a year already) After a while it started working. Seems there's a bad connection in one of the electrical cords and you have to hold your mouth right to get it to work. We'll do some further investigations when the weather gets better.

Another red sky at morning

If you're a sailor, take warning. We're having a couple of nice days. I think I'll try the leaf blower this afternoon. I have a few errands to run this morning, so we'll see.

Another breathtaking sunrise over our hamlet from last week.

Tuesday's election results across the USA seem to portend a healthy rebuke of You-Know-Who and a reset for the more liberally inclined moving toward the mid-term elections next year. I think that's a good thing.

Stuck on you

Leaves stuck to a damp deck on a foggy morning are common in the fall. It could be worse; wind often blows the bigger maple leaves up onto the deck, but there weren't many, if any, on this morning. The driveway just below is another story.

I need a few dry days to dry the umbrella. Then I can put it away for winter.

It's a chilly 7ºC (about 45ºF) out there this morning. That's why it's called Novembrrr. It's time to start thinking about bringing plants in for the winter.

Branching out

This branch on one of our maple trees lost its leaves before all the others. It's covered in lichens, but so is the rest of the tree. Mystery? Or just one of nature's little quirks?

The aqua-blue color on the branches is lichens. I've read that they're essentially harmless.

I've reached the point in my life where I'm tired of cleaning up fallen leaves. The lawnmower mulches them, but I've finished with mowing for the season. The last few years, I've been leaving the leaves on the ground over winter. They mostly mulch themselves and what's left get pulverized when I start mowing again in the spring. I've learned the hard way not to leave the leaves (haha) in the driveway over winter. They're a mess to pick up after they've semi-mulched themselves into our gravel driveway. I'll pick some dry weather days to blow them onto the north forty. We got a leaf blower last year thanks to a nice store credit that came with a sale when we bought our riding mower. 

Not quite right

This photo didn't turn out as I expected. It was before sunrise and there wasn't much light. But I only took two of this view. Here's the better one.

Trees grow where ravines drain the vineyards down to the river.

We had wind and rain a good part of the day on Saturday. A lot of leaves blew off the trees and now cover the ground. There are still a lot of leaves on the trees, but I can now see more and more bare branches out there. Ah, autumn.