Have you noticed a brighter look to the skyline west of the town area? Our neighbors Tony and Rose came over to help us put together the Swedish loom that Husband Larry’s great grandmother brought over from Sweden in 1880. Larry directed from his chair seat and Tony, Rose and I were the worker bees doing the work. Larry remembers the loom from his childhood.

Back to the original skyline story. As long as Tony and Rose were here we asked them if they could help change the light bulbs in the house. We kept having things burn out here and there over a period of time and it began to look like we were living in a cave. Most of the lights than needed changing were located in places that a ladder and long arms would be necessary for bulb replacement. Husband Larry had made a hardware store trip and purchased a whole large bag of bulbs of assorted sizes and kinds for the replacement program.

Tony and the ladder began the bulb switching with Rose handing him the supplies. The bulbs in one of the track lighting systems just did not want to fit and then Rose found that they had an almost invisible plastic cap on the end. Removal was the answer to that problem. Double wow, we started to have LIGHT! It was almost like switching on flood lights in a black room. Oh my, the dust bunnies started waving and buttons and pins were glowing in the carpet. Tony said that he would have to let us know when he went to the back of our property to bow hunt as all that light might keep the deer away. We also said that he should call us if the lights were keeping him awake at night if we stayed up later than he did. We are getting used to the new look but we have a few pairs of sunglasses close by if things get too bright.

It was a good thing that Husband Larry won the “debate” on getting the heating system ready to heat as we really did need and use it. I almost cried when I dug out my winter coat to put on one evening when we went out to eat. I was worried that I would forget that I had a coat along and leave it at the restaurant but I did remember it. At least this time!

Sitka Thor Bear in the Mist, the husky, is doing a good job of getting his fur in shape for winter. As you may recall, we had to have him shaved because his thick woolly fur got all matted together. It took us awhile to decide to take this step as the outcome was not promising. At first we called him Lion King because he only had fur forward of his ears and the rest was right down to the skin. He went through a period of withdrawal and complete personality change for a number of weeks. The fur started to come in a bit here and there and after awhile he began to lose his Lion King look. The cooling weather really helped kick in the fur production and now his fur is about 3 inches or so in most places. The black guard hairs are also starting to show up. The groomers at Rio Gran said he should be ready for the winter season when it comes in full force.

Gardening people, you need to get your “fur” ready for the winter also. Be sure to pick up and store tools, pots, and other items that were used for garden work. The snow and frozen ground will be with us soon. Mother Nature seems to be taking care of mulching in a good way this year with all the leaves being moved around and packing into areas. The one thing that should be taken care of in your veggie garden is tomato stems. Don’t let them stay around until spring cleanup. Do not compost them but make sure they go away by burning or trash hauling.

I do not cut down my flower beds, etc. as I like to see the stems showing through the snow. That works if we do not get a ton of snow! Please give your plastic flowers a winters rest and bring them in from the winter weather. That would make me happy.