Oh, yes...winter

 Tuesday was the first snowfall here. I did not take any pictures...grumble, grump, fuss. It's cold, heavy and sticking around. The solar panels are still 95% covered. 

My friend is complaining that we've skipped the autumn season and gone from 80s to 30s. She's not wrong. I find myself already slipping into firewood habits that work best for me and today had to empty the ash bucket for the first time. What a relief that my foot is so much better! Hauling in wood would be a trial otherwise.

Last night I put flannel sheets on the bed. Ahhh, very cozy. Although I'm still using the summer comforter; it will need to drop another 20 degrees before that gets switched. 

Curl up with a warm cat and a good book. Winter has arrived.

Not understanding

 I'm writing this out as a way to try to understand what is happening. I live in South Dakota; infamous for not mandating masks nor shutting businesses.

Besides the early blip from the meat-packing plant, there really hasn't been much happening until September. My first thought was the return to school and universities, but the local college is only reporting two active cases and the talk is there isn't much happening in the younger classes either.

Hospitalizations and deaths are way up also, which doesn't mesh with either young, healthy people catching it or increased testing being to blame. 

Would love to hear your thoughts on why it's developing this way now.

Winter?

 Well, maybe or more likely a hint of what is to come. The weatherman has started to use the 'snow' word but I haven't seen any yet.

Guess who is still here? My turkey visitor! Before she was roosting in my tree and spending the days in the empty pasture beyond the fence and now she has been staying in the chicken pen all day. As you can see she tolerates me enough to pose for a photo. Today was opening day for the pheasant season and the guns began popping before 7 a.m. Perhaps she realized it's safer surrounded by pesky chickens. 

Speaking of which: the babies are getting so big!

And the young adults have such pretty feathers:

On a more personal note; my foot is much better although not 100%. What has been more troublesome is the hip and back pain, which I suspect might be blamed on the odd walking gait from the boot. Anyway, I'm going to try with normal shoes and see if that improves. I finally applied for my driver's license renewal online. I was really looking forward to updating the picture, but not worth the risk.

I've been spending my evenings watching Poirot. Fine acting and excellent characters.

Talking turkey

 Sorry about the poor picture, it was the best I could do.

Yesterday I found this turkey trying to get into the chicken pen. I finally let her in so she would be safe from dogs and get some food and water. She spent the night in a tree and flew out again this morning. I wish her safe journeys.

Sadly, that's the most exciting thing to happen lately. I had completely recovered from the stress fracture in my foot from early summer, but didn't know the other foot was jealous of the attention. I've been hobbling around for a couple weeks; back in the boot. :(

Other than that I am slowly bringing in the apples and firewood. Stay home. Stay safe.