Story of a morning

I've been painting on our front porch, making one last stab at headway out there before the snow flies. We had such high hopes when we started tearing off the siding, back in April for goodness sakes, but summer life and its incredible full schedule intervened. Thanks to my father-in-law, however, I now have a mechanized awesome paint stripper dealie AND a legit man-lift (like the kind they use on telephone poles) on loan, so, in spring, I imagine, we can get back to it.

Aack, this post wasn't supposed to be about projects!

Ok, so, the point is, I was painting on the porch. I heard caterwauling from the neighbors' yard, went to discipline Pete (the culprit), and was walking over to get back to work when I came around the corner of the house, saw the above, and immediately went to grab my camera. Those property-line maples are stunners this time of year-- soon they'll be completely scarlet, a color only a tree could pull off without being tacky.

Then I saw our hydrangeas out front, and took this picture, because they have a pretty autumn coat, too.

So there I was, painting away on the window trim, and the chickens decided to visit. Boom.

I was out there painting yesterday, too, and they came to visit me. Twice. I have no idea why. They're really getting big-- not laying yet, but loving the free-ranging. I almost can't wait for frost, so I can let them into the garden and let them eat up all the bad grubs/rotten tomatoes in there.

 Patsy, the barred rock, is especially gorgeous. Our neighbors got chicks the same time we did, and one of theirs' has grown up into a rooster, which is interesting. Both of us have really small coops that won't be able to handle more than five or six birds, but both of us are at the same time a little intrigued at the prospect of hatching chicks.

When I finished painting, I headed off towards the garage, turning back first to see this: Olive, patiently watching the chickens through the window I'd propped against the doorway.

Then I remembered you haven't seen our new chairs yet, and though the front room is most definitely disheveled, I decided to go snap a picture of that. AND you can see our new front door-- not actually new, but wearing a shiny new coat of paint! It was burgundy before, same as the rest of the house "accent" colors-- and I absolutely loathe burgundy.

Anyway, the chairs are good, and growing on us. The pets love them; they're really comfy, and worlds better than the stiff little wicker ones we had before. Which we still have, and are planning to put someplace we don't sit as often as we sit in our front room. 

So anyway, those are my updates for the week. Painting progress outside (and in, which I'll show you next week!), porch chickens, and new chairs. That's a wrap. 

I am off to Ithaca for the weekend, and despite the cold gray weather outlook for both days, I am thrilled. Fancy cocktails and Vietnamese food tonight, apples and cider and bratwurst tomorrow, and who knows what sort of other social delights will fill in the gaps! Happy weekend, friends.

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