Happy October. It’s still warm middle of day here but looks like that stops soon. I got my annual pumpkin. It’s actually a white ghost ornamental gourd so not edible. But, it’s lovely.
This was a hard week post-wise. I had something I was testing, but I simply couldn’t get a sane, solid post out of it. Then, I tried another topic. That fell flat.
So, we’re just looking at the time of year.
When my child was school age early September was the weird back to a new term anxiety and excitement. It was actually a slightly nauseous-making time. Plus, the weather here in September can never decide a direction. It’s not quite end of summer, it’s not quite proper autumn – maybe it will rain, maybe it will just be impossibly humid and heavy. Drying laundry gets to be a real challenge.
So far, autumn also seems to have ended up being task time this year. I think March asked in a post about cleaning: clothing clear-out, major cleaning if one is so disposed (someone I used to work with always steam-cleaned her kitchen in September); finding and arranging tradespeople to do stuff. This year has been/will be front of house painting, finding someone to do blinds for the big roof window in the kitchen (fulsomely recommended company coming to visit this week), looking for someone to instal a heat pump in place of my current gas central heating. First company comes tomorrow (Wednesday). I am profoundly aware of how much energy prices are rising. Once all this is sorted I will start to look for someone to sort the apex of my roof so that solar panels can be installed. But, that’s for next year. I have a load of company recs to wade through for that.
A task I bit the proverbial bullet on was finally getting my 11-year-old laptop to show its screen long enough to transfer files on to a thumb drive and allow me to wipe the system and do a reset – so the little machine went to the recycling centre’s electronics dump. I ended up taking off the back and removing the hard drive which now resides on a shelf and will be disposed of later.
A small bit of sadness as that was the machine that took me through freelancing for eight years. It visited NYC when we saw my father so I could still cover early AM stuff. It was the first time I actually dropped serious money on a computer (buying a MacBook Pro a few years later put that expenditure in the shade, but I have to say I lurve my Mac – and everything is synced with phone and iPad…).
A further task was the booking of annual (flu) and semi-annual (covid) jabs/shots. Flu jab was last Thursday, covid is later in the month.
I feel productive.
So, how’s your autumn unfolding? Projects in process or on the horizon? Pic is off the estuary in the next town over before the boats go into drydock for the winter.
Pics: mine, pexels
I miss my MaxBook but can’t justify the £££. I have a little laptop by Microsoft no longer support the system it runs on. Bah humbug!
We had a proper fog last night. Could only see gloaming lights in the valley & outside it was walking through cloud. Jarvis got drenched going for his last wee. He was not happy at being towelled & dried before bed.
Joe likes towelling but still dries his head on the nearest person.
Bar the failing keyboard (the new ones are supposed to be better) the Pro has performed beautifully. I will willingly drop the dosh for a newer Apple product.
we too have had mist the past couple of days. A bit colder too. I would like temps to rise a degree or two…
We haven’t gotten autumn yet. It was 104° F today.
I’m a Big Mac guy since an iBook SE (in key lime) that I had for 10 years. Then another iBook and now a PowerBook. I still have the second iBook for its iTunes.
Boy, that’s hot. I hope Mother Nature lets up a bit soon.
It took me a while to ‘get’ Apple products. I used a Blackberry for a long time for work. But once I had an iPhone there was no holding me back. I think getting a MacBook Pro was a bit much and next laptop will be an Air.
I am actually thinking that this might be the last laptop. I have two iPads and an iPhone and they integrate so seamlessly I don’t really use the laptop except the few times I need to use Excel.
I’m not sure what it is about fall that makes me want to clean, organize, redecorate, etc. but I do. We got a weekend’s worth of much needed rain, and now have the cool nights/ warm afternoons typical of a North Texas fall. It’s nice to be out of the blast furnace of summer – perhaps that’s the source of my ambition!
We had a very unusual summer with so much heat. It now feels like a long time ago.
Maybe the nights closing in etc send us to getting ready for hibernation. Does it get cold enough there to hibernate?
Reading this on my MacBook Air — they’re a victim of their own success in my case, they last FOREVER if you take care of them. I upgraded mine a couple of years ago because it would no longer play nicely with the Internet but it still worked, nothing broken. We’re all enjoying fall here post-deluge.
Yeah, my next laptop is going to be an Air. I think my Pro is 11 years old. The fan comes on more frequently now and I need an external keyboard as keys on the integral one keep giving up on me.
I’m doing much the same as you and your coworker (I definitely scrub my kitchen at the beginning of Autumn). We’re winding down here, weatherwise, much as you are. It’s not my favorite time of year but I’ve learned to accept it and see the beauty in it.
My former co-worker was a very strange bunny. Her cleaning stories were legend.
That exactly: not my fave time but it’s beautiful and I think people are relieved after the summer we had.
Dear Cinnamon,
Lovely post with beautiful photos. Sounds like your Autumn is going splendidly. I love October. Like you, our September weather is cuckoo. From October through mid-November are my favorite weeks weather-wise all year. I am busy sorting out my mother’s jewelry and scarves to send to my cousins and friends. Mom has moved into assisted living memory care five weeks ago, and she’s living a much more streamlined, decluttered life. So I’m doling out all these pretties to give away. Of course I kept some, but there’s wayyyy more than I want or need. Best of luck on your house projects. They sound super!
I hope your mother is settling ok and likes the new situation.
I did a lot of sorting of my mother’s stuff but that was after she had died. Bittersweet. I am very glad of the things I kept and hope that what ended up with the local charity went to good homes.
Heya Cinnamon,
You are a busy beaver. So much going on.
One of the things I love about apartment living, as opposed to houses, is that we don’t need to do almost anything.
Having said that, Jin did fix my toilet cistern today. It had started running a bit when it shouldn’t. He’s a gem.
That weird, hard to dry clothes season is super annoying.
Good luck.
Portia xx
I am busy in spurts. I think that’s part of the joy of retirement.
Jin can sort all kinds of things. It’s so impressive.