What have you been doing?

Well, nothing much. It has been a long summer and fall of moving and moving again. Painting and taking dogs for swims, but those cheery summer projects are long past now.

No, I didn't finish as much of the house painting as I hoped, but then again it was a lot of good work. I will spend the winter looking at a patchwork house, the gable ends still staring white in an otherwise muted color scheme. Very Vermont in its way.

The time for swimming is also past. That first day in August when the temperature dropped, however unnoticed by us humans, was the day that Miss Cassandra let me know that she had no further intention of getting wet. Not this year, no way.

Instead she romping with young Acer, the golden retriever mix who moved in next door. Acer is named for the genus of maple trees, beloved by his owners. She goes for play dates with Lola and Amiga and sometimes with Ellie. Some kind of relative (aunt, half sister, or second cousin--we are not really sure), Ellie and Cassie are well matched. Down to the pond and around, then back up to laugh at slow, stolid humans, they are twin furry streaks. They both love Toby, too, but at ten he takes the run a bit more deliberately.

Tonight we are expecting snow, so it will be time to hunker down, draw in as the days shorten. Feels just like November. The best thing about November is knowing that there is only one more month of days getting shorter, one more month until we can have a little more light to accompany snowshoeing ventures with the dogs.