Frolicking in Fall

Hey everyone—Happy Fall!  It’s not my favorite season, but the weather has been glorious. However, even glorious fall weather gets cold and we’ve had our first hard freeze.  I could have gotten out the blankets and plastic and sheets to try and keep the tomatoes going, but they were pretty much done.  The night of the last presidential debate—no, you’re not gonna hear about that from me—I was out in the cold and dark, picking everything that was worth picking.

My time was well spent.  Four more quarts of delicious, spicy tomato sauce were canned the next night and a few big juicy golden brandywines were saved for the last sandwiches of the season.

Goodbye, summer!

Goodbye, summer!

The animals get all the scraps from canning the tomatoes.

Three's a crowd.

Three’s a crowd.

Usually Brandy gets pushed away by Jester, so I'm glad she got her fair share this time.

Usually Brandy gets pushed away by Jester, so I’m glad she got her fair share this time.

Doink is a long-time member of the clean plate club.

Doink is a long-time member of the clean plate club.

Fall IS the favored season of the animals, and if you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you’ve seen a sneak peek of the joy from the first load of leaves dropped in the barnyard.

The first deep breath of leaves is the best...

The first deep breath of leaves is the best…

Heaven!

Heaven!

There’s lots of apples in the leaves, and while Doink is the best apple retriever, Junie B and Tia really got into the spirit of day.

Mmmmm.

Mmmmm…I know they’re in here somewhere!

All that apple-finding must be exhausting work because at some point they just laid down but kept on eating.

Nose in...

Now she’s on the same level as Doink!  Who will find an apple first?

Nose out!

Coming up for air.

Junie B. and Tia started rolling in the leaves.  I don’t know why, maybe to let Doink know he needed to share?  Whatever the reason, they ended up wearing almost more than they were eating.

All the leaves make for some crazy hair accessories.

Wait!  What’s on my head?

Winner, winner!

Winner, winner!

I'm ready for my closeup now.

I’m not quite ready for my closeup.  Let me finish this bite, please.