Treasuring October

October is a magical month here in North Florida. The temperatures are pleasant, the leaves and grass are still green, and the meadows, vacant lots, and roadsides are abloom with yellow and purple wildflowers. After the long, hot, hard summer, the world seems fresh and new, and every little thing you do is more fun because the days are so cool and sparkling. Here’s how I’ve been enjoying this awesome time of year:

I made this little felt bat, a Halloween ornament, on a special day off, a Friday. It was so much fun. I got up way before dawn and sat sewing by lamplight in the living room in my pajamas as I watched a dumb Christmas rom-com called Something from Tiffany’s. Meanwhile, Buntin, my devoted tortie, snoozed beside me in a shoebox full of embroidery thread. Of course, she was sleeping on all the colors I wanted to use, and when I tried to very gently fish them out from under her, she growled softly, with her eyes closed. She was so cozy and cute in her little shoebox bed. When I petted her, she nibbled my hand, which is her own way of petting.

I’ve been thrifting and antiquing on my lunch hour. During one of my recent expeditions, I bought this little antique travel desk at Rabbit Creek Market in Tallahassee. I’d had my eye on the desk for many months. When it’s closed, it looks like a plain wooden box, but when you unlock it, it unfolds into an elaborate laptop desk, complete with a leather writing surface and cubbyholes to hold your ink, paper, and other supplies.

Last week I solved a problem in the sunroom that’s been vexing me for years! I could never figure out what to put against the north wall. For a long time I had a little green-painted chair there, but the chair was low and the wall above it looked stark and empty. Well, last Thursday during my lunch hour, I found a neat pagoda-shaped knickknack shelf that I thought I could hang above the chair to fill in the empty space. I rushed home from work that night and hung the shelf, but there was still some awkward emptiness above the chair. Darn. It seemed like the new shelf was a bust. I stared at the wall for a long time, and finally I hit on a solution. I moved a plant stand (with a big fluffy fern on it) under the shelf, against the wall, then placed the low green chair beside it (to the south). The fern and the plant stand did a perfect job of filling in the empty space! I can’t tell you how proud I was of solving this “enormous” problem. I took pictures and bragged and boasted to Rob. Ha ha, I felt like I was on par with Einstein himself!

The high point of the month was the annual Farm Tour. Mom, Bunny (my sister), and I got to tour four local farms on a sunny Saturday. We picked armloads of zinnias at Orchard Pond Organics, and a big bucket of Fuyu persimmons at Perfect Persimmons. We also got to see—and pet and feed—some adorable animals. At Redemptive Love Farm, a rescue farm in Miccosukee, we played with a litter of baby pigs!

“Look at their tiny tails!” Bunny said, delighted.

“And look at their tiny hooves!” I said. “It’s like they’re wearing dainty high-heeled shoes.”

Bunny nodded. “Their spots are so cute.”

“And it’s cute how they like to hang around together,” I said. “See how they’re strolling about the pen with their little sides touching? That’s too cute.”

Bunny agreed.

We also got to spend time with some llama ladies at Redemptive Love. As we walked near the llama enclosure, a beautiful white llama approached us in the funniest fashion. She spied my bag of food with her lovely large black eyes, then ran—fast, gracefully, and noiselessly—toward me, gazing intently at me as she went.

“Strong eye contact,” Bunny chuckled.

The llama ran right up to Bunny and me. She stopped about two inches from our faces. She was taller than we were.

“She’s so pretty!” I exclaimed.

“And kind of intimidating,” Bunny chuckled again.

We ended up falling in love with the llamas. We fell in love with the whole farm.

“Well,” Bunny said, as we walked reluctantly back toward the car at the end of the tour, “I guess this was the best day ever!”