Fall, glorious Fall

I am a real homebody, not to the point of phobia, but there's not a lot that can draw me out of the house once I'm properly warm and caffeinated. Food shopping is a necessary evil, but at least the lovely husband (L.H.) and I take turns going to the store.

But today the sweet voice of my darling daughter (D.D.) asking if I would accompany her and L.H. to the playground had the power to dislodge me from my warm cocoon of domesticity. So leaving the laundry to run by itself, we headed out into a lovely fall afternoon.

And immediately had to dash back inside for jackets. It's nippy!

As I sit on the swing watching, L.H. and D.D. are making a wolf-catching pit in the sandbox. I wasn't aware that there are many wolves left in central Germany, but I guess it pays to be prepared. (I worry about the two of them sometimes.)

Anyhow, the "pit" is dug, there's a lattice of twigs laid across the top, and they are busily denuding the nearby bushes so they can layer leaves over the sticks. I hope the SPCA doesn't get wind of this project.

Classes resume at the university in a week, so I'm rushing around the house doing all the little things I intended to do during the summer break. I am really ashamed to admit that I have been on summer break since the end of July. Here's but a portion of my check-list (I love lists):

* Sort through the paperwork beginning to compost in the study and file it.—check

* Look up all the German words I've been jotting in my Palm since the spring.—check

* Finish applique-ing the border of a quilt for my sister—well... that quilt's been more than 8 years in the making. You can't expect results overnight in a situation like that. But I *am* about 2/3 done with the last side, so then I just have to sew the last 2 borders on and quilt the damn thing. Check back in another 8 years to see if I'm almost done. The other sister will just have to be happy with a gift certificate or a fruit basket or something, because we'll probably all be dead or senile by the time I could get another quilt finished.

I have been trying very hard not to speak any German over the break, but my L.H., damn him, is insisting that I be the one to go to STA Travel to get the ball rolling on plane tickets to Texas for xmas. Can't we just buy our tickets from the anonymous, English-speaking safety of the Internet? [insert whiny voice here] I suppose that comparison shopping is all well and good....

Weather-bitching level: 0.5
It was only partially cloudy today, and the sun managed to shine around the clouds for a large part of the day. I didn't spot a drop of precipitation (although I heard it raining during the night), so that always cheers me up. My D.D. said the cutest thing walking into the playground: "The falling leaves look like confetti!" We had to agree.