BIG NUMBERS

     So the big number here is about age. I mentioned my brother's age and it's very senior although he might disagree with me.

    Coming to this age, there should be some very important decisions made. I can't make those decisions. 

    We've looked at five senior residences. There's a wide variety of accommodations and prices. We know the one we would chose and have given them our name. These are two bedroom with small living room and a few kitchen facilities but not enough to live there and do your own cooking. You eat at the facility. So for around $4000.00 a month you have your accommodation and food. There also could be some care.

     So what's my problem. I like my house and yard! I get pleasure out of growing a garden and watching other plants develop.

     Well, I have a second problem which is bigger than the first. We have a lot of "stuff". Some one is finding it very hard to part with the stuff. Over the years we've got rid of big stuff and lots of little stuff too but there's still an amazing amount here. So the longer we wait, the more likely the decision will be forced upon us. 

    So I'm not looking for advice. I know what to do but I have put some roadblocks in the way. 

    Meanwhile, life is good. 

IRISH TWINS

       Many times at this time of year I have commented that I'm an Irish twin. That means that my mother had 2 children within one year. So my brother was born 11 months and 2 weeks after I was born. Also my sister was born a year and three months after my brother. So my mom had three children and the oldest was two years and three months old. 

      So today is my brother' 84th birthday and I am still 84 but turning 85 in a couple of weeks. 

     It's my opinion, that Irish twins are more active and twin like than actual twins. We were very active and full of mischief. Since there were three of us , I think my brother and I had to learn to take care of ourselves and each other when we were very young. 

                                          I'm looking after Merce

First day of school for gr one and two.

                                   The three of two years and 3 months apart. 

     When my brother was young he was commonly called Merce. There are still a couple of people today who call him Merce . Where did that name come from? His brother (me) couldn't say Myrven. The closest I got was Merce and Merce stuck. 

     Our house was very small. The bedroom we had wasn't much bigger than the bed. We didn't have separate beds until we were 13 or 14. 

     Anyway this is a way to say happy brother to my Irish twin.

MORE GOLDEN FALL

      I looked out this morning and there were some bright fall colors. We've had high winds but the leaves didn't let go. 

OCTOBER SONGS

      Well it's beautiful day and it's the first of October. I read Denise's blog An English Girl Rambles from 2016.... and she had poems and photos about how great fall is. She also had a good poem or two about October.

      So she got me thinking. Are there any songs about October. I thought very hard but I could not come up  with and October song. 

     So what to do? Well google. To my surprise there are many, many songs about October. 

     I found  site with songs  about October. Most of them were modern tunes performed by some well known modern singers. 

    1. October song - Amy Winehouse

    2. October U-2

    3 October - Alessia Cara

    4 We fell in love in October Girlin Rea

    5 October Sun - Matt Berry

     So there , I didn't know much but I know a few things now. 

    Now there are also some important people with October birthdays but that will have to come later. 

 

FALL COLORS

       There have been a number of excellent photos on leaves recently. It's very appropriate because of the fall season.

        These photos reminded me of some school activities about 75 years ago.

        I had an excellent teacher for grades 3,4 and 5. She was far ahead of her time when it came to excellent learning projects. One of them was on leaves. 

       The whole class of 17 from gr one to nine would spend an hour or two wondering around off the schoolyard collecting leaves for a project. So in this little field trip we observed many different plants. She didn't know the names but we observed plants. 

      I think my technique for this has weakened but I hope you can see the outline of a leaf. 

      When we got back to the classroom we chose leaves to make a tracing with our pencils. Of course, we had to arrange the leaves in an interesting manner. Then she displayed our works. We did not have a bulletin board and I don't think scotch tape had been invented yet. Thumb tacks were used to attach our work to the wall. 

      So my teacher evaluation hat says that she could teach many things with just one item. Every moment to her was a teachable moment. 

MY STREET THIS WEEK

      

 

THE COMING OF FALL

     The coming of fall is a mixed experience for me. There are some good things and some bad things all in due time. We had very warm weather and then in two days it turned cold and we had light frosts. 

     I have anxiety when fall is on the way. Fall means freezing. Freezing of plants. We talk about a killing frost. That means that most plant activity is over. I worry about that first frost. I always have plants that I want another week or 10 days out of. 

    Once that killing frost is over , the anxiety is gone. I can now enjoy fall with all it's color and wonderful smells. 

    The sun is paler as it moves deeper south. 

    I like fall activities. I like cleaning up my yard with all the plants that need to be taken care of. Regular summer gardening activities are over.

    Fall is a beautiful season with awesome color. 

    I liked fall on the farm. I liked harvesting , running combines and  hauling grain. Harvesting took a long time as there had to be dry conditions. I liked running the tractor doing the fall field work. I also got to stay out of school for about 6 weeks.

     I phoned my 83 year old brother about 10 days ago and he was out running a combine for one of his sons. I phoned him first and there was no answer. He knew I was calling but he couldn't see in the dark to  press the right buttons.