Another month going by...

...and there is not one Halloween decoration in this house. I've always decorated for Halloween on Labor Day weekend. That didn't happen this year. I was consumed with dog and puppy, plus concerned with the work that needs to be done on one of the upstairs bathrooms. Every time we find a mistake in the renovation of this 109-yr-old house, we sit here and curse the previous owner who didn't do it right the first time. We have had to correct many of that man's mistakes.

So now... we are finally on the work-list of a local construction company... they will come here and jack-up 'the green bathroom' and put the proper supports underneath it, then gently let the dormer back down once they have corrected the error of the previous owner's ways. Once that is done, we will call the roofing company and tell them to deliver all the materials needed for a new roof on this house. Finally, we'll be able to remove the Smurf-blue tarps from the part of the roof that's over the kitchen.  This madness has been going on since the end of May/beginning of April. Between trying to get roofing companies out here, and construction companies, and then the insurance company sent an adjuster and an engineer.... and then my husband had to do his own research and make up his mind about which company to choose.  I stayed out of it, other than to say "Can we please get this work done before Christmas?"

I figured that between the work on the dormer, and then the replacement of the roof, we'd be lucky to have everything done by Halloween. And looking at the work schedule now, we'll just about have everything finished by the time the kids down the road come up here to say "Trick or treat!"

Not exactly being in a Halloween frame of mind, I decided not to have our usual Halloween costume party this year. The decorations are sitting in the storage closet, except for the ones I gave to Corey last weekend for her own little house. I told her not to spend her money on Halloween decorations... "Just drive up here into the hills and pick out what you want from what I have."  Corey wanted to help me decorate the house for Halloween while she was here. "Not this year," I told her. "Maybe next year."   Corey drove back to Galveston with pumpkins, witches, and ghosts, purple garlands and black cats, and the haunted house I made so many years ago from a yard-sale birdhouse.  She was thrilled, and so was I.  If I can't enjoy Halloween this year, I'll be perfectly content knowing that she will.

The house has been quiet since we brought Satchmo to the shelter. We?  No.  I.  I brought him to the shelter, hoping against hope that someone would walk in and adopt that little 12-pound dog.  I was going to call them and ask, but I didn't.  Better to just let myself believe that he found his forever home and he's now the only dog in that house, which is just what he wanted.  Savannah seems to be fine without the puppy here. She's back to her 'old soul' self, not wanting to go outside at night unless I pull her a bit towards the door... then she'll go out into the grass for a quick 'visit' and run back up the steps of the porch.

I've been reading. And reading. And reading.  My pile of books-waiting-to-be-read was dwindling down some... and today I went to the thrift store and the little bookshop in town and came home with eleven books.  That happens sometimes... I either find just one book or none, or I find half of the books on my wish-list.

We had decided to rent out the apartment over the barn to two college students... we thought we'd found the perfect renters... quiet boys, nice family... except they didn't pay the rent.  We were patient and we waited. Then we lost patience when they lost their credibility because of all their excuses. As much as we hated to do it, we asked them to leave, and they did. The barn is empty again. We doubt very much we'd rent to students again.  I would still like to rent that apartment to a handyman who would take care of the property here, in exchange for rent.

The days are getting shorter.... we will soon be turning the clocks back an hour, and then the days will be shorter still.  Instead of trying to cajole Savannah into going outside at 9:00 when it's dark, I'll be doing that at 7:00 when it's dark.  And then I'll have to repeat the process at 10:00 when it's darker still.  I will soon be wishing away the winter months and counting the days till Spring when we can turn the clocks ahead an hour.

Barry Manilow has a song titled "When October Goes."  It's one of the ballads that he doesn't often sing at his concerts, but I have it on a CD.   The lyrics go something like this.... "Children running home beneath a twilight sky... oh for the fun of them, when I was one of them....... I turn my head away, to hide the helpless tears... oh how I hate to see October go."

With apologies to Manilow, I cannot wait for October to go... it's barely here and I'm wishing it away, hoping for a better November.