• I won’t be mowing today as it’s raining. I somehow missed the fact that rain was in the forecast but then again, I don’t remember checking it at all yesterday. Lots of rain today and some rain tomorrow, as well.

• It was so cold and gray yesterday. Once again, Don and I found ourselves feeling a bit blue. I miss summer. The zinnias are blooming which gives us a little splash of color. Some of the phlox is still blooming, as well as the butterfly bush, and of course, lots of autumn wildflowers.

• I know I’ve mentioned this before but I was a camp counselor for two summers when I was in college. It was a camp in northern Michigan affiliated with the Lutheran church – Michi-lu-ca. Sadly, it was sold a few years ago, which made all of us very, very sad. I had always wanted to show it to Don as it meant so much to me. I recently connected (via Facebook) to a fellow counselor from my second summer there. I suddenly wondered if there was a group of former counselors/staff on Facebook as there seems to be a group for everything under the sun. Sure enough, there is. It looks like it’s predominately more recent employees, but I found – or they found me – 5 or 6 fellow staff members from 1973. It’s been fun chatting with them SO many years later. Those two summers were extraordinary experiences for me and I remember them fondly. In those days, there were no cell phones or computers, so we really were cut off for the summer and it was quite magical.

• A coat arrived for the girls yesterday. A Blythe friend has been making lovely coats from felt – they remind me of swing coats. (I had two of them myself and loved them.) Since I only had one coat for the girls, I ordered one in red.

Red is notoriously difficult to photograph and can change dramatically depending on the light. Case in point:

Madeleine, photographed in the late afternoon light shining on the porch. The coat looks much brighter than it actually is. It’s a deep red.

Zoe, photographed in the darkish house. This is much closer to the real color (though a bit too dark) and of course, Zoe always looks great in red. Isn’t the coat adorable? Melissa calls them ‘adventuring coats.’

I also received a little hand knit beret from another artist in Ukraine. I’ll try to get a photo of it today.

• I’m working on a new puzzle and spent a nice chunk of time on that yesterday. I’ve also been reading The Ink Black Heart  for long periods of time.

I’m grateful to be home with my husband and feeling rather cozy.

Stay safe.

Happy Tuesday.