monday walk...

 decided to start on a few halloween pumpkins.  best to have a few out there for my pumpkin masacre gathering.  besides i had one that was beginning to rot out.  i didn't save any of those seeds, but the guts actually looked okay.  it was just the top rotting.  figured i'd better get what i could out of the dang thing.  so i now have 4 cups of pumpkin guts for bread in the freezer.  i have a bruise on my hand from scraping out the guts on these little guys.  last year i didn't scrap these before i stuck the mr potato head decor on.  these are pretty cute.  there are many more options out there.  i still liked these guys so i used them again.

 a few from a trek down the campbell airstrip the other day.

 still some mushrooms taking their last breaths out there.  the forest does have that fall smell...the smell of decaying flora.  we had beautiful weather today for our monday walk.  some rain in the morning which i think is how rio decides if she is coming or not.  she chose not to come.

 we had a nice crew of monday walkers, minus a few regulars, one of which is doing great and should be home tonight which makes us all very happy.

 speedy was out with her little one.  syd walked nearly 2 of the 4 miles...very impressive for a little tyke! she cracks me up as she has gotten so chatty this year.  fun watching these kids grow up via the monday walks.  my family is far away.  the monday walk crew has become a group which i love.  i remember reading a few novels that are  based on reading groups or knitting groups that evolved into some lovely friendships that build over time...for us it's this walking group.  some stay year to year, some come and go, but they are all super nice people.  fun to just listen to everyone enjoying themselves and chatting.

 this uprooted tree from last year is pretty large. not many new ones down from our wind this fall.  it hasn't been nearly as bad as last years though and maybe the weakest trees already came down last year.  syd is hiding.  hehe.

 she finally grew tired of being in the pack and so off she went!

 i think the dogs are pretty worn out.  i know blossom is.

 syd held onto gails hand for quite awhile on the walk. could hear them chatting away back there.  a running conversation always keeps kids going.  gail is about to become a grandma so she was getting her grandma practice in today!  she is still on furlough from her fed job...thanks dc for not being able to get your crap together so gail could join us again!

 another shot of them.

 dead leaves and soon to be gone mushrooms.

 we lost one tennis ball...they get tough to see in those leaves...then later blossom discovered another tennis ball.  probably one we lost last week.  pretty soon the snow will cover all.  we got up to the 50's though today and i think it's supposed to stay a bit warmer than normal for a few days.  though i also saw lots of rain in the forecast.

 nelly joined us and hopefully will be more of a regular.  i think she had fun out there!

 making our way up the tank trail.

 we had a nice crew for the post monday walk kaladi crew.  sandra  and alyssa and crew joined us.  haven't seen alyssa's new baby so that was fun...maybe we can get alyssa to join the walks one of these days.

 sandra and speedy took care of treats for this mondays post walk  sandra brought gummy and mummy cupcakes and speedy and syd made snake peanut butter cookies.  cute and tasty!

 headed to visit our friend with spare goodies and cheerful greetings after the walks were over.  always a nice visit and great to see things keep improving.  of course, my throat chose my visit to decide to have the first tickle/cough spasm episode i've had with this bronchitis bout.  get that tickle and there is nothing i can do but cough and tears start pouring out and thankfully i had a few cough drops and my friend donated her pitcher of water to try to calm it down. i only had two cough drops and the first one flew out of my hands and under my friends hospital bed.  no way i'm using that one.  haha!

 syd again drank her hot cocoa faster than i've ever seen.  don't know how she does it!!

 alyssa with her older boy...another cutie.

 rio is killing me with her farts tonight.  that dog has some potent gas!! she's cute but..wow!!

 so an enjoyable and social day today!  nice to have some social and excited for fridays pumpkin massacre.  bought a card table on sale for $20 bucks at freddies.  that should help for future parties.  for this gathering it will just be more places to carve pumpkins.

 sandra and speedy above, gail and tanya below.

 my pumpkin decorating.  it is always fun.  trying to see where i put speedy's recipe for the seeds.  think, think, think...

 not much else accomplished today, but i think i got enough done for one day.  the best part was seeing my friend and her husband happy and smiling and getting ready to come home.

 a few last shots.  so many leaves down...

 i must have been in the back of the pack a lot today with amy...

 i had told my friend that i would be sharing her plight with the monday walk crew.  i did learn at some point that though i am independant and hate asking for help, sometimes it's ok to let others help you...as a matter of fact its good for everyone if you do.  we all need to learn to give but we also need to be able to let others give to us from time to time...sometimes that is harder than the giving part.  giving kindness, but also accepting it.

just hoping all keeps going great and she is back out there walking with us soon.  she was missed today for sure.  have a great sleep!