October

In Ukraine...there will be pumpkins and squash. Always. Lots of them. These from this weekend. The board in the foreground? That's where they chop them up for animal feed. The nicest ripe ones will be eaten by the family as porridge...often mixed with rice.

Soon to be November, I'm sure. And just where did the days go? Not long ago it was New Year's. Now it's nearly the end of the year. Old Year's. Or something.

It's that time of year when there's no heat but you wish there was. You do laundry and hang it on the lines and it's still damp 2 days later. You use your camel hair blanket (just in case you don't remember this subject which some people thought was seriously funny... harumph- you're just jealous...I'm sure!) plus wear all the pj's you have and are glad to stay under the covers as long as possible. You can use the balcony as a 2nd refrigerator. It's warmer outside than in and you're never quite sure how to dress because being inside won't give you any idea at all about what it feels like outside.

And...part of the fall routine here in this town, apparently, is shutting off the water to the whole city. Yup. You got it. The Whole City. No One Has Water Right Now. No ONE. (That means we don't, either.) That means the smallest-room-in-the-house ummmm (smellsLikeAnOuthouse). heh. That means I took a 'bath' with 2 cups of water tonight. (You want to know more? Oh.. ok. 'nuff said about that!) That means my hair needs a wash and will continue to need a wash. That means we're just Really Glad we actually did a load of laundry yesterday while we still had water. That means we ate at a pizza place for lunch today and closed our minds to the haunting monsters-under-the-bed question- Just how are they washing dishes back there with no water?

Ah yes. Never dull here, oh no it isn't!