Nothing - no one from here went in the end. Nothing worse than a rainy auction when you know the odds are against you.

Stan went to the football game. DGS had a touchdown and powered a hole open on another play so the quarterback could get his first touchdown ever. Poor Tom plays every offensive and every defensive play! Small schools have a lot of that, and having been a coach's son since he can remember, he knows all the plays. It doesn't hurt that he's 6'2" and can lift more than his dad now. This summer I looked at him and said, "Holy cow, Tom!" he gave me his little grin and said, "Grandma, I've been working out."

Mary, it's good to hear that you and your neighbors were spared. I can't imagine what that must be like.

I am writing from a strange place today. The Superintendent of Clymer Central School, a man well liked and very involved with and supportive of students and teachers alike, was murdered at his home in Clymer over the weekend. We never met him, he started there last November, but our eldest daughter and her husband are both teachers at the school and were very pleased with him. Our four grandchildren from the senior to the first grader all attend school there in the same building - as the newscasters keep saying, it is a very tightly knit community. The county sheriff is very involved in the case and stunned that, not only did this happen in his county, but of all places, in Clymer. Stan's mother and sister both live in the same neighborhood, just a bit up the road from where he was found. There is fear and anger in equal parts. Some how, even the word tragedy doesn't say enough.

How dreadful! I hope they get to the bottom of it. Can we not feel safe anywhere?

Do the authorities have any idea what precipitated the murder?

The SU and I have been called into service yesterday to be "movers".............SU had to go get the grain head for DS#1's combine, as they were going to try beans again. Then move both catch carts to where they were going to combine. Then go get the Kid's truck and take to the neighbor's farm. Then go back to our place, get our truck, and take neighbor's truck back to his farm. Gads, musical equipment/vehicles. I have no clue as to who is going to be where at any specific time today.

I was informed by Allison that the first Friday of Oct. I will be doing the feeder cattle sale........alone. Eeeeee.........I made 2 mistakes yesterday at the reg. sale, not earth-shattering, but a blow to my psyche, nonetheless. LOL And as Oprah says........."now I know better and I will do better".

What a tragedy. I hope the crime is solved quickly and the murderer brought to justice. Justice for a murder....? I'm not sure of that. His family, friends and community have been robbed of his companionship, his friendship and all the good things he would have done for the rest of his life.

No killing frost yet. I have doubts that the rest of the corn will mature, so have started to feed some of the smaller stalks and ears to the horses. It's not that big of a corn patch, just a few rows in the garden. However, we did not get much off it this year because of a cold, late spring, and fresh corn on the cob is what we look forward to all year, as much as eating that first ripe tomato. The zucchini have slowed down their production, and the winter squash are curing nicely. I stopped watering the winter squash about 2 weeks ago to tell them not to grow anymore babies! Tomatoes are mostly still green. They will probably ripen on the table in the basement.

Smoke from forest fires is still making us feel kind of closed in. Hubby's allergies are giving him fits from it. He and a neighbor have been cutting some fallen willows in our pasture. They grew in a big clump from a central root system and just got too heavy to stand up anymore. 7 fell, and at least 2 more in that clump need to come down, plus a couple of the next group. It will take a couple of years to dry it enough for firewood. The trunks are 18-24 inches in diameter and full of water! One more session of making firewood lengths, then a hydraulic splitter will be needed to break them up.

My garlic venture will expand a bit for next year. I have several new varieties ordered, and have been looking online to find instructions and step by step pictures about how to make garlic braids. So far I see 2 methods, one a bit simpler than the other, so I will start with that and see what happens. Garlic braids sell for a whole lot more than the garlic in them would bring. Softneck varieties are braidable. Grocery store garlic is the softneck type, with no hard central stem. I also want to make grapevine baskets for my neigbor to use on his farmer's market table. Found some easy step by step instructions and pictures for that, too. A good winter project. I've always hated burning the grapevines knowing they would make good baskets. Trimmings from apple trees and the willows would be good, too.

First the news: they have a suspect and are searching for him in Virginia.

The better news is that we've had some nice rain, although last night when I went back to check the little heifers (who were as far from the house as is possible in the pasture they are in) I walked a swampy bit and got only the bottoms of my lovely waterproof hikers wet. Most years, that spot would be all, as Jake calls it, stick-in-the-mud. The heifers were fine, and then I had to go under a fence which is a lot harder than it used to be.

I still have a few tomatoes on the vines that haven't died, and the Brandywine is putting out blossoms and tiny little fruits. It's been moved up into a raised bed right by the south wall of the house, so maybe we will yet get some. The first crop was kind of a bust off of that variety.

I need to go cut the rest of the pumpkins, but there's been that rain thing, so maybe this evening. There are also several nice Fairy squash. I have no idea what they will taste like, but Erin and I liked the name. The zucchini fruits on, and the peas I planted in August are about a foot high.

Stan has been cutting wood, and moving fences a lot lately.

The SU has been running the 2nd combine when needed for the neighbor. I told him he was gonna get used to that big fancy-schmancy machine with the 35 foot grain head, heater and A/C that works, nice comfy seat..........LOL

New month, new thread here: The thread "October cool days, moonlit nights" in Farming forum