Happy Halloween!

46°f, cloudy and breezy. 

Are you ready for trick-or-treat? We are, sort of. Since we will be lucky to get even one, this year we saved the calories from eating the candy ourselves, and opted to have $1.00 bills to give out. At least those won't put weight on our hips!

When we first moved here, we had 20 or 30 kids stopping by, but these days people are scared of our driveway or just don't want to go off the beaten track that far. We see the vehicles go by on the ridge but that's about it. I considered sitting at the top of the hill to hand out candy, but then thought, nah, if they want it they will have to come get it! Curmudgeon, much?

Today was another ho-hum day. I made omelets for breakfast with peppers, onions, and tomatoes from the garden (thanks for this inspiration,  Catalyst!). Then housework, exercises, etc. I made pasta Alfredo for dinner, using broccoli, peppers, onions, squash, and tomatoes fron the garden, along with some diced chicken I had cooked the other day. 

I am trying to use up odd bits still coming from the garden, can you tell? The broccoli was really lovely, though, and I have plenty left for a few more meals. Larry brought in about 20 more sweet peppers, so I chopped those up for the freezer. Tuesday I froze more Savoy cabbage, but still have the Stonehead cabbage to do. And celery. Here it will be November in the morning, and still our garden is feeding us. What a blessing it has been.

I extended my walk today but was sorry by the time I started back, and by the time I got home I was really hurting. Today has not been a good day, disappointing after yesterday. Just another lack of sleep, hurting kind of day. I know from others who have had this done that this is just how it goes, all part of the healing process. I took a short nap, which helped. How luxurious it feels to nap in the middle of the day! 

Any idea what tree this might be from? My first thought was basswood (linden), but maybe pawlonia? Hoping it's the former, as pawlonia is an invasive species. 

The leaves came down in sheets today, with the strong breezes we had all day. The beautiful maple I posted yesterday is bare today, and now we can see through from the driveway to the next ridge.

This little tree, though, is holding on. I believe this one is a sourwood, which is revered for the honey made from its blossoms.

The bad news today is that the water quit. Why we have no idea yet. It was fine all day but this evening, nada. I called 2 well companies and await a return call. Well repairs are never cheap. It may be as simple as replacing the points in the box ( I have no idea what that means but that happened before), which will cost $$$ to fix. Or, shudder, the pump might have gone out. Being that it is 723 feet down in the ground,  that will be one very expensive repair, as in $$$$-$$$$$. So please pray it isn't that. 

The creepy old cabin in the first photo is actually one of the two log cabins we tore down to add rooms on to our house. Here is a story to go with that photo.

Tailypo

An old man once lived alone in a cabin in the woods. All alone 'cept for his three dogs, Yuno, Ino and Cometickocalico. Them's his three dogs.

One day the old man went hunting, but he came home with his gamebag empty, no meat for the pot. He looked around in the cupboard but all he found was an old dried-up piece of cornbread. He threw it in a bowl, poured some water over it, but it was still too tough to eat, so he threw it outside for his dogs.

"No meat tonight," he muttered to himself as he settled into his chair by the fire.

It was just at that moment that he heard something over by the wall. A sound like scritch, scritch, scritch. He looked into the dark corner of the cabin and right at the crack between the logs and the floor he saw two pointy ears, then two red eyes, and then a l-o-n-g, furry tail.

The old man grabbed his hatchet and crept toward that creature. Just as he was about to grab it, it saw him and jumped back under the floor. But the old man reached out and grabbed its tail--and cut that tail clean off with his hatchet!

"There's meat for the pot!" He laughed as he threw the tail into the kettle of water boiling over the fire. Cooked it, he did, then took it out and put it in his bowl, tried to eat it.

"Pah! That tastes awful!" The old man spit it out.

He carried the bowl out to the porch and called his dogs. "Yuno! Ino! Cometickocalico! Here! Here!" He threw the tail out into the yard.

Them dogs come running, took one sniff of that tail, and dragged it under the porch.

The old man went back inside. "Goin' ta bed hungry tonight." He crawled into bed and pulled the quilts up around his neck.

He hadn't been asleep very long when a strange sound woke him up. It was right by his gate.

Scritch! Scritch! Scritch! 

"Tailypo! Tailypo. Comin' ta git my Tailypo!"

The old man called his dogs. "Yuno! Ino! Cometickacalico! Here! Here!" Them three dogs come running, chased that creature clear down into the woods. And that old man, he went back to sleep.

But he hadn't been sleeping very long when he heard it again. This time it was right out by his gate.

Scritch! Scritch! Scritch! All I wants is my Tailypo!"

"Tailypo! Tailypo! 

The old man called his dogs. "Yuno! Ino! Cometickacalico! Here! Here!" This time, only two dogs come running, but they chased that creature clear down into the woods. And that old man, he went back to sleep.

But he hadn't been sleeping very long when he heard it again. This time it was right by his cabin door.

Scritch! Scritch! Scritch! 

"Tailypo! Tailypo! Comin' ta git my Tailypo!"

The old man called his dogs. "Ino! Cometickacalico! Here! Here!" This time, only one dog come running, but Cometickaocalico chased that creature clear down into the woods. And that old man, he went back to sleep.

But he hadn't been sleeping very long when he heard it again. Now it was right out by his front door.

Scritch! Scritch! Scritch! 

"Tailypo! Tailypo! All I wants is my Tailypo!"

The old man called his dog. "Cometickacalico! Here! Here!" This time, no dog come running.

The old man pulled the covers up to his eyes.

He looked down at the foot of his bed and saw two little pointy ears, and two little red eyes.

SCRITCH! SCRITCH! SCRITCH! 

"TAILYPO! TAILYPO! TAILYPO! COMIN' TA GIT MA TAILYPO!"

"I-I ain't got yore ol' Tailypo!"

"You know...and I know...that you...

DO!" And that creature jumped on that old man.

No one ever saw that old man again. No one ever saw them three dogs again either. 

But if you stand quiet and listen on a moonlit night, you just might hear,

"Tailypo! Tailypo! Now I've GOT my Tailypo!"

For links to other versions of this story as well as other jump tales (and a brief explanation of the jump tale genre) check out this post I wrote back in 2008. 

Have fun!

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. 

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.