Looking Opportunity In The Eye

Today is DH's last chance to work on the castle without totally freezing. He wants to re-do the steps so that they are at the correct heights and with treads that are slightly less deep. This will allow the last tread to be much closer to the level of the upper back yard and, hopefully, help control erosion when we get heavy rains or melts. He'll be putting sod on top of the very top step to help stabilize everything and get even more control over run-off.

This is an older photo, but it does show the steps. He'll be working on those
today, redoing them to decrease the slope at the very top right where they
meet the upper yard. That entails adding another step and resetting all of the
steps from top to bottom. It'll be a lot of work, but at least his temps will
be in the upper 50's to mid-60's. 

After today our temps will fall hard. By Thursday we'll be 20-30 degrees colder on average and that's probably the last hurrah for our Autumn and the first strides into our Winter. I'm ready, even though the thought of snow shoveling is appalling.

My Mom's black mink coat is quite similar to this, but
it's a bit shorter since she was several inches shorter
than I am. It's a lovely coat, though, and really toasty warm. 

I will have to keep my eyes open for my "Come and collect your fur coats" card from the local furrier. If you recall, last Spring I took the three coats I had inherited from the three women in my life, (my aunt, my mother-in-law and my mother) to the furrier for cleaning and repair. That was an expensive little visit, but I'm happy that the coats were able to be salvaged and that I have them to remember these amazing ladies with. I plan to actually wear the darned things this year - it's silly to waste them.

DH still drives my Mom's 1992 Saturn. It's certainly seen better days, and
it's creaky and has its quirks, but he basically only drives it to and from
work, so no great distances. We have a great repair place that has kept
everything running smoothly. 

Do any of you have things that you wear that were passed down to you from relatives? Do you actually wear them, or do you just keep them as a memorial to their memory? Most of what I have from my mother are items of jewelry that my Dad bought for her that I had remade into styles I enjoy more, and, of course, the black 3/4-length mink coat. The only thing I inherited from her that is used every day is her car - DH still drives it, although it's practically antique.

We're going to start getting cold now, but it's October and it's
the Frozen Northlands. Cold comes with the territory. 

Here's to an excellent Tuesday. Enjoy yourselves and stay warm.