SHAKESPEARE AND SHERLOCK

We've been outside for quite a while, though it's a dull darkish day, like the few leaves gathering on the unswept patio. We brightened it a bit in the warm glow around the breakfast table, with cinnamon toast from a loaf of Amish wheat bread, bought at the so-bright-with-pumpkins outdoor market last week. The skillet-sizzled sides, sugar-crisped as palmiers, had a delightful crunch, and the still-soft insides were like cake in the bite. Tiny sticks of hearty gold Cheddar and crisp apple slices made a good Fall breakfast.

She ran upstairs, returning with two small new witch-hats; she put one on, and set the other atop my head, where I balanced it carefully on my bun. Hers, with the dangly tag still on, gave her the look of a bewitching little Minnie Pearl as she sat in the floor with four big bottles of Caro's just-bought spices, stacking them carefully one upon the other til she'd made a tower four-flavors-high.

Chris took pictures as she sat there in her little hat, and of course, I had to blurt out, "Double, Double, Toil and Trouble," which Chris answered with the next line, and we were off, through fenny snakes and eye of newt and toe of frog, stumbling the lines over each other, running on past dog tongues and bat's wool, as it got funnier and funnier and we were almost breathless when we finally halted the torrent.

After breakfast, she and I wandered the neighborhood, the tiny new hand-mirror (???) from the dog-grooming kit (!) co-opted by Sweetpea, as a spy-glass. She held it to the grass, to the berry-bush, to a pile of leaves, peering seriously as Sherlock, never heeding that she was seeing herself in every glance.

We were looking for CLUES! And we found quite a few---the cry would go up, "Ganjin, A CLUE!!" and I'd bend to look, the very spirit of Watson in my green clogs and tatty old sweater. We discovered tiny feather, more berries of more colors than you can name, a few still-bright rose hips---all of which I'll unearth from my sweater pocket a week from Wednesday. A pile of sidewalk chalk in the prettiest pastel green, the whole fat stick melted onto the drive by Saturday's chill rain, was now dried into a pile of enticing green powder. A few good stomps dispatched the little cloud back into the earth, and away we went---the Game was Afoot.

A short visit with our neighbor, a few turns of hide-and-seek in which she hides her face against a tree and counts, and I hide my face against the garage door, and---well---HIDE. We're still at the stage of if-your-eyes-are-closed-you're-invisible, with great hilarity and hugs ensuing every time I'm found.

Back in for a few moments for another cup of coffee and a potty-break, and that's about it from the Home Front.

The remains of the wonderful pot roast Chris did in a big pan on the grill yesterday will be our supper, with maybe a little pan of catheads and some homemade pear preserves on the side, so we're hoping to spend the day with Caro, getting all the leaf-swags and scarecrows and pumpkins and gourds distributed into their proper places. I LOVE Autumn!!!

What are YOU doing?