Bittersweet Days

Yesterday was when I noticed and felt it was truly November. After a few windy rainstorms, the last of the leaves have been blown off the trees and most branches are now bare. Maybe a few red sumac leaves hanging on, and the stubborn brown oak leaves. The oak leaves are all over the ground now, and I can't even see the street!
For the most part, the trees have been denuded and once again you notice the things that were hidden under the lush green vines and vegetation, like the stone walls and smaller bushes you didn't realise were there all along.

The sky, even when blue, is a pale, washed out blue. So it really has that "waning days of autumn, fading gently into winter" feeling. I am not sad, though. It feels right and even though by March I will be miserably sick of the wintery grey deadness and cold, I am looking forward to the first snow and even some really chilly weather.

I took a walk this morning with Jewel, up at the playground and ball fields. The weak sun almost warmed my face and I needed gloves only towards the end of the walk. I try to expose my skin to some good vitamin D rays as much as I can.
Usually, I pick a few flowers for a small wild flower bouquet when I go there. This time I only was able to bring back a few branches of berries--bittersweet and shadberry and a black colored berry I should know the name of, but don't. The only flowers left along the fence by the soccer field were clumps of this small, bright yellow type which I don't know the name of. It sort of looks like a cross between a dandelion (but with a tighter head) and an aster. I tried looking it up in my trusty 1912 edition Field Guide Of American Wild Flowers, but couldn't find it. I think if I take a little more time, I will eventually find the description in there.

I made the Obama chili recipe over the weekend, and I have to say, while I am proud, proud that man is now our president-elect, his chili is ...meh. I ended up having to add more spices and even hot sauce at the table because that is one wimpy chili!
My friend 4streegrrl suggested I find some vegetable protein as a meat substitute, and I bought some Smart Ground and used that instead of ground meat. At first, it tasted disappointing to me--all I could taste was a wheaty, tabouli-like flavor. But as the chili simmered and developed flavor it must have seeped into the Smart Ground and it really was almost meaty (definitely had the right texture) and very tasty! The family liked the chili (they didn't mind it not having as much of a spicy kick, unlike me). I will certainly try that Smart Ground stuff again--maybe in tacos.

To continue on in the domestic way (what is wrong with me, and how long will this domesticity last? ), I am thinking of making some brownies and some apple-cranberry muffins (in the Rhode Island And Providence Cookbook, my new favorite cookbook, even just to read in bed before turning out the light!)today. The recipe suggests using Rhode Island Greening apples (nice and tart and hold up well in baking), but I don't think I know if I will find any. You would think, living in Rhode Island, that wouldn't be a problem, right?

Hey, they even have their own Wikipedia entry.

Oh, and can I say I am oh so proud of myself for having finally figured how to load multiple photos in a blog entry??!! I know in the past, that Claudia and Samantha (thanks, you two!) have written me and told me how, but I never tried it until now. It works!!