Powdered Doughnuts and Apple Cider

Fabulous fall treats: powdered doughnuts and apple cider. Candy or caramel apples. Candy corn and those little mellowcreme pumpkins. I'm getting the shivers - not thinking about scary cosutmes - just thinking about all that sugar.

Trick or Treats has changed. My parents put time and effort into the treats they gave away. A paper napkin was unfolded. In this you put a couple of MaryJanes, a couple of circus peanuts (the orange marshmallow kind) and some candy corn and other small candies. A lollypop was put in the center and the four corners of the napkin were pulled up and twisted around the stick. Considering we had in the neighborhood of 100-150 kids come to the door, it was a fair amount of work. And the littlest kids started coming just as it got dark - which in the old days before daylight savings time extended into November was about 4:30.

We'll carve a pumpkin this afternoon and tonight we'll toast the seeds in the oven, sprinkled with salt. I love the crunch of the shell and the salty-sweet taste of the kernel.

The garden is winding down. One of the basil plants has turned completely brown; the other may give us one more batch of pesto. The raspberries are nearly done; there were only about a dozen ripe ones today; I ate them as I picked them.

Now the writing should be picking up. It's time to immerse myself in the new story, play the "what if" game and see where it leads. Rather than my usual "seat of the pants" method, I think this story will require some actual advanced planning. We'll see how far I can go - hopefully all the way to Happily Ever After. I've also got two sets of names for the hero and heroine. I'm not really sure how that happened.