Still here ...

Bright and cold here-- too slick underfoot for the morning walk, so I have no bird news yet, today.

But the cats and I woke up this morning, and I did their 5:00 a.m. feeding routine, so life seems on track at the moment. A painter friend is coming by later this morning, en route to an Artists' Guild meeting in Yachats. Sue Andrews, a helpful friend who runs occasional errands for me, and cat sits when I travel, as I did this summer, with sisters and family.

Did I tell you that-- in the garden Chey and Rachel planted in August-- those brilliant orange mushrooms sprang up all over, especially close to the purple peppers, which still look lovely! Amanita Muscaria. This is a great mushroom year, I see-- they popped up along the roadside in abundance. No elves sitting on them, though-- just the bright flat platforms and the deadly little white square patches ... and now they are all fading and dissolving on wet days ...