Leaves-

Last night, it rained and I hoped that today the temperatures would have dropped to a comfortable zone. I was wrong. It was still a bit too hot to be outside soldering, but I did stick it out until I finished making three leaves. The photo above is one of them. I have one more leaf set up to do and then 4 Christmas ornaments. I used my lower watt soldering iron today. While it's only 30 watts, it does the job fine. Much better than the 100 watt one I thought I had to have, then discovered it got too hot. The trick, I've learned since, is to get one with a temperature control. Well, I guess that will go on my Christmas list if I keep going with this, otherwise, I'll keep working with my 30 watt.

We had another rain storm this afternoon, luckily, I had time to gather everything back inside (and it had time to cool down) before the rain hit. We desperately need the rain so I am not complaining a bit. I enjoyed watching the wildness of the storm to tell you the truth. It's been so hot and still for so long here. As long as I am safely tucked inside and don't have to go anywhere, I enjoy a good storm.

I noticed someone talking about signs predicting a bad winter. I don't live anywhere near that person and I don't know what the signs around here would be, but I've noticed a few things around here. We have no squirrels around. Our neighbor's huge oak tree usually hosts several of them and they are noticeably absent. In addition, his tree is dropping un-formed acorns. There are tons of miniature caps littering the ground, but none of them have the nut to them and they are very small. That might have to do with the drought we are having, and may excuse why the squirrels are gone as well, come to think of it. It certainly won't be an easy winter for animals if this is any indication of how their food sources are faring. We had a very tame winter last year. One snow day called and the storm that was expected tracked to the south and missed us. I'm wondering if this year will be like our first year in Missouri? That was a year when everyone we met said, "this is a very unusual year..." They said that about the 18" snow storm and the 2' thick ice storm. Coming from Orlando, FL., It was quite an adventure. The exciting thing about winter here is the unpredictability. It's not guaranteed, like it is in Chicago, that we'll be getting any snow, let alone how much of it or how long it will last.

Some people laugh at me, but I think a snow storm here is a lot like a hurricane coming to Florida. You aren't sure it will be tracking to hit you. You must listen to the forecasts and prepare for the worst. If it is a bad storm, you might not be able to get out for a few days, you might lose power. There might be damage. While it's going on, there's nothing you can do but ride it out. Normal pursuits are suspended and you might find yourself playing games as a family by candlelight, and sleeping in the Living room by the woodstove. There's that same giddy anticipation of what the world will be like when it's over. Of course, it's a lot more fun to go sledding and making snowmen than it is cleaning up tree branches and repairing your house.