All the Delights of Fall

I slept in a bit and didn't start out to the Haddon Township Library until around 11. Stopped at the Westmont Plaza first. I needed soap from Dollar Tree. I'm glad to see they're almost done with the new Wachovia building, too. The fence is gone. I can ride across the sidewalk and parking lot with no trouble. The building is fairly plain brick, but it's certainly better than a fast food place. They even fixed wall at the end of the main building where GNC is.

The library wasn't too busy. There weren't even many children's books to put away. I mostly organized DVDs for adults and children. I ended up taking out the next book in the Molly Murphy series Death of Riley, an Indiana Jones-style action thriller The Lost Temple, a Pilsbury Bake-Off cookbook, and three DVDs - volume 10 of Charlie and Lola, Sixteen Candles, and a French musical, Paris '36.

I had debated going out to lunch, but I finally decided that the chili I had sitting in my refrigerator was fine. I rode home via Newton River Park, dodging dog walkers with very big, handsome, fluffy dogs (including a lovely brown and tan collie) and people strolling together.

After lunch, I headed outside to rake the side path leading to my place. Though it was chilly, cloudy, and damp, it hadn't rained since yesterday. Even so, the leaves were still wet and muddy, and it took longer than I thought it would to get it done.

Miss Ellie arrived home from work just as I finished sweeping the debris off the path. I said "hi" to her and confirmed when we're pruning the bushes tomorrow. She said she'd leave a Vermont Country Store catalog she'd picked up by accident in the mailbox for me.

I went upstairs to sweep the porch after she went inside. It's not as bad yet as it will be in a few weeks, but I wanted to get it all off so the porch can really dry. There's still some wet spots from the rain we had earlier this week.

Went for a walk next. It was still cloudy and chilly, but I enjoyed it. The trees haven't hit their peak here yet, but many are starting to turn brilliant shades of gold, fire-red, rust, chestnut, and copper. There were many people out in their yards. Kids played kickball (and were scolded by their father when their ball went into their next-door neighbor's yard). A man worked on his lawn while his two dogs sniffed around the trees. Kids rode by on their bikes.

Spent the rest of the evening at home, watching DVDs, baking, and making dinner. I ran Volume 10 of Charlie and Lola first while my Baked Acorn Squash and Baked Chicken Thighs were in the oven. My favorite here was "I Aboslutely Must Have Glasses." Most kids wouldn't be thrilled to need glasses...but Lola thinks a pair that belongs to one of her friends is cool and wishes to have her own pair. When it turns out that Lola's eyes are just fine, Charlie helps her and Lotta come up with a way to still have some awesome shades.

Another episode I could relate to was "But I Have Nobody To Play With." Lola is left on her own one afternoon when Charlie goes out with his friend Marv and all of her other friends her age are busy. She's very lonely...until she and her imaginary friend Soren Lorenson turn hers and Charlie's bedroom into a magical forest!

Ran Fantastic Mr. Fox while I worked on British "Wholemeal" (Whole Wheat) Bread and Oatmeal Apple Crisp. I saw bits and pieces of this when I was at FYE for my birthday shopping spree and have wanted to see the whole thing for ages. The "Fantastic Mr. Fox" of the title is a former chicken thief who is now a newspaper columnist with a wife, moody teenage son, and odd visiting nephew. He's also...well, a fox. A fox wearing clothes, who has a badger for a lawyer and a mole for a fishing buddy, but a fox. It's hard to go against your nature, though, and when he hears about three nasty local farmers, it's hard for Mr. Fox to resist the call of the wild...

This stop-motion animated caper was a lot of fun once you got over the slight creepiness of the animation style. George Clooney was a perfect "Mr. Fox," a character not unlike an animal version of his cool "Oceans" series persona. Meryl Streep was his smart, worried wife, who just wants him to forget stealing chickens. Bill Murray was his badger lawyer. Great soundtrack of random Beach Boys songs and 50s and 60s ballads, including my favorite Beach Boys song playing over the opening, "Heroes and Villains."