I am Absolutely and Extremely Glad It Is Fall

It was perfect fall weather when I awoke around 8:30. I opened my windows to sunshine, soft breeze, and mid-60s temperatures. It was such a lovely day, I couldn't wait to head out on today's errand-and-library run. I got out at quarter after 10, fairly early.

I made my first stop at JoAnn's. I heard on the AGPLaythings Message Board that JoAnn's now carries the Springfield Collection line of modern clothes for 18 inch dolls. If they do, they haven't reached all stores yet. The tiny JoAnn's next to the Super Fresh didn't seem to have them.

Headed for the Library next. There weren't many DVDs to put away, but the kids' picture books were overflowing, so I concentrated on those. I didn't take out as many DVDs as I have in previous weeks. My hours at work went up this week and will probably just continue going up as we get more into sports events and the holidays. Not to mention, I have plenty of things to watch at home. I took out Halloween-oriented DVD sets for the cartoons Little Bear and Charlie and Lola. I also took out one of the few Shirley Temple films I hadn't seen, Little Miss Broadway. I liked the premise - Shirley is the darling of a theatrical boarding house - and it sounds a bit less cutesy than some of her other movies.

I also took out several books. I found a book on facing fears, On Becoming Fearless, plus another book on crocheting and another one on basic sewing. They'd just gotten the newest Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter mystery, The Tale of Oat Cake Crag, in, and I was able to grab that too.

Went to the Bagel Shop for lunch. It was around 1 by then. I must have hit them at the right time. For once, they weren't mobbed with high school kids eating something better than their cafeteria lunches on a school day. (There were plenty of kids outside, but they seemed more interested in Friendly's ice cream.) I had a turkey and Swiss sandwich on a flaxseed bagel, fries, and pickles.

Rode straight home after finishing lunch. I went upstairs, put everything away, and watched Charlie and Lola for a little while. It was about 2:30 when I went back downstairs to work on raking the front yard and clearing the sticks out.

First of all, the front yard looked terrible. The storms over the past few weeks have left the yard covered in piles of leaves and tons of sticks. While it isn't as bad as it will be later this month and in November, it's still a pain.

Second, the leaves are driving my nose crazy. I spent a lot of the afternoon sneezing all over trees. Mom says I might be allergic to leaf mold, and I'm starting to wonder if she's right. I've had really nasty sinus headaches for the past few weeks, too.

Third, I needed the money. I ended up earning $25 dollars, and Miss Ellie asked me when she came home if I'd help her prune the trees and small bushes around her side of the house. No problem! The sooner, the better. The branches on the small trees around her side of the house keep getting caught in my clothes and hair. Honestly, I think those trees are dead and really need to be removed all together, but Miss Ellie probably can't afford that.

I did finally finish the entire front yard but my side path, which I'll do later this week or early next week...or whenever Mother Nature cooperates next. That's another reason I wanted to get the raking done today. It's supposed to rain hard tomorrow, and I wanted to get it done before the storm makes an even bigger mess.

After I finished, I went upstairs and baked Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins while finishing Charlie and Lola. I really loved that. Charlie and Lola has some similarities to Max and Ruby. There's an older sibling and a younger sibling who seem to raise each other. Adults are mentioned but are never seen, including parents. The younger sibling is creative and a bit goofy - they make mistakes but always come out in the end.

The difference is in the older sibling. Here, we have an older brother and a younger sister. Unlike bossy and (sometimes overly) assertive Ruby, Charlie is patient and rather sweet. He and Lola are practically best friends, though they do have best friends of the same ages and genders as well.

There's other differences. Charlie and Lola is a BBC cartoon, based after the Laura Child picture book series of the same name, and there's the use of British-isms like "term" for "school year" and "biscuit" for "cookie." The animation style matches the books, with sketchy people against backgrounds often made from real objects, like cotton balls and bits of fabric. And of course, everyone here is human, rather than bunnies.

The stand-out episode was "Everything Is Completely Different and Not the Same." Lola and her best friend Lotta learn a lesson in autumn and seasons and how change can be good...even when they're not popular, like a new school teacher or tights that sag or leaves falling off your favorite tree. Other good ones included Lola's determined attempt to ride a two-wheel bike, and the story of how she and Charlie started a sandcastle that turned into a sand city when several local kids get involved. (My sisters and I used to do that when we were little in Cape May - we'd start a sandcastle, and one way or another, we'd get half the kids on the beach working on it, whether we knew them or not.)

I have fond memories of watching Little Bear in college. I ran that while making small shoulder steaks with peppers and mushrooms and a cucumber salad for dinner. Little Bear is the tale of the imaginative title character, his family, and his friends, and their gentle adventures. "Goblin Night" is the closest Little Bear and his buddies get to an actual Halloween story. He and his friends dress up as noisy monsters to scare goblins away...but end up scaring each other more.

Most of the other stories concerned Little Bear alone or with his parents. "Thunder Monster" was my favorite. When a noisy storm frightens Little Bear, he and his parents first chant the old "raining, it's pouring" poem to awaken the moon and end the thunder. When that fails to work, they resort to banging pots and pans and making lots of noise.