Clinging to September, but curling up for winter

Sad as it is, I guess we have to admit that summer is over and we have to say goodbye to photos like this. We must batten down and prepare for 7 months of gloom and rain. But I'm ready for the worst: I just got my flu shot.

We just had this fantastic September with non-stop sunny days, balmy temperatures and cool nights for almost four straight weeks. It was what Seattle weather in September is hyped up to be, but this time instead of saying to people "It's usually pretty nice in September, sorry about the weather" instead it was "This is awesome, better take in every minute."

So we did. Part of September was spent in the Gulf Islands soaking up the sun and getting in an actual, full blown relaxing vacation. Vacations end though and we returned to daily grind of getting up at 5:15 to beat traffic, working, and then coming home to... THE DREADED PORCH PROJECT. I complained all summer about this, and it really did ruin every weekend we were in town, including this one.

Some progress was made, but it's not done - not even close. One of my more nosy neighbors said "You're just going to leave it like that, with no shingles all winter? I could never do that!" How do you respond to this stuff? Do you say, hey lady, this stuff costs money and in case you haven't noticed, we're in a recession. Or "Guess what, my wife and I work 50 hours a week so forgive me if I'm too tired to work on this every night. I have a life and sometimes it includes not restoring something."

We finally got the front door in last weekend and the exterior door trim, got the beadboard ceiling in, got all of the bare wood covered with tar paper for winter, put the electrical in, insulated most everything. Now we just need to rebuild the column bases, the stairs and walls, put on a new deck, and shingle everything. Piece of cake right? Wrong: cedar siding is $1.31/lineal foot. I need a raise like fire needs oxygen.

Sorry, this post was supposed to be about fall but I digressed into the porch. Typical.

We managed one more boat show in September, the Poulsbo Rendezvous. This is always the least well-attended boat show by the public, and therefore it's the best show of the year. It's very relaxing - hanging out with your boating friends swapping stories about where you took your boat this summer and what happened, who ran aground, who went the farthest, and generally ignoring the tourists.

So now we begin to curl up for winter. We've both already caught and mostly gotten over our first cold, although this one hung on me for two weeks. Everything in the garden is starting to mildew and yellow, pretty soon we'll be planting bulbs and spreading compost. Before you know it we'll be carving a pumpkin and planning Thanksgiving. Life goes by fast, I wish I could slow it down just a little bit.