Always seem to be waiting -

The North Carolina State Fair opening scheduled for today has been cancelled.

Today we will sit out the last throes of Hurricane Michael which is already
 bringing us strong gusty winds. Possible tornado activity and flooding from
 the heavy rainfall is also expected. 
I'm getting tired of moving things to safer places off the porch, deck etc. 
I'm worrying about the big trees falling on us, power outages, and heavy
 water runoff through the back garden. As the wind bands come around
buckets of acorns fall from the massive oaks, rattle down the roof and roll
across the back deck.
 I am so sad to see the devastation in Florida, this was a huge storm.
These days I seem to worry about just about everything, much more than
 I ever have. Perhaps it's an aging thing. . . . . .as aging I am!

Meanwhile, with the heat continuing daily, early autumn decor displayed
 outdoors is not doing so well. I've already lost a pumpkin - it 'exploded' on
 the porch and is now in the compost bin!

Chrysanthemums are beautiful, most of the buds are now fully open,
 hopefully they last a while longer until cooler weather arrives.
I've moved them today so they will not get damaged in the wind and rain.

My cooking pumpkins and squash are my simple indoor decor for the

 season. . . . . until they are enjoyed roasted and made into tasty dishes.

Freda's delicious Apple Butter from her pumpkin farm.

A really much appreciated tasty gift.

The great British author P.D. James got it right when she wrote ~

"It was one of those perfect English autumnal days

 which occur more frequently in memory than in life."

Oh how I'm longing for golden days such as those of my own English childhood.

Calm before the storm. . . . . . . .

Today we await the visit from Hurricane Florence. She continues a path

 toward the North Carolina coast to make her landfall tomorrow at a

 beach town we often enjoy, the one we always visit in Autumn which is our

 favorite season at our beautiful coast.

I know I've been overly stressed and short tempered for the past couple

 of days as the media bombards us with a mishmash of

  'end of the world', 'fire and brimstone' destruction stories, and yes perhaps 

that's what will happen. It's all in the hands of a greater power from hereon.

This morning when I read the words 'we are in peril' somewhere on my screen

 here, I realized only too well that a huge part of our area is in imminent danger 

from winds and rain, structural damage, and massive flooding, during the coming days.

Juvenile American robins on the front porch.

Even our birds have disappeared from the garden. Do they know 
something is amiss and have 'evacuated' further inland to a 
safer place?  
These young robins, and other fruit eaters, have decided the fig tree no
 longer looks like a place for breakfast.

Our cottage almost looks unlived in today - bare porch, no more hanging 
baskets and feeders, furniture stored away, pots moved. . . . . . just
the grill left out on the back deck in case we lose power and have to 
cook outside. Bob was able to get propane yesterday after three days
of trying, and we also managed to find gas for the cars. Tomorrow we'll 
 park in a deck at the nearby shopping center as we have so many huge
 trees around us - nowhere is safe for the cars even on our street - and as
we are on a cul-de-sac we only have one exit which could be blocked 
by fallen trees.
Memories of the damage we sustained in Hurricane Fran (1996) from trees
 falling on the house, one destroying my car in the driveway, no power for
 10 days, then months of clean up, remind us how we take modern day life
 for granted until those 'perils' arrive. . . . . . and of the mighty power of Nature!

Thanks so much for all the good wishes that we stay safe in the
days ahead. We too are hoping the best for our family, friends and
 neighbors both here locally and scattered across North Carolina.
 I'll be back here as long as we have power.