The transition to Fall

We had a pretty quiet week around here last week with not much to share.  The temperatures got a bit cooler as we moved closer to Fall and we had our first frost of the season over the weekend.  

We started a new trend of taking mid-day walks during the week as a nice break from the work day and we've all been enjoying them.  I think the changing of the seasons has made Peaches a bit restless, I know that the change from Summer to Fall always caused Imke some restless days and nights, and it appears that Peaches may be feeling some of the same things.  She is whiny during the day and anxious in the evening, so I'm hoping these mid-day walks will help  

Maddie is doing well.  The seasons don't seem to effect her in quite the same way, but I will say that she is always ready for an adventure, no matter how small.  I can't even begin to look like I might be leaving the house without her jumping up to follow me, afraid that I may leave her behind if I decide to go somewhere.  Of course with all of her enthusiasm, I can't leave her behind, but our walk slow and not very long.  Although we do have the occasional day when sassy Maddie joins us, normally brought on by the cooler temperatures, and we can get in a little longer walk.  We always enjoy the days she wants to be a real adventure dog and I'm hoping this Fall we see a lot of those days.

As I mentioned earlier, this weekend was a bit cooler and we even got some frost.  I got some final tomatillos and peppers from Vanessa and spent some time Sunday preparing veggies for the freezer.  I also made homemade applesauce which is one of my favorite Fall treats.  I had enough to freeze some for the Winter so I'll be able to enjoy the freshness of the season even when the weather turns frigid.  My tiny little upright freezer in the basement is filling up with all kinds of goodies.  

My garden still has several tomatoes that remain and the weather has warmed up nicely this week, so I'm hoping to be able to get at least one more harvest of vine ripened tomatoes before it cools down next week.  I'm hoping that the frost holds off again until October 1st or 2nd when I plan can pull the plants and find ways to use anything that remains.  It's been a great season in the garden and I'm already looking forward to next year's planting.

We've continued to find some new places to explore and have also continued to walk in some of our favorite new places.  The girls and I have really enjoyed some nice walks in nature recently, but let me tell you, I am done with burrs!  Everywhere we go, at least one of us, and generally all of us, come home with burrs on us.  Peaches is worst of all though!  Even when I think that I've gotten them all off, I'm still finding them on furniture and clothing...even in my hair.  So I'm definitely ready for burr season to end!  But those pesky little things aren't going to stop us from our walks.

Michigan Trails week started on Sunday and we joined the Michigan Trails Week challenge offered by the DNR.  Michiganders are being challenged to track miles hiked, biked, rowed, or ridden on horse back on non-motorized trails in Michigan and all local, state, and federally managed trails in the state count.  The goal is to collectively travel 100,000 miles during the week and we are going to do our part to help reach that goal.  

My goal moving forward is to try to walk 4-5 miles per day, at least 5 days per week, doing one walk with Peaches and a second walk with Peaches and Maddie together.  We all need to get out and keep moving and this will be a great goal to keep us doing just that!  While it should be easy while the weather is nice, I'm hoping I can keep it up even when Winter arrives so we can stay active and happy through the long days of that season.

I'm excited to see what fun new places we can visit locally this week during our Trails Week challenge and through the rest of this month.  It's going to be nice weather and a great time to explore Michigan in the early Fall.  Hope you get out to enjoy it too!