As the leaves fall

After our snowy Sunday last weekend, I woke up to a beautiful, sunny Monday morning.  It was a chilly but beautiful start to our week.

I started my day with a dentist appointment and let the girls come along for the ride.  Then, after my appointment was done, I headed home to start my work day.  The sun shining on the snow when I got home was so pretty.  

And with the snowfall, many of the leaves fell from the cherry tree.  By the end of the week, they'd all be on the ground.

I fed the girls an early lunch so that they might settle in and relax for the afternoon as I worked.  It was a quiet afternoon. 

With the early sunsets now, I've been adjusting my work day so that I can leave a little early to get the girls out for their daily excercise before it gets dark. 

On Monday, I decided we'd take a trip to Soldan Dog Park because Mina can get in a good amount of running playing fetch and Peaches can sniff and run to her heart's content.  Plus I get an enjoyable walk through the woods.

We had such a nice time on our walk through the park and it was made even better by the fact that we had the whole place to ourselves for half of our time there.

With a few pops of color from some the oak trees and a few other trees late to lose their leaves, it was a pretty day.  It's especially pretty when the light from the setting sun hits the tops of the trees just right.  After a long, exhausting day of work, nothing is better than a quiet walk in the woods watching the girls run and explore.  

Tuesday was cold and the girls spent much of the day inside.  I had a really productive day at work and the girls were quiet for most of the day.  After work, I decided we'd make another trip to the dog park for our evening exercise. 

We got there later than we had on Monday so we didn't have as much time before it got dark.  I decided to leave the ball and chuck-it in the car and just let Mina run with Peaches.  As I enjoyed my walk, I couldn't believe how much the woods had changed in just 24 hours.  Many more leaves had fallen to the ground.  The girls enjoyed sprinting through the freshly fallen leaves.

This night we had the whole park to ourselves the entire time we were there.  We were the only car in the parking lot when we arrived and when we left, and having the whole place to ourselves was wonderful.  We enjoyed a beautiful sunset and made the most of every minute of our visit.

Thankfully, the weather on Wednesday was a little warmer.  When I had a mid-morning errand to run, I decided to take an early lunch.  I brought the girls along for the ride and got them out for a quick walk at Scott Woods.

There was still some nice color on some of the trees along the trail and we saw a beautiful buck grazing nearby as we walked.

The girls thoroughly enjoyed our time on the trail and all of the new smells.  I enjoyed it too.  We don't walk here enough.

While the trees continue to lose their leaves and soon all of the them will be bare, this particular morning I was grateful for all of the color that was still there for me to enjoy. 

When we got home, I made a quick lunch using the last of my ripe pear tomatoes from my garden.  This burst tomato pasta was delicious. 

I spent my Wednesday evening at the shelter.

We had three adorable and high energy dogs ready for a walk.

This was our first walk of the season after the time change, which means our walk is taken completely in the dark, so I had to get some cute pictures before we left.  Aren't they all adorable?

It was an excellent walk and all of the dogs and volunteers had a lovely time.  These walks are always a highlight of my week.  There's nothing quite like the joy of a shelter dog out for a walk.

I spent the day Thursday driving my mom to an appointment in Royal Oak.  It made for a long day, but I'm glad I was able to help her. By the time I got home, I had been gone over 6 hours and the girls were ready for some excercise.   It seemed like another good day for a trip to the dog park, so that is exactly where we headed.  The exercise and fresh air were just what we all needed!

Finally Friday arrived.  It was a busy day at work, and I didn't get much of a break for lunch.  As we reached the end of my work day, I was trying to decide what we'd do for our daily excercise.  

The weather was beautiful with temperatures in the low 60s and I knew we needed to take advantage of it.  I decided we'd make the drive to Albion to get in a couple of quick miles on the North Country Trail. 

We arrived at the trailhead parking at 4:30pm and I decided we'd go as far as we could get in 40 minutes.  So off we went at a pretty quick pace.  

We made excellent time with a 17 minute mile to start our walk which included a little extra sniffing and a potty break for Peaches.  Then we turned around to head back to the car.  On the way back, we made even better time with a sub-16 minute mile which allowed us to finish with 2.2 miles for the day.  I was very pleased.  

We took another mile walk around the neighborhood in the dark when we got home, and then we had dinner and settled in for a quiet night.  It was a great start to our weekend.

Saturday morning I headed out to the shelter for our Saturday morning dog walk.  It had rained overnight, but the morning weather was perfect.

We were able to get these three cuties out for our full walk and then a couple of our volunteers stayed to take two more dogs out for a walk.  

This is always a nice way to start my Saturday. 

With temperatures in the 60s in the forecast for the day,  I had lots of things I wanted to get done, but my fellow shelter volunteers all thought that I should take advantage of the weather to get the girls out for an adventure, so that is exactly what I did.

I decided we'd make the drive to Lowell with the goal of getting the final 3.1 miles we needed to finish our 100 miles on the North Country Trail for this year.

We parked near the riverwalk and headed out to get in our miles.  It was busy downtown with lots of people out for a Christmas themed event in town,  but we didn't let that bother us.

We had a great walk and enjoyed the warm weather.  The girls got lots of compliments on their good behavior and I was very proud of them. When we reached our 3.1 miles, we headed to the North Country Trail Association office for a quick picture to celebrate before leaving town.  It is crazy to think about how far behind I felt just two months ago and the progress we made since September to finish.  

The hike 100 challenge started in 2016 and I remember how proud I was when we finished that year, not far from where we finished yesterday.  I've taken part every year since 2016 and Peaches has been joining me since 2018 which means I've completed the challenge for 10 years and Peaches has completed it for 8 years.  I hope she stays healthy and can finish it again with me in 2026, but I'm prepared for her not to finish if she isn't up for it.  

The drive home was nice and made it clear that slowly but surely we are moving toward winter.  With the colder weather, wind, and snow this week, leaves everywhere are falling fast.  While there are still a few trees hanging on, most of the color is gone with only the dark browns of  the mighty oaks remaining.  I could see them proudly showing off in small wooded areas across empty farm fields as I drove home.  

We had a really nice day and I finished the night trying a new recipe for Chicken Milanase and a delicious pasta recipe using some of my roma tomatoes from the last bunch I picked in the garden.   I love that I'm still enjoying my garden bounty as the last of the leaves are falling.  

We're enjoying a beautiful, sunny Sunday morning today.  I stuck my head outside and can definitely feel the change in temperature since yesterday.  It will be about 20 degrees cooler today, and more typical weather for mid-November.  

Mina found a nice sunny spot on her cozy cave to relax and Peaches is curled up on the couch.  They'll nap this morning and I'll relax for a bit, we'll get out for a walk at some point, and I need to mow and clean the fallen leaves from the curb.  We'll watch the Lions game and do a little cleaning around the house too.  I'm looking forward to a nice Sunday at home.

And just a quick Fiona picture to share an update on her.  She got to ride a horse last week and she loved it.  She's loving preschool and is growing up so fast!

This year is quickly coming to an end with less than two weeks until Thanksgiving and only 34 days until the first day of winter.  We've reached all of our hiking goals for the year and the crazy busyness I've been experiencing since mid-September has finally passed.  When I look ahead at my calendar, everything is starting to slow down and we're moving into a time of year focused on home and family and rest.  I'm looking forward to the peace of the holiday season.  The final falling leaves are a good reminder that we all need time to rest, it is nature's way.