Thursday's Thirteen: What says Halloween?

Halloween: as my daughter drapes my house in its Halloween splendor, I thought what really says Halloween?

1. Jack-o-lanterns?

2. Scarecrows?
3. Black cats?

4. Fake webbing?

5. Little bitty chocolate bars?

6. Horror movies?

7. Costumes?

8. Sculls?

9. The colors black and orange?

10. Ghosts?

11. Bowls and bags filled with cheep candy?

12. The smell of warm (or burning) pumpkins mixed with candle wax on

Halloween night?

13. Little kids screaming tick-or-treat!

What says Halloween to you?

Thursday's Thirteen: October's to do list

Since its October first or nearly at this posting, here are thirteen things for October in no particular order.

I would have posted some photos but my internet service is acting funny.



1. Setting out the autumn decorations.



2. Getting out and decorating for Halloween. It’s not the same decorations as the autumn ones.



3. Raking fall leaves. I really hate this chore. We have sycamore trees, they have big leaves. Lots and lots of them.



4. Dusting the house and getting it ready, so I can shut all the windows for the cold season.



5. Picking out a pumpkin. I don’t do this quite so much now that my daughter is older.



6. Pulling out the spent spring flowers and planting fall bulbs or more mums.



7. Cleaning out my planters and planting some fall flowers.



8. Putting away all the shorts and summer clothes. Then digging out of the back of my closet for my long sleeve blouses and long pants. Cool weather clothes, oh how I miss thee.



9. Costume making time. My daughter has taken over this chore. She’s too old for trick-or-treating, but there’s an Ani-jam on Halloween that’s she’ll be attending. She won third place in the last one for her costume she had made.



10. Buying Halloween candy. We don’t get trick-or-treaters, we live too far out of town but I buy them for my small family. We like candy. :)



11. This year it’s on us for my daughter’s senior year school picture. It all has to be done by October 15th.



12. Get sign up for the Nanowritmo (National Novel Writer’s Month). It’s always a crazy month for me, but for the last three years I have finished in time with a 50,000 word novel.



13. Celebrate my hubby’s Birthday. His B-day is on the 29th.

Confucius's birthday

Birthday of Confucius – Eighth Moon, Day 27
(September/October) Click for western date >> One of China's most influential philosophers who lived 2,500 years ago, Confucius still has a strong following in Hong Kong, where his birthday is celebrated with great reverence.Confucius' left a legacy of teachings and ethics that stress self-enlightenment through the Five Virtues of charity, justice, propriety, wisdom and loyalty. Filial devotion and ancestral worship, observed during the Ching Ming and Chung Yeung festivals, continue to be a cornerstone of Confucian practice today, in Hong Kong and other parts of Asia.

Confucius's quotes:

Be not ashamed of mistakes and thus make them crimes.
Confucius
- More quotations on: [Mistakes]
Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.
Confucius
Everything has its beauty but not everyone sees it.
Confucius
Forget injuries, never forget kindnesses.
Confucius
- More quotations on: [Kindness]
He who will not economize will have to agonize.
Confucius
I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.
Confucius
Ignorance is the night of the mind, but a night without moon and star.
Confucius
- More quotations on: [Ignorance]
It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop.
Confucius
Men's natures are alike, it is their habits that carry them far apart.
Confucius
Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in getting up every time we do.
Confucius
Respect yourself and others will respect you.
Confucius
- More quotations on: [Respect]
Study the past if you would define the future.
Confucius
The superior man, when resting in safety, does not forget that danger may come. When in a state of security he does not forget the possibility of ruin. When all is orderly, he does not forget that disorder may come. Thus his person is not endangered, and his States and all their clans are preserved.
Confucius
- More quotations on: [Security]
To be able under all circumstances to practice five things constitutes perfect virtue; these five things are gravity, generosity of soul, sincerity, earnestness and kindness.
Confucius
To see what is right and not to do it is want of courage.
Confucius
To see what is right, and not to do it, is want of courage or of principle.
Confucius
What the superior man seeks is in himself; what the small man seeks is in others.
Confucius
When anger rises, think of the consequences.
Confucius
- More quotations on: [Anger]
When we see men of a contrary character, we should turn inwards and examine ourselves.
Confucius
Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart.
Confucius
They must often change who would be constant in happiness or wisdom.
Confucius, Analects
By nature, men are nearly alike; by practice, they get to be wide apart.
Confucius, The Confucian Analects
Fine words and an insinuating appearance are seldom associated with true virtue.
Confucius, The Confucian Analects
Have no friends not equal to yourself.
Confucius, The Confucian Analects
- More quotations on: [Friendship]
He who exercises government by means of his virtue may be compared to the north polar star, which keeps its place and all the stars turn towards it.
Confucius, The Confucian Analects
He who speaks without modesty will find it difficult to make his words good.
Confucius, The Confucian Analects
- More quotations on: [Humility]
He with whom neither slander that gradually soaks into the mind, nor statements that startle like a wound in the flesh, are successful may be called intelligent indeed.
Confucius, The Confucian Analects
Hold faithfulness and sincerity as first principles.
Confucius, The Confucian Analects
- More quotations on: [Faith]
I am not one who was born in the possession of knowledge; I am one who is fond of antiquity, and earnest in seeking it there.
Confucius, The Confucian Analects

Thursday's Thirteen: the colors of Fall

Thirteen colors of Fall.

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1. Grass-Green.

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2. Light green of faded sycamore leaves.

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3. Olive green of dry leaves.

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4. Red of maple leaves.
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5. Gold of a fully mature Sunflower just ready to pick.
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6. Burgundy of mock cherry leaves.
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7. Light Brown of baked earth after the harvest.
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8. Dark brown of the earth when the first rains come.
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9. Tan of dried corn husks.
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10. Dried Wheat Yellow.
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11. Pumpkin-Orange.
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12. Deep Orange-red of fall decorations.
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13. With October just around the corner what is fall without Halloween-black?

Fall

It Fall! One of our fall leaves we'll have to rake up.

The good news raking uses up a lot of calories.

Its the official first day of Autumn.

But you can't go by us here in sunny California it was a hundred degrees today. Hot, hot and will be hot again tomorrow.

According to the forecasts we will have more fall like weather next week, with temps in the eightiesAt Lest I still have some color in my garden.