Mountain kids

Our granddaughter Nova is at "Mountain School" this week at the North Cascades Institute. She's there for three days and two nights with her 5th grade class, learning about about ecosystems and natural history. What a great lifestyle for those kids, growing up with the North Cascades mountains practically in their backyard.

Amanda and Tom pick her up tomorrow on their way to Seattle for a busy weekend with his family. We're looking forward to seeing them for a bit on Sunday morning before they head home.

It's not officially fall but sure feels like it. Yesterday was a perfect afternoon, with bright blue skies and a little nip to the air. Today and tomorrow a repeat performance,  then rain returns for the weekend.

I have that familiar September feeling-- overwhelmed with the amount of fall clean up. What comes up must eventuality go down into the compost bin. There isn't any rush, except it's nasty working out there in November.  I'm slowly topping the plum tree in a last ditch attempt to save it. The branches are so diseased from years of aphids. With the height down, I might be able to spray it more thoroughly with dormant oil and give it a new lease on life in the spring. At least that's the plan. If it lives, it won't have plums again for a couple of years.