The first snow of the season

 I took this picture from the front step where last nights snow is already beginning to melt. I'm looking at it as a gentle reminder that I'd better finish cleaning up the last of the fall leaves as soon as things melt down and dry up a bit. We mulch our leaves back into the lawn on most of the yard and in the few areas that we don't mulch we rake and fill the composter with them.

I at least managed to empty the rain barrel and tip it upside down in time. (They're expensive and left filled to freeze and thaw it wouldn't last long.) Yes, all of this seasons water went into the plants and trees.

 With bright sunshine like this our little dusting of snow won't last long although I'm happy to report that it did stay long enough to put us in the mood to bake a pie.

 Both of these shots were taken reaching over the top of the coffee machine to the wildlife area here where a lot of birds and things take shelter in the tangle of bushes and vines outside of my dining room window. There are mostly roses and grapes but I haven't hiked in there to find out what else is growing or living there these days.

I left this photo instead of cropping it so that you can see that I'm leaning over the machine and looking through the top part of the window where a fresh pot of coffee is steaming things up a bit and making things smell really wonderful.

 As usual, here are a couple of pictures of the bird feeders outside of my other dining room window( the one next to my work table)