NaBloPoMo 16: Fall Cleanup...and Horror Movie Ladybug Video

It was gray today, but thankfully, still warm, as it was "pack up for winter" day, at the Country Casa. Here's all of the furniture, bird feeders, summer lawn ornaments, gardening equipment, tiki torches, and citronella candles, lined up to squeeze into the garden shed until next spring.

Here's another crappy picture of a far-away deer. We love to watch them, even though we see them every day. This doe circled our yard on her own while we were putting things away. Someone forgot to tell her it's deer season, I think, or she wouldn't have made herself so vulnerable, out there in the open.

I've written before about Autumn Ladybugs in this part of the country. Last year they weren't so bad, and I was hoping they'd  moved on forever. To no avail. Here was the scene against the seams in the garden shed this morning.

These stupid bugs get cold and stiffen up, and then come to life when it warms up. They sneak into the house and keel over during the night, then suddenly come to life when when the steam from the shower heats the room up. Some news crew or another reminds us every year that there's nothing we can do about them. Mind you, they aren't this thick in the house, but there always seems to be one that needs to be vacuumed up—after you think you surely must have vacuumed up the last.

Here's the scene from our dustpan this morning:

Bleah. Blech. Puke,

My only saving grace is that we were somehow brought up to think that ladybugs are cute. If this were a pile of spiders...well, there would be no movie, for one thing, and I don't want to think about the rest.

Autumn is still my favorite season, and though winter is around the corner, winter it is not, yet. We put away my chairs today, but there's still a porch swing to sit in.

I'll deal with winter when it gets here. For now...deer and ladybugs.