It's November already?

We had a fun Halloween--although it was quieter than usual. We've lived in our neighborhood for six years. Each year we have been increasingly surprised by the turnout for trick-or-treating. Families have huge parties in their front yards complete with bales of hay, carved pumpkins, scarecrows, music, chili, bbq spare ribs, etc. We've been known to show movies outside, including "Monster House" and "The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown". As people come around to trick-or-treat, the kids get candy and the parents get some yummy food and have a fun visit. You really could spend the entire night on one street. Families from other neighborhoods have been known to come here because we have quite a reputation. No one is too young or too old to dress up and make the rounds. It has taken more and more candy to satisfy the hungry mobs, too. This year I bought five HUGE bags of candy because last year we bought three and ran out with hours to go. Around 5:30 I sat by the front door waiting for signs of the first trick-or-treaters. 6:00 came and went, 6:30, 6:45 and still no kids! I heard kids playing up the street but nobody was coming around yet. (This is especially odd because there have been years where by 5:00 the doorbell was ringing...) By about 7:15 kids starting coming around, but it just wasn't the night it usually is. We had a lot of candy left over! Austin is the only one of our kids who wanted to go trick-or-treating. He came home with 13 lbs of candy. Yes, 13. That is not a typo. So I guess he got enough for everyone! Between his stash and our leftovers, we had more than enough and threw away a lot yesterday. By only 8 pm I left our house and went to visit with neighbors. I scored some great chow mein and bbq spare ribs. Oh, and a piece of pumpkin cheesecake. Wow, that was good! Even though it was quieter than usual, it was still a fun night.

Our late summer garden is doing well (unlike our regular summer garden). Our strawberry plants are getting bigger and bigger. One of these days we may actually get some strawberries. We have five green peppers and several blossoms. And we have three tomatoes and lots of blossoms. Maybe we'll get some food for our investment after all! Here in AZ we have to use raised beds. We need about 6" of soil so we use concrete block forms and fill them with good soil. From what I understand, we can garden here year-round. I have no idea what grows at what time of year, but my thinking is that whatever plants are on sale at the garden centers is what will grow this season. I think it's a good plan.

I ask you all, where has this year gone, I can't believe it's already November! Maybe that's partly because it's still been in the 90s here. UGH! Enough already...this week is supposed to be cooler, with highs averaging in the mid 70s. That sounds much better!