Fatastic Fall

Today I experienced a fantastic fall.... Classic in all senses of the word.
It was an AMAZINGLY beautiful / hot day. (In the 90's and sunny.) After church, the kids picked plums, beans, zukes, cukes, blackberries and other squash. I picked up the cat from the vet and processed the fruits of their labors. I planted my grapes and worked on a couple flower beds, and got the supplies to do a project up in the goat barn / chicken coop and got enough propane that I'll be already to start canning outside on my camp stove. We didn't get as many plums as we ususally do - those freak snow storms in March and April did a number on the blossoms this year. I decided that I wanted more plums and the kids had picked all the easy ones. I just knew that I could get those ones that were "just right there" hanging with the big ladder. I got two small buckets full and then I went for the Motherlode in the middle of the tree high up. I put the ladder up against a big trunk branch and climbed up. I got a bunch of plums and was just about to climb down, when the ladder went crashing to the ground. I was holding on to some limbs so when the ladder fell suddenly, I had my safety plan in place. Yep - I was swinging about 8-10 feet off the ground. Then I jumped and landed on the soft bark chips I used for landscaping. I nearly landed on the ladder which would have been very very bad, so I've made a executive management decision....We're done picking plums this year.

Well, the blackberry pie my daughter B (who is a fabulous cook) should be out of the oven soon and so I'd better go enjoy the fruits of her labors...