This morning I’m thinking about all of the things I planned to get done this summer but didn’t get done, such as cleaning up the inside of my cottage office and getting the outside of it painted, cleaning our house from top to bottom, and getting the corral partition fence replaced so that it’s a pole fence. And that’s not the half of it.

Now fall is here already, and I’m going to have to hurry to get even some of my “before winter” chores done.

One thing’s for sure; here it is September, and here at Pipi’s Pasture (and the surrounding area)…

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It is dry (nobody has to be told that) and hot (and nobody has to be told that, either).

The trees are soaking up water for the winter months to come so they steal water from the lawn, and we water every day, morning to night.

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Grasshoppers fly around in front of us as we walk from place to place.

The skies are full of smoke from the numerous wildfires.

Flies and miller moths are plentiful.

It is darker when we get up in the morning and getting darker earlier at night.

School is in session so school buses run past the house morning and afternoon.

The cattle are enjoying the last days of summer pasture.

The Morapos Creek at the family ranch is running low.

The garden corn has little ears, and the pumpkins are fat and starting to turn color.

The zucchini are small one day and huge a few days later, and it can be a challenge to find homes for them.

Although there were deer around all summer, Pipi’s Pasture and the yard are now full of them, and they have started eating up the cat food.

The nights and early mornings are cool; it’s more comfortable to wear a jacket to do morning chores now.

The hummingbirds are back from the mountains, though not as numerous this year, perhaps an oddity for 2017.

Although they are still around, we do not hear the robins as much now.

There is one apple to pick on a tree in our yard; we did not realize how much damage the spring frost did.

Some of the pansies are getting a second wind after the hot summer and being pruned by the deer, but the Prairie Flowers — my name for Grecian violets — are blooming like crazy, as they did all summer.

We’re thinking about buying winter clothes, getting winter tires put on the vehicles and making pots of soup.

The new television season is beginning.

Our calves have grown tall and look to be heavy; weaning season isn’t far off.

My old cows, Ucky and Sarah, have survived another summer.

Kittens, born in the spring, are big enough to venture away from their moms and are showing up around the house.

Enjoy September! Christmas is only about four months away.