Someone at the library has way too much time on their hands. Earlier in the week, the self-service checkout machine had "Zombie-Advanced" as one of the language choices and today it has been replaced with "Pig Latin". Of course, you still get the other choices of "English", "Spanish" and "Pirate".

A bunch of my reserved books are all coming in recently. I just finished up Terry Pratchett's "Unseen Academicals" and I think Mr. Nutt is right up there with Death and Death of Rats as favorite Discworld characters. I am now partway through A.S. Byatt's "The Children's Book" which is bringing back memories of the paper I once wrote on E. Nesbitt.

Really enjoyed the first episode of this season's FNL and have the second one waiting to be seen. Yay for more Tim Riggins. : )

Another grey, rainy day here but this time around, it is warm instead of the usual-for-this-month cold.

A lot of the books I had on reserve at the library have been coming in lately, so I have been reading a lot. Kate Morton's "The Forgotten Garden" and "The House at Riverton" were both good rainy day reading. And why is it, as more often than not, if I wait a day after getting the email from the library, another of my reserve books will also be there?

Currently too, the library's self-service check-out machine which usually gives you a choice of either English or Spanish also lets you check-out in "Pirate", so I did. : )

Also I have been surfing through the "currently available" list of the library's downloadable audiobooks and listening to them as I knit and spin. I just finished listening to "The Monster of Florence" about a real life serial killer in Florence, Italy. The story was fascinating (especially since some of the murders occurred while I was living in Italy and I had no idea that they were going on). But the story of the investigation and what happened to the authors was even more interesting than the murder stuff was.

I don't know if any of you read the "Game of Thrones" series by George R.R. Martin, but HBO is doing a pilot for it. And best of all, Sean Bean is in it. YAY!(http://www.thrfeed.com/2009/10/game-of-thrones-cast-with-photos-.html) Hmmm- I may not cancel HBO next time I have to redo my cable contract..........

Last winter no matter how many times I flipped the wall switch, my gas fireplace would not turn on. Since today was another cold, dreary and rainy day, I tried it again and this time around, it worked -YAY! The cats are enjoying the fire too. : )

I went to a new yarn shop the other day in a little town south of here. One of the owners has sheep and llamas and dyes roving from their fleece. I bought some very pretty roving in a brown/gold/red colorway called "October". As the owner knows me, she was astounded that it wasn't teal. : )

It is still looking and feeling more like November than October here. Even saw a few snow flakes on Saturday, but it is mostly just grey, damp, and dreary. I have even had to turn on the heat since the temps have been into the 20s at night. I usually don't have to turn the heat on until November. : (

I did make some good butternut squash and apple soup in my crockpot today. I cheated and bought the already chopped up squash at Trader Joe's- so much easier that way.

Had my last day of niece-babysitting yesterday. Today was her pre-school orientation and she starts for good tomorrow. I am sure that I will hear all about it at dinner on Sunday.

Finished up spinning some alpaca/silk roving today and now the yarn is drying in my bathroom. No more drying yarn out on the screenporch for a while......

Just for something cute to balance all the sadness over NBC's stupid decision to cancel Southland, here is a pic of Pie in a tux with his grandpa (my SIL's dad). He was a ring bearer for his uncle's wedding. :

I think that we skipped October and have gone straight to November here. There is actually a chance of light snow in the forecast for Saturday and Sunday nights and for Monday. I think it is supposed to be the kind that you see in the air but doesn't stick to the ground.

Of course, if it really was November I would have Ben McKenzie on my tv screen already.......

I am down to my last few days of watching my niece -just 3 days next week and then she will be going to the same preschool that her brothers attended. It will be interesting to see how she does. It probably won't take too long for her to adjust.

The cold fall has been good for my knitting and spinning. I'm working on a really pretty coppery colored cabled cardigan that is called (appropriately) "October Frost". I should even finish it up to wear yet this October. : )

ETA: Damn NBC for cancelling the only show on their network that I wanted to watch. Goodbye NBC!

How to know when you are getting really, really old - got my hair trimmed on Friday and when the stylist asked me if I had any plans for the weekend about all I could come up with was "doing the laundry" and "taking out the trash". : )

Actually I could have added some baking, some knitting, watching the Badger football game, some listening to audiobooks and reading to the list too. And playing on the computer. Still not the most earth-shakingly exciting weekend but not too bad for one that feels more like November than October.

Honeycrisp apples are back in the stores- YAY!

Have read a bunch of books recently but will only list a few:

The Sisters of Sinai: How Two Lady Adventurers Discovered the Hidden Gospels by Janet Soskice was very interesting. It had a little of everything - rich twin Scottish sisters, adventure, intrigue, and even mentions of knitting. Loved how they became world-renowned scholars at a time when women were not allowed to get degrees at Cambridge University.

I also just finished Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities by Amy Stewart. It is just the sort of book to give to people who think that just because something is "natural", it is also harmless. Hee, so very, very wrong ..........

And for anyone who likes the "urban fantasy" genre, I highly recommend Rob Thurman's books. Her newest is Trick of the Light which has some great twists to it. My favorites, though, are her 4 Cal Leandros books: Nightlife, Moonshine, Madhouse and Deathwish.

Did a run to World Market today and now they have the Torani Pumpkin Pie flavor syrup in sugar-free- yay for home-made Pumpkin Spice lattes. And they had Perugina Baci candy bars back in. And my favorite digestive biscuits.

Caught up on the first 4 episodes of Glee this afternoon while spinning up some very pretty amber colored Wensleydale roving that I bought a few weekends ago. Really enjoyed the football team doing their "Single Ladies" routine.

I'm still enjoying Supernatural but I wish Southland would hurry up and get back on the air.......

Hope that you are having a great birthday!

PS: I realize that one of the pics on your card isn't Ben, but I couldn't resist adding my niece in her tutu. : )