...Over the weekend...

...I had taken Jack to this little State Park near our home every night this week...

...so the second I got his leash...he ran straight for the car...they learn so quickly...hoping he won't be disappointed if we don't make it every day now...but...he's certainly happy in the moment...

...the path was super nice...I love fall...and it's still pretty early fall here...the leaves are really just starting to turn...

...not sure if you can see it....but this is a persimmon tree...they're not terribly common around here...but some of the ladies make a persimmon pie and/or pudding for Church covered dish suppers...(not vegan though... )

...this is the bottom of a two tiered lake system...I love the reflection of the sky and trees...

...on the way back to the car...we passed the persimmon tree again...

...and this time I couldn't resist plucking a ripe fruit...

...I remember Daddy talking about eating wild persimmons...but I think this is the very first time I've ever tried one...I liked it...but found it rather odd...the texture of it felt kind of like a cross between a tomato and a peach...and the flavor was just sweet and mild...not peachy or tomatoey...

...have you ever tried a persimmon?...

...I had gotten up super early...so I could take care of my dog-sitting commitment...and get the shopping done so that I could meet up with my dear friend Amy here...at the Gibson Mill Antique Mall...I had never been...but it was the venue of Scout and Our Girl's prom...

...it was super crowded...

...but we went in and wandered up and down the crowded aisles...I actually found some of my Liberty Blue plates at a good price and we lugged them around (taking turns)...but in the end...the queue to the check out was so long that we put them back...

...anywhoo...we had lunch at the little deli in the mall...and they had lots of vegetarian options...so I got a panini and asked for no cheese or butter and the guy cheerfully offered to add avocado instead...so nice...

...then early afternoon...we decided to wander around the little town...downtown...and we passed this crazy Halloween decorated house...there was quite a crowd of people 'admiring' it...

...and we went to the little chocolate shop...and got a delicious vegan cake...we were going to get vegan ice cream at that shop too...but we were too full...

...it was such a fun afternoon...Old friends are the BEST!

...then Sunday after Church...this happened...

...just a few people left and we were about to lock up...when we walked up the hall to the exit and smelled electrical smoke in the Handbell room...there's really not much in there that could be on fire...but the fire department was called and quickly arrived...and this being a small community and all...everyone stopped to offer assistance...and find out what was going on...

...so here is the crowd gathered around the culprit...an old cd copying station...that's not used anymore since the AV equipment has been upgraded and is all digital now...but the AV person used to take the master cd from the old system into this room and they could make 5 copies at a time on this old system...and it was just left plugged in in there and nobody was using it...and the power supply caught fire and burned up the inside of the PC...

...we were really super lucky that it happened on a Sunday afternoon when people were still around...

...and that's all the excitement I have for now...

~Wishing you a lovely start to your week!