Books, Critters and Fall

Having just visited the public library, I decided I'd better check on some of my favorite authors to see if I've missed anything... I need to get a copy of Carolyn Haines' Bone Appetit, and Lillian Stewart Carl's The Blue Hackle; Blaize Clement's new Dixie Hemingway pet-sitting mystery is due out in January, but I don't know the title, as yet. I just finished Donna Andrews' Swan for the Money, and am looking forward to Stork Raving Mad... I also just finished the first two books in Clea Simon's series about Theda Krakow, a cat-loving free-lance reporter. I've greatly enjoyed all of them. I can't wait to get my hungry little paws on the newest books of these authors! It will be a literary feast for me and my kits! (I read aloud to them, you know... as well as all of the other critters I take care of.)
Lovey seems to realize that I was unhappy with her being down on the Boulder Creek Path last week. She's staying pretty close to home, and coming back inside to check on me at the desk every few minutes. Neddy still has a very high squeaky voice... I wonder if it will ever settle into a lower register. I sometimes think that the squeak I hear is Lovey, and then I turn and see that it's little Neddy talking to me. I'm still not quite sure how to describe his coat - it's definitely not short, but he has a ruff around his neck and ears, plus a tremendously plumed tail. The fur is extremely fine and where I'd think he would have highlights of red, he turns a blue-grey. I'll have to see what happens as he grows older. Today I'm getting ready to head for Brighton until Sunday morning. Thankfully, the family I'm sitting for always leaves me a vehicle, as it's a 45 minute drive to their house, and there are no bus connections for me. So I'll be able to run back home on a daily basis, take care of my kits, and walk both the Rs and Lucy each weekday. I'll miss sleeping with my kits, but will have four dogs and five cats as company where I'll be staying. It should be interesting!
I know that fall has arrived because I awakened Sunday morning to a strange sound. I laid there in bed and listened to it, trying to figure out exactly what that noise was... It was familiar, but I just couldn't place it. I turned over, and saw the curtains moving, and realized that the heater had kicked itself on. - That was the familiar, but not quite right, sound that I heard. So fall is finally upon us in the mountains and foothills. It was 38 degrees on the western slope at 10 p.m. last night. Sunday morning we had dropped down to 44, so I guess my heater had a very good reason to turn on. Even so, it's still very dry out there, and there is yet another wildfire burning to the west of Frazer and Tabernash, out on the east side of Sheep Mountain right now. The smoke is visible today here in Boulder. Usually, by the end of September, Boulder has had 2 inches of snow - but it doesn't look as though there's any in the forecast for the next 10 days or so, so I guess I'd better not count on it...