A cacophony is the only way to describe this morning. My housecleaner is here, and she is vacuuming upstairs. Nala is barking at the vacuum, and Henry is barking at my cleaning lady. She is unruffled. In my yard, branches are being piled, the back fence is getting fixed, the deck has been cleaned, the front fence is upright again, and the lawn has been cleaned of debris and leaves. I heard the blowers, the saws and the trucks. Henry barked, no surprise there. I got a headache, no surprise there either.

Today is lovely with lots of sun and a blue sky. It is 59˚ but the high will be over 60˚. This is a perfect fall day on Cape Cod.

My dance card is empty today. I haven't any errands or chores, except the laundry, but I still have clean clothes so the laundry can wait. I did throw the filled pillow case down the cellar stairs in hopes of out of sight, out of mind. My yard is finished, and the dogs have been out running and attacking each other. The front yard is cleared of leaves and debris. I can see the driveway and deck now. I'm happy.

Last night I had more kids trick or treating at my house then I've ever had. Almost all the M&Ms are gone. The Hershey bars weren't touched except I did treat myself to another bar last night. I'm thinking of putting the M&Ms in my little library. I have to go out to the library anyway to tighten latch, take books away and add books so I might as well offer the M&Ms. A cozy corner, a good book and M&Ms seems like a great way to while away the afternoon.

On Halloween night, my mother used to give each of us a large bowl for our candy. We'd sit on the living room floor and pick over the pile. We'd take out any we didn't want, especially the candy corn, and toss that pile away. We'd trade bars. We'd eat candy during the proceedings. At the end of the night, when I went upstairs to bed, I'd carry my heavy bowl and put it under my bed, an easily accessible spot for nighttime chocolate. The last Halloween treat was we always had the next day off from school, All Saint's Day. We did have to go to mass which put a crimp in the day, but I hid candy in my pockets and sat in the back so I could munch during mass, probably some sort of a sin unidentified in my catechism.