Today I drained and put away the rain barrel for the winter.  We recently realized that if it froze, the overflow wouldn’t work and the barrel would probably crack.  And, if the conditions were right, we’d end up with an ice rink in the backyard.  Which would be nice now that I think about it.  Anyway, the top of the barrel is covered with the stuff that washes off the roof into the gutters (and floats).  It’s mostly big seeds from the birds.  But today I found this very strangely shaped seed.  It’s also from a bird.

John and Helanna gave us (rented us?) an organic apple tree.  We took Pill and Yofi out to pick some apples.  The dogs didn’t help.

So I had to improvise.