It was almost chilly this morning. Autumn is definitely on the doorstep, and we are looking forward to the change. The pasture had a light cover of mist, sublime in its gentle quiet.
Horses in the south pasture, deer in the north pasture. 
The Pearl Brothers enjoy a morning scratch before coming in
I glanced out to the east, when I was bringing the horses in, and noticed the Asian pear tree had somehow survived raccoon and deer predation and there were three Asian pears still on the tree! I have picked them, and we will enjoy them tomorrow. What a treat!
Asian pears overlooked by varmints
I didn’t have much time for bird pictures today. Here is a black capped chickadee, who stopped by. I cannot pick a favorite bird, because I love them all for one reason or another. But who doesn’t love a black capped chickadee? They are so quick, and cheerful and have such a hilarious little scolding voice. We are on the southern edge of their range, so we are very fortunate to have them around. We were amazed that a chickadee nested in one of our fenceposts this year. It was a risky choice in a wet year, but there seem to be more chickadees around, so I like to assume that nest survived.
It was a hectic day, with errands taking us into St. Louis, but it’s always nice to have a feeling of accomplishment at the end of the rushing about. The dogs were happy to see us, and Harry enjoyed a short rest with his pack.
Happy hound Cedar 
Harry and Weedy 
Cedar, Mistletoe, Weedy, and the leader of the pack 
Nettie does not associate with the common dogs on the bed
Today being Monday, it is my day for barn work, and it was a delightful way to decompress, puttering around with cats and horses.
Skittle and Twizzler 
Tom Morris 
The afternoon light was gorgeous on Stone drinking
We may transition to daytime turnout this week. The forecast shows temperatures dropping into the forties.
Finally, the woods are full of snakeroot at this time of year. It’s quite pretty, but very toxic to livestock, so I have mixed feelings about it. There is none growing in the pastures and I steer clear of it in the woods, but there is a lot of it every autumn around here. In the nineteenth century, people were killed by drinking milk from cattle that had eaten snakeroot. They called it “milk sickness”, and it killed Abraham Lincoln’s mother!
Stay safe, stay well, stay away from snakeroot!
All those fall pix remind me to tell you to look up Pro Publica/NYT/Pulitzer Foundation piece on massive american migrations expected off southern sea board and Cal and arizona and others to resettle in maybe Midwest, maybe Canada depending on heat, humidity , drought and fire and flooding in coastal and southern areas. Pretty scary.
Actually, some in Cal. have already sold and moved into MO. midwestern area.
Love your pictures, your horses are always in beautiful condition—and peaceful.
Interesting about the snakeroot. I had to look it up. We have lots of it at the edge of the woods, and it’s beautiful. No horses or cows here so no worries.