Of young things and green tomatoes

Some things are just too cute, and brighten life. Children and dogs are this way. Here are Mercy and Courage (niece and nephew), in West Virginia, playing chess. They did this for about an hour one morning.  Courage showed his Robinsonness, and could not bear to lose.  He is 4. Mercy continued to play with her older brothers for another hour.  She is 7.  On the cold days, these kids played chess, Clue, Scotland Yard, Dutch Blitz, and other games. These two little ones may not fully grasp the game yet (I know I don't!), but they watch and follow, and enjoy it all the same.

Speaking of followers, while Tasha was visiting here, every time I looked behind me, this is what I saw:

The frost finally came, and we picked the last of the green tomatoes. Anna wrapped them in paper for me, and they went into the basement.

We did that with other green tomatoes, and this is what we got:

Our own tomatoes in November.  Not bad!