What? You mean summer doesn't last forever? Hot damn.

The leaves on this tree below are red. Bright red. Fall is indeed here, and the leaves are wanting to fall down into the gutters and disintegrate with assistance from the brisk winds arriving with the coming winter. Well, the endless summer has come to somewhat of an abrupt halt. Holy moly, it's freaking frigid! We're still in Wanaka, and the weather forecast has predicted - gulp - snow? Yes indeed, my friends, snow is in the works for tomorrow night and the temperature is supposed to go down to - double gulp - zero degrees Celsius. Have I been away from the winter long enough to become a bit of a sissy? A baby? Gosh darnit, have I become an elderly softy, afraid of the oncoming season of bitter cold and constant chapped lips? Crap. Fear not dear friends because if you recall, I was smart enough to pack my.... wait for it....... DOWN JACKET! Sah-weeeeet! So, whenever I feel the slightest breeze of winter coming along, I can just toss on the old 'down hug', as I call it, and laugh and remain carefree. I wish it could always work that easily, but I fear my noggin gets a wee bit cold now with my shortest of short hair doo. There are other ways to remain warm and toasty all over, and my first solution is a homemade crocheted toque! I got some marino wool laced with possum fur (heh, heh, you pesky possums), and made my favourite Brian a sweet toque. Here he is dispaying his new fashionable noggin warmer: Earlier this morning, I did a quick email check at the hostel we are staying at, and my adorable brother, Greg, sent me a photo of him and a friend making a scrumptious meal at his hostel when he was in Wanaka a few years ago. Hmmm.... Can anyone see the similarities between my brother's photo, and the photo shown below, below that I took earlier today? Hi Brian... Cutie: Yes, we both stayed in the same shady little hostel. How funny is that? I love that there are at least a handful of better, nicer, and friendlier hostels in Wanaka and we both ended up staying in the same crappy place, and both made deeeeelicious meals in the kitchen lacking anything resembling a sharp knife.