OCTOBER

I just love this time of year…

The crispness in the air, the leaves turning colors… Makes me feel alive.
Just a side note: I tried to pick the best links possible to give a background on each holiday, you may have better links… if so, share with us all.

• So in saying that, here is what October brings our way:
  
  Oct. 1 – Yom Kippur (Jewish - Begins at Sundown)
  Oct. 5 – Do Something Nice Day
  Oct. 7 – Sukkot (Jewish - Begins at Sundown) FULL MOON
  Oct. 8 – National Children’s Day
  Oct. 9 – Columbus Day (Observed) / Leif Erikson Day
  Oct. 11 – Emergency Nurses Day
  Oct. 13 - Last day of Sukkot (Jewish)
  Oct. 16 – National Boss Day / Dictionary Day
  Oct. 21 – Sweetest Day (Couldn’t help but link the site to Hallmark)
  Oct. 22 – Mother-in-Law Day / NEW MOON (Mother-in-law shirt, make some points)
  Oct. 28 – Make a Difference Day
  Oct. 29 – Daylight Saving Time Ends
  Oct. 31 – Halloween (other reading)
  
  

  Gentle Reminders:
  
  Indoors

  Replace screens with storm windows if you live in an area with cold winters. Affix a piece of painter’s tape to each screen frame, and mark which window it belongs in. Wipe down storem windows before installing them. Use window cleaner on glass panels; wash plastic ones according to manufacturer’s instructions, or use a mild detergent.

  You should replace the batteries in your smoke detectors every six months. Use the day you set your clocks back as a reminder, and you’ll be unlikely to forget. Change the batteries again in spring, when you set your clocks ahead.

  Order firewood early in the month. Hardwood, which is typically denser and burns more efficiently than softwood, is best for fires. Opt for logs cut from deciduous trees, such as hickory, sugar maple, beech, yellow birch, or white or red oak; these burn better than conifer varieties.
  
  Outdoors

  Plant spring-blooming bulbs, such as crocuses, tulips, and daffodils, in well-drained soil. Bulbs need twelve to sixteen weeks of temperatures that are forty-five degrees or colder. If your climate does not permit this, you’ll need to purchase pre-chilled bulbs. Place any bulbs that might be susceptible to pests in a box made of metal hardware cloth. Water thoroughly.

  In the South and Southwest, plant strawberries and cool-season vegetables, such as lettuce, spinach, and kale. Sow strawberries in rosw spaced twelve inches apart in loose, organic, well-drained soil. Plant vegetables after the most intense heat, which makes them bitter, has passed. Add mulch to gardens; water well throughout the season.

  If you have a cool-season grass lawn, such as Kentucky bluegrass, apply fertilizer now, while roots are still actively growing. Water well.
  

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month. Women need to take this opportunity to schedule a mammogram if you’re due. Women age 40 and over should have one each year – it’s the most effective way of detecting the disease, which is diagnosed in more than 200,000 Americans annually. Also, women should have regular breast exams by an ob-gyn or other health expert. Further lesses your risk by eating well, exercising, and limiting alcohol intake.

For more information, visit the American Cancer Society website at http://www.cancer.org/.