What month is it ???

Well today felt a lot like October. I was able to trim back some of the asters, the creeping phlox that has decided to travel across the sidewalk... a long with the other plants that have died off. I emptied one of the rain barrels and it is drying out before we bring it into the basement for winter storage. I was surprised and delighted to see two mantis... One high up on the house (near the second floor window) and the other in the lavender... she wasn't too happy with me disturbing her. We can't recall ever seeing mantis in November before. Things are strange...