Autumnal Chores

As I became busy with a variety of chores [such as canning pickled beets] the weather

changed almost without my notice, leaves falling, days growing shorter.

I took these photos on a busy afternoon early in November, loaded the photos, never finished the blog post.

I was intent on potting up the gernaniums and begonias which spent the summer on the porch.

Some plants were gently lifted into different pots, many were tided and cut back.

This Robin Hood geranium is one that needed fresh potting soil.

Reaching into an opened back of soil mix, I scooped out several handfulls and strewed them around the plant.

One handful felt quite lumpy.

A moment after setting aside the potted plant my eyes were drawn back to it.

The soil was heaving and this toad suddenly hulked into view.

I prodded him to hop onto the ground where he immediately blended into the leafy background.

Working on through the warm afternoon I pulled spent marigolds, still with brilliant splashes of color spangling the frost-shriveled shrubby plants.

Marigolds on the trash heap.

My evening bonfire.

Seedheads enough to plant miles of marigolds in the spring.

The Michaelmas daisies were the last of my border flowers to bloom.

Since this photo was taken the flowers have faded and the plants are covered with fuzzy seed heads.

Sunflowers started from the fallen seeds near the mother plant.

A pale pink cornflower.

Echinacea from seed sown directly into the ground in June.

These husky plants should winter well.

Today brought a mizzle of rain and a dank chill that seeped into my bones.

Suddenly the coming of winter, an unknown quantity in a new homeplace, is a reality.