Monday, November 15, 2010

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.

3 comments:

  1. Frost on the ground and breath on the wind show that Autumn/Winters corner is getting close. By the sea here our trees have been stripped of leaves by the winds of the last week or so and - although Winter looks further away inland - the land looks ready for its cold touch. The seas over the last week have been an ever changing kaleidescope of colour and mood and have been quite fascinating to watch. Feels like the ambers and russets of Autumn were here for just a moment this year. I hope it's not a sign of what's to come......

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  2. Sorry I have not been commenting but I have been reading ...loved the Amish one.

    Yes it is wonderful seeing the world through the eyes of a child ...magical ... but I have to say I love the world through the lens of your camera and the words on your page ...always get a warm comforted feeling.

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  3. Poor toad thought he'd found a nice dry, fluffy, well-insulated place to spend the winter! I have a bunch of early Fall pictures i should post, soon, as almost all the leaves came off the trees in last night's rain! I hope you find your first winter in your home is a whole lot milder than your Western ones!

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