October Scenes

Sunrise has been vivid most mornings, even when the sky later becomes patchy with clouds.

The meadow is greener since the rains. 

On several days rain has moved in abruptly, continuing into the evening.

The ravine at the west end of the property billows with smoky mist as evening falls.

Leaves still cling to the trees along the lane.

There is changing color in the trees which rim the meadow.

Wind and rain over the weekend brought down leaves along the lane. 

Morning sun has been tardy in breaking through layers of mist and cloud.

There is nothing handsome or appealing about vultures.  The red-headed variety and the black-headed ones such as this duo are common in Kentucky. 

These are finding a favorite perch in the fire-blasted tree that still stands near the house site of former owners.

On a mid-morning errand last week we noticed a 'committee of vultures' roosting in a group of half-dead trees near the highway.  Jim remarked that we've seen them previously in that same area, a stretch of wooded marshland. Some of the birds were hunched on branches, others had their wings bent outward as though airing their feathers.

I didn't find them an attractive sight.

I saw only one or two black and yellow garden spiders [argiope aurantia] this summer, although I kept watch for their intricate webs with the signature zig-zag centers. 

One has left her sack of eggs attached to the south side of the barn.

Yellow zinnias prevail although the other colors have mostly faded and gone to seed.

A very lethargic bumblebee 

We don't have maples to go out in a blaze of autumn reds and oranges.

Trees at the edge of the ravine behind the shed still hold green blending with muted shades of bronze and russet.

One crimson-leaved tree lights up a misty morning.

I began grubbing out a strip in back of the Knock-Out rose hedge.

After two afternoons of work  [not shown here] I have a space which can be further enlarged in the spring.  I removed sod [and weeds!] below the east facing basement windows and tucked in my seedling lavenders.

I also turned the soil along the edge of the patio bricks by the front door; more lavender planted there and the thyme, sage and oregano which summered in a big tub. 

It is late in the season to undertake transplanting, but it couldn't be done before the fall rains mellowed the dry soil. 

The proof of the experiment won't be seen until spring.

These roses were labeled as 'landscape/ground cover roses. They have instead matured as vigorous climbers.  They will need to be moved and given a trellis or other support.

Even as I have labored to put the gardens to bed for the winter, even as I've come inside to groan over an aching back, the possibilities  for another springtime fuel my imagination.

These David Austen roses were chilled when I brought them in, but later responded to warmth in the kitchen window.

The first blooms of spring and the last in autumn are especially treasured.