The Grape vines have been pruned, the roses too. Time to cut the remaining tall mint, take the gazebo furniture cushions to the storage shed behind the little house. Get as many leaves off the deck as possible. I'm hoping for a long enough stretch of time to let the deck dry to get a coat of linseed oil or Thompson's WaterSeal on it before it's too late. It might be already. It wouldn't be the first time I let winter slip up on me. I hate the preparation. I hate cleaning rain gutters, hate raking leaves, hate taking the cushions in because it means I have resigned myself to winter. No more evenings sitting in the gazebo, listening to squirrels and chickadees and crickets. Short days, long nights. Shoveling snow. Oh yes, I know how you sunbirds love the snow you don't have to shovel. But it's enough to break an old woman's back. If it's really deep and staying, I call the teenage girl across the street and she runs over to shovel for me. She's a most ambitious little entrepreneur, helpful and prompt for the right price. Good girl, Alex. It's nice to know you dear.
10 comments:
Even sans winter here in GA our old habbits of letting things slide in the fall continue to happen.
Maybe I am done hiding from you.
That would be a good thing. I'm completely harmless you know.
You place looks very cozy Utah! Personally I love winter and do not mind shoveling! Thankfully we just moved from a colonial with a 100 foot hill for a driveway I was finding a job.
This nice flat little driveway with attached garage I am looking forward to shoveling. Plus it is nice that one of my sons will be living with us for a while as he gets reestablished here.
Always nice to know you have the help even if you can do it yourself isn't it? Reassuring!
We had a few peeks of sun and a little blue sky, but November in the NW generally means gray, gray, gray -- and wet! But at least I don't have to shovel snow. Did that enough when I raised my family in Montana and had horses! Yep, I'll take today and gray.
Oh Sylvia, be still my heart. Horses. I've been a lifelong horse lover. Luckily I had a good friend that ran a horse business so I got to ride her boarder's best horses to keep them conditioned and trained. I learned to play Polo in my mid fifties. But horses are like yachts they eat money.
Snow shoveling is indeed no fun but especially so when you have to go to work and must get up an hour early just to clear the driveway. I don't miss it even though we've also traded snow for rain and occasional ice.
Your place does look cozy and hopefully you have winter visitors.
Your Santa Barbara is calm and balmy this weekend, Utah. All I can say about last Sunday, however, is that never had my boat seemed so small nor the sea so large.
Ah yes, Vig, when I dream of my paradise I dream of Santa Barbara. I was transporting myself there today, walking Hendry's Beach. I have a gorgeous photo of the beach my mother took before she lost her wits. It's stunning, taken from the bluff on the south side and at that height the beach looks like a whale fluke. I'll search for it and get Melea to scan it for me. You'd love it.
i've certainly left winter slip in on me ... my yard is a foot deep in leaves, which are pretty, but my neighbor, who is obsessive compulsive with his leaf blower, doesn't seem to like the fact that MY leaves blow over to HIS place. oh well, the trees are just about naked now and i have a guy who will come one time ane take them all away in one fell swoop.
my porches need some treatment, i guess. thanks for reminding me. however, it ain't gonna happen this year. let 'em rot.
my biggest regret is that i didn't get into my iris beds to separate them and replant them. so fuggedabout a nice iris patch next spring.
and shoveling snow. oy. i'm having major surgery early december and the doctor says i won't be able to pick up my cats for awhile, never mind shoveling. i wish my across the street neighbor's kid was older so i could get him to shovel for me. in the meantime, i guess i'll just be snowed in. fuck it.
Anita, If I had my way, I'd clean -up the way you're doing it. I'd wait until all the leaves are down and then rake and bag once. But since we've had snow twice already, I can't risk having leaves down with snow and ice covering that blanket of leaves. It makes clean-up impossible. So this year I work on it tree by tree. Next will be the maples and fruit trees, then finally the Chestnut trees that line the driveway of the front house. They fall so late in the season that they often end up falling on several inches of snow and don't get cleaned up until spring. I'm ever hopeful that snow won't blanket the ground until the chestnut leaves are down.
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