What Did You Do In The Garden?

[SPedigrees]

Finally got my front porch into Halloween mode for the little ghosties and goblins (providing I get any - it's pretty much hit-or-miss how many trick-or-treaters come here on any given year).

I also celebrate Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos) beginning tomorrow and continuing all week (since I have more dead friends and pets than living ones) so I need to clear off spaces for their ofrendas (altars). Problem is my house is all torn up, awaiting the completion of window installation, door repair, and exterior light fixture installation. I will be so happy when all these repairs and improvements are at an end and I have my house back to myself again.

On a positive note, my damaged toe (bruising extended all the way down into the ball of my foot) suddenly healed overnight and is back to normal. It took a week but finally I no longer have to wear a sandal or an old boot cut up to accommodate my wounded toe. I hope my fellow door kickers are healing in the same way!

 

[Shades-of-Oregon]

@SPedigrees your porch looks all ready for Holloween such a cute flag with black cat / pumpkin.
We don’t get any trick or treaters way out in the country. Very happy not to have the door bell ringing all night and dogs barking all night. Miss the kids costumes.

When all your windows are installed your home will look so different and hopefully much warmer in winter and cooler in summers. Changes the whole feel and look of the house a great upgrade. That was the first thing we replaced here too.

Good to hear your big toe had resumed it’s normal. I don’t remember if you remembered that I popped my big toe the same day as you did by kicking a hard 6” inneractive plastic doggie ball. And it’s still sore but a bit better.

Happy all the critters that seem to find food on this land have literally disappeared for the winter. Moles and gophers do not hibernate here remain active all year.

I hear the coyotes howling at night and haven’t seen the young bobcat around or leaving any signs behind that is scat or feathers spread out from a quail kill. Fingers crossedthe coyotes will find another area to hunt.
The raccoons will always be a hassle if they smell food. Also keeping that issue contained in air tight containers.

 

[SPedigrees]

@SPedigrees your porch looks all ready for Holloween such a cute flag with black cat / pumpkin.
We don’t get any trick or treaters way out in the country. Very happy not to have the door bell ringing all night and dogs barking all night. Miss the kids costumes.

When all your windows are installed your home will look so different and hopefully much warmer in winter and cooler in summers. Changes the whole feel and look of the house a great upgrade. That was the first thing we replaced here too.

Good to hear your big toe had resumed it’s normal. I don’t remember if you remembered that I popped my big toe the same day as you did by kicking a hard 6” inneractive plastic doggie ball. And it’s still sore but a bit better.

Happy all the critters that seem to find food on this land have literally disappeared for the winter. Moles and gophers do not hibernate here remain active all year.

I hear the coyotes howling at night and haven’t seen the young bobcat around or leaving any signs behind that is scat or feathers spread out from a quail kill. Fingers crossedthe coyotes will find another area to hunt.
The raccoons will always be a hassle if they smell food. Also keeping that issue contained in air tight containers.

@SPedigrees your porch looks all ready for Holloween such a cute flag with black cat / pumpkin.
We don’t get any trick or treaters way out in the country. Very happy not to have the door bell ringing all night and dogs barking all night. Miss the kids costumes.

When all your windows are installed your home will look so different and hopefully much warmer in winter and cooler in summers. Changes the whole feel and look of the house a great upgrade. That was the first thing we replaced here too.

Good to hear your big toe had resumed it’s normal. I don’t remember if you remembered that I popped my big toe the same day as you did by kicking a hard 6” inneractive plastic doggie ball. And it’s still sore but a bit better.

Happy all the critters that seem to find food on this land have literally disappeared for the winter. Moles and gophers do not hibernate here remain active all year.

I hear the coyotes howling at night and haven’t seen the young bobcat around or leaving any signs behind that is scat or feathers spread out from a quail kill. Fingers crossedthe coyotes will find another area to hunt.
The raccoons will always be a hassle if they smell food. Also keeping that issue contained in air tight containers.

Yes I do remember you relating how you kicked the doggie ball and it won! I'm glad that your injury also is healing. Someone else (Steve maybe) had kicked a garage door, but I think that was in the past.

"All my windows" is just one single window. For all intents and purposes it is installed and functional, just needs trim around the inside. But until that happens my furniture is moved out of that room into the hallway, and pictures down from the walls etc.

The door repair guy turned out to be a no-show and I haven't been able to get the alternative repair person on the phone. The window guy could probably fix the door, but he's always sort of backed up with work projects (is semi-retired) and I want the door fixed before winter.

At least I don't foresee any problems with the light installation, but the electrician appointment is still several weeks away.

Someone once said to me "We don't own our houses; they own us." Truer words never spoken. I miss my husband in a hundred different ways, but in situations like this, he would get repair people on the phone for things we couldn't fix ourselves, and schedule appointments with them. He liked solving problems, whereas I hate dealing with problems! I sort of dread the next few years because so many of the skilled technicians and repair guys in my area are close to retirement, and it doesn't seem that many young people are stepping up to take over. Oh well...

Hope your bobcat survived the coyotes and other dangers. Do you have bears where you are? We have a lot of black bears, and hear them hooting back and forth at night accompanying the coyote songs. A brief warm spell is due to disappear in a day or two and then most things here will be hibernating.

 

[digitS']

Someone else ... had kicked a garage door

I kicked the inside of one of our 2 garage doors (4 car garage) bc it was frozen from water and temperature drop, and I left a PERMANENT dent on it, cannot repair and constantly reminding me that I Could have found a better way

 

[SPedigrees]

The ways chosen are often not the better ways. ;-)

 

[Shades-of-Oregon]

Ran outside quickly between the rain showers, grabbed the leaf blower and cleared the leaves from the patios, driveway & parking area. It’s easier before the leaves are rain soaked they stick to the ground Then if it snows the leaves are stuck on the spot til spring. So there is some madness to this leaf extracting system only a seasoned gardener could get.

 

[flowerbug]

i'd forgotten the other day when it was warm to get outside and bring in the hoses. today it was colder and windy but at least it wasn't raining and i had a few minutes. the long hose that goes out to the back gardens has a crack in it so that will not go into storage for the winter but instead will go out with Monday's trash. it has lasted about 20 years so i'm not disappointed by it, but i also wonder if we'll find anything next spring that is even close to being as sturdy.

 

[Shades-of-Oregon]

There are some really good heavy duty hoses on the market .We had several that lasted for years. After about 20 years wore out - hot /cold weather, cars and trucks running over them every day, horses stepping on them well you know the drill. Replaced them for the last 8 years the replacements have performed amazing with the cars - horses - trucks. Blah blah.
From what I understand the do’s and don’ts -never use brass connections with white metal connections they will not only bond but some will fuse and never come apart .

Just wanted to put your mind at rest that there are some well made dependable products made today for garden hoses.

 

[flowerbug]

i put in a few hours of digging to get more of the strawberry patch weeded and turned under. maybe i can get it done in one more shift, but not sure - the part i haven't done yet is perhaps only 1/4 of the garden but there is a lot of oxalis in there and i'm trying to remove as much of it as i can as i'm turning it - takes some time to get all those bits of plant that have twined around the roots and crowns of the old strawberry plants.

 

[SPedigrees]

I got only a young mom and her two kids for trick-or-treaters the other night. Others in the area have said there is a dearth of kids ringing doorbells, so I'm guessing not so many young children around anymore. Many towns are consolidating their schools and busing kids to schools further from home, which seems sad for the young ones, but I imagine it's a result of the same scarcity of youngsters.

Still trying to find someone to fix my door...

We've had historically warm days, and the warm spell is predicted to continue all this week, so I've gotten some outdoor work done. I pulled out the dead sunflowers in the metal raised bed on the hill, and removed the high posts that were holding up the tall cage of deer netting. I was glad to find that all the sunflowers had been emptied of seeds, so I know that the birds have been feasting. Pulled out some weeds, then lugged a bag of potting soil up there to add, and winter-sowed chervil and bee balm. Hoping one or both will get established and not need much care in the future.

I still have to bring in the garden hoses for winter, but in light of this unprecedented warm spell (temps around 70 F) I think I'll wait. I miss my outdoor hoses when they're no longer available, so I'll stretch the season of outdoor plumbing for as long as possible. (My favorite garden hoses are "water right" because they almost never kink and water from them is drinkable because they contain none of the toxins of most other hoses. They come in a variety of colors too.)