Autumn clean up begins...................

Today was another cooler day, it was mid 70s by the end of the day. The morning was really cool but by the time I had got myself in the right frame of mind it was warm. I had to work in the shade as I could not see well enough in the sun. I got the one side garden done, finished. I had considered putting in paving stones but instead I gathered the rocks from under the Ivy (that is doing well) and planted the one I had in the kettle all summer. Yeah. Then I put 1/2 bag of planting soil on there.



Hopefully next year the ivy will take over. There are a couple of nice Hosta in that garden but it is now mainly shrubs and that's how I want it. I am leaving the blue bottles in there.
After that I had Gerry move the little bush from the barrel and plant it by the swing. It was not getting enough water in the barrel and the dirt from there was put on the garden. That will also help next year. I may put in some annuals for colour but basically it can stay as it is. Next job is to work on the veggie plot. That is not a big job, just a tidy up.


I need to cut back the Iris and tidy up, thats about all I need to do there, put away the sign and decorations as I go.
So that's tomorrows project. I also have to go take a plant out to the cemetery. Alex's birthday is coming up so I want to spruce her up. I am not going to buy anything for my garden. Then if I still have time I will start on the next garden. They don't need a lot doing to them so should go quite quickly. I need to decide what plants to bring inside and where to put them. About the only room that is bright enough is Tristens room.



Then there are the Boston Ferns, do I keep them?



Thing is they are so big, and so pretty it's a shame to let them die off but being big, do I have the space. They also get dirty when they begin to shed. They soon come back though once outside again. I have 4 Geranium that would be nice to keep. I have kept two for the past two winters. They do well when back outside also. I may repot them.


This guy is several years old now and had a good year.

Then there is this one, this one has a nice spider web on it so needs a good brush off first but think it may like my kitchen window

I forgot about the Spider plants, there are these 3 and two out front. They usually come back inside. Ugh!!!!! I need a greenhouse but that won't happen.

I really do not like bringing things inside but it saves a lot the next year.
Will I have time to get around to the front before the snow comes? I would like to get some more potting soil to prepare for next year. Gerry tried to clean the deck today but it doesn't look a lot different. It needs some work for sure. Maybe next year. Meanwhile Boots and Bessie were seen quite close to each other. Boots pretending to sharpen her non existent claws.


These Mums are doing well, but are the only ones that are. So tomorrow is supposed to be nice again and then rain so I need to get as much done as possible and hope for the best.

Hopefully I will have more to show tomorrow.

End of summer. what now......................

A cool day today would have been perfect to work outside but..........to discouraging. It is real mess out there. It would be perfect for digging up stuff, like ferns to transplant but instead we went for a walk. I hope I can make myself do something to make it look better. It just seems so overwhelming I mean, look at this.....

The bee's are still busy working with what's left.

The question now is what if anything should I bring inside for Winter. Wow, hate to think Winter so soon but it was very cold last night. I did bring the ferns onto the deck to clean off and decide. I hate to see things die. This Ivy I will plant because that never does well inside, not for me anyway.

These Boston Ferns did so well this year, one of the few things that did. I also have my Spider plants on the deck and a fuchsia. The Fuchsia has been inside several years now and this year did well on the deck. What about the Geraniums. I think tomorrow I will take a walk around and see what I want to do.

Look how big this one is but I have 5 and they all look nice, one is from last year.


Not a whole lot in bloom now, just some sedum



I was very happy with the grasses I bought this year and this one is lovely. Maybe next year it will get bigger. If it survives in the pot. If not then I will buy some and get it in the ground right there. It likes that spot it seems.

I used to have a friend John who was a master gardener, he lived opposite when we lived out in Maple City. He would cultivate cuttings during the winter and this would be a great project because I never planted these.

The Sweet William I hope to put in the ground because they should come back next year but that means cleaning some stuff out first. I have to get my act together.

After the sale.............

I did very well with my sale and I had fun too. I made some money and got rid of a lot of extra things. It was hard work and entailed a lot of sorting, pricing and more sorting. I am glad it's over even though I did enjoy myself.
This weekend we finished up on Saturday evening and just covered everything. Next day we proceeded to sort things out and repack. I brought in what I wanted to keep and we took 3 boxes of books to Goodwill. I have 3 bags of clothes for the Thrift shop and a box of fabric and quilt books for a friend. This is what we brought inside

So today I began to go through that room, and I did it. I got everything in it's place and sorted. So this evening the room looks like this

The driveway is clear of all but the empty boxes now. I was just too tired to put those in the garage. The garage now looks like this...........


I still have to organize it but at least now I can see what I am doing. I also can do that without hitting my head on things hanging from above.
Maybe next year, when Spring comes again. I will have a good start and know where everything is...........the basement is pretty sorted out too. Still has Gabby's things for now, but soon it will be clear.
So that is it. I can not imagine having another sale like that.
I did pull a few weeds and tidied up on Sunday, I got the back area all sorted and tidy, was quite happy with that and turned my hand to the veggie plot. I then went back later to find this mess.

I was very disappointed to say the least. There is a pile of lumber out back in the ally. Gerry had to work today and again tomorrow. Then if it's still there we will take a load to the dump. People will often pick up things they may want. So it's good to set things out and find out if someone wants things.There is some good lumber should anyone want it.
Anyway I had a quick look around today and it will soon be that the Mums are blooming and the Asters. Bud's Asters are out but they have more sun

Mine just have buds. The front is almost done, things are shriveled and dead. That at least will give me chance to clean up, plant stuff and move things. I should hope the weather cools down again. At least it did for the sale and clean up. Now to finish up inside and hope to get outside by weeks end.



My Boston Ferns are so pretty I hate to see them die off. I brought one inside last year but they are so messy half way through winter.


So do I bring them in or not? I just don't like to see things die. I brought in the Geraniums last year as well as some of the Begonia's. I can put them in the bedrooms but...........do I want to? That's the thing. I think I have about Ferns and two Geraniums.

Yard sale continues....................

I had a great time on Friday, I reopened my sale. I had to because we had such a storm. I knew stuff had to get wet. It did. Not as bad as it could have though. The table got wet and ruined the top but I gave it away to a lady who thought she may be able to paint it. I got outside soon after 7.30am and it was non stop, literally until I went in at 5.30. I didn't have relief because Gerry was working for the day. So I waited as long as I could and just went in as people were leaving and a car was arriving. I was starving by the time I got in because I had not had breakfast. I planned on getting set up, sorted and then go in and get some toast but oh no, soon as Gerry put up the sign they started rolling in. I had not planned on that. The day went very well though. I really enjoyed some of the people who stopped to chat. Some live close by and others asked me about England and so on. I sold a lot of stuff again but have a lot left.
Gerry is going to work on the garage this week, I took some pictures, and remember this is after we had "cleaned it out"


He had spent some time sorting and I had thought matching lids with storage bins..........well as you will see, that did not happen.


Well today he did get them all matched up and I think I have convinced him to fill the truck up next week and take a bunch of stuff to the dump. We put it out in the ally first because people will pick it up sometimes. Better to let people have what we don't want before dumping it.


I want to get it as empty as possible, The shelves I put in there from Laura'a house to use for garden stuff I am not sure if I want to leave them or sell them. I have a dresser in there that is taking up a lot of space and I can't use the drawers so I may get rid of it. Although it does give me a good work surface.

So..........we had rain for 3 days and more coming through next week. Then Thursday, Friday and Saturday is supposed to be in the mid 70s. This means the garden is......well, it's wet. It's a mess. The flowers are dying off that makes it a bit easier to see what's what. I should transplant some of the ferns while I can dig them up. So after this next sale the garden will be my next project.
The veggie garden was not a success. I think I got like 4 Zucchini and I see two tiny ones that may grow and they can take their time because I still have two in the fridge.

I had to laugh, I am not sure now what I planted but I know they are supposed to be bigger than a cherry tomato

My cukes were deformed, they did better growing up my tree last year.

The Cherry tomatoes did well

So next year what????? I really like this side garden and will put flowers in next year. I give up on trying for veggies it is cheaper to buy them.
The back veggie garden will likewise go to flowers. I will plant more herbs, they do well.


I think I moved most of the Chives from the regular garden to that plot. I may put in some sunflowers but must wait to see what cones back next Spring. I have learned from my friend Diane that some perennials will brighten things up and will pop a few of those around. Well that's a long way off and we have winter to go through yet. The Mums and Asters will soon be blooming everyone else is about done with. It's drab out there now, but will look better once I can get out and weed and tidy up.........soon.