Arrrgh!!!

I wasn't on vacation. You would have heard all about my plans long before I left for vacation. I was among the missing due to a LOT of office work, a LOT of piecing quilt blocks, some gardening, and a recurring bout of light flu. I didn't realize how long it had been since I had posted.

I really need to get a voice activated blog. I think of things to share throughout my day, but by the time I get to the computer, I've forgotten what I wanted to say.

Fall progress:
It's been gorgeous here, a beautiful Fall. The black walnut trees, always the first to change, have been gold the past few weeks. With the stormy weather of the last few days, they've dropped most of their leaves. The rest of the grove is still green, with a hint of gold creeping in here and there.

Weather:
We've had a warm Fall, with occasional dips into colder weather. Yesterday it was in the eighties, but later today we will have dropped twenty degrees as a cold front moves through. We had a dry summer, but we seemed to have made up for it during September and October. The severe weather Monday night didn't cause any problems here, but neighbors have some branches down, and Chicago and several suburban towns were hit hard. There's been flooding of creeks, and flash floods were expected today as more storms come through. The two retention ponds immediately east of us are full to the brim. More rain today may put the road under water. Our daughter sent a cute e-mail thanking us for the pallets her dad delivered this Spring. It seems they needed them Monday night, and she was really glad that their things were up off the basement floor, high and dry.

Health:
Elegante Mum is a bit under the weather. She has a mild flu, and she's given it to me. I need to get her up and moving around, even though she doesn't want to be active. I know that if we let her sit too long her health will deteriorate. Call her and tell her to "Get BUSY!"

Gardening:
I RIPPED OUT the coreopsis on Saturday. I decided I didn't want to deal with it any longer, and simply tore it out. That end of the garden looks a lot better at the moment. I dug up two (maybe three) iris and moved them to pots to winter over in the garage. I moved two more iris within the garden. I don't know if those plants will make it. It's very late in the season to dig iris, but I used a shovel and moved them in huge clumps. We'll have to hope for the best. If the iris in the pots winter over, I'll transplant them back into the garden next year. While I consider myself a mostly organic gardener, I chose to spread "Preen" to keep the seeds I disturbed when I weeded from germinating. And, where ever I can, I use "Round-up" on poison ivy.

I plan to cut back the iris and chrysanthemum this Fall. I'll mulch around the chrysanthemums to help them through the winter. There's an absolutely beautiful bronze mum just opening in the herb garden. It's the only color there beside green, this time of the year. I need to tidy up the gardens so that the guests who come for Elegante Mother's Open House won't blab about what a lazy gardener I am.

Dear Husband bought CEDAR timbers to rebuilt part of the herb garden! It's going to look lovely as the cedar ages, and I doubt that the garden will have to be re-timbered again while we live here. *S*

Seasonal:
I'm slowly getting out the Fall and Halloween decorations. I have a few pumpkins, but I want to find a green Cinderella pumpkin, and some cornstalks. I don't think I have the ooomph to build a scarecrow this year, but I'll hang the bats and spiders and put out my rubber rat! *G* EM HATES that rat! lol

That's the general "stuff." Of course, there was sewing quilt blocks, and a few other things, but I'll put that in a separate entry.

I think this is my favorite time of year. I hope that you're all having a good Fall.