…when I wonder what’s going on in Dear Husband’s head.
I’ve told you that he is not a gardener. He really doesn’t care for any of the outdoor chores, not even those having to do with maintenance on the house. He makes his living working out of doors, so the only other time he cares to be outside is when he is sailing.
I had assumed that he was aware of the work I do on the gardens. I usually come in, muttering about aching knees or a crabby back, or beat up fingers, so you would think he’d recognize that SOMETHING is going on out there.
I finished cutting back spent plants in the driveway garden, and part of the sidewalk garden, and my pride and joy….the herb garden. I need to spread compost and mulch, and put protective rings around three roses, but I’m well on the way toward having the gardens prepared for winter. I know that he knows I’ve been doing the work, because he can see the piles of leaves and cuttings dispersed around the grounds.
The herb garden, in particular, looked really lovely by 4:00 yesterday afternoon. I was thinking about taking a picture of it to post here. So, I was rather surprised to see Dear Husband unwrap a block of cedar timbers and start carrying them into the herb garden. These timbers will be used to replace parts of the raised beds in the herb garden that have been hollowed out and reduced to sawdust by ants. Right now about six of them (easily ten to twelve feet long), are stacked on one side of the center box. Four more are at a crazy angle across the south end of the garden. It looks like a giant was organizing his pick up sticks.
I VERY calmly suggested to him that he might want to stack them somewhere else until he could get to the job. We’ll have to talk about where.
Take my word for it. The garden looked really nice.

I’m trying to decide if I have a mild case of flu, or whether I’ve just had too much exercise and a cold front has come in.
Elegante Mother and I got flu shots on Wednesday morning. In the past, they’ve never bothered me. My arm felt a tiny bit heavy last night, but I figured it was most likely due to the gardening I’d been doing.
In all fairness, I’ve led a very sedentary life lately. Then, the Dragon Lady needed a stand in, so I rose to the challenge. I led exercise on Monday and Wednesday, and on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, I spent the afternoons cleaning out the gardens and getting a little raking done. This morning I moved about 650 pounds of bird seed into the winter bins.
A cold front has moved in, so I got that gardening done just in the nick of time. It’s been gray all day, and now is so dark that the sun must have decided to go down a couple of hours early. We’ve had a fitful rain, and are expecting snow showers this evening.
So….am I sick, or am I responding to unusual exercise, coupled with a major drop in temperature? Darned if I know. All I can do is wait it out.
I think I’ll collect the cat and a quilt and go sit in the recliner for a bit. He won’t mind, and I’ll enjoy his warmth. Maybe I’ll take a book with me, just in case I can keep my eyes open.