Random Saturday Musings

This is what I saw when I took the dogs outside this morning. How gorgeous is this tree! There are four of them in a group behind my apartment. I normally walk the dogs across the street in front of my apartment (where there are no red trees but lots of pretty yellow ones) but we went out back for a change today, mostly because I just wanted to stand under the red trees. When the morning sun shines through them, the light becomes a magical filtered pinky-red that almost sparkles. It's like having a peach bulb in your lamps -- everything looks more beautiful in this light. This is one of the reasons fall is my favorite time of year. The photo is clickable, and I left it a large file so that it will expand to fill your screen. Go ahead and click on it -- I'll wait.

We're getting closer to Thanksgiving! One of my sons and his family (including their Chihuahua, Roxie) and my brother and his wife are coming to visit for the weekend, which means I'll get to cook a huge dinner. I've been planning the menu for weeks, and I think I finally have it finalized, after input from everyone who will be eating. We're having all the traditional stuff, as it turns out. Some things are just too good to change, and Thanksgiving dinner is one of them. We'll have interesting food for dinner on Friday and Saturday, but for Thursday, we're sticking to the classics.

I've been avoiding cleaning. Well, not avoiding actually. I'm in the middle of about a hundred different things -- cleaning out the spare bedroom, putting an end-table and some shelves together, petting the dogs, making some surprises for the girls, cleaning bathrooms, knitting socks (just because I like to), washing windows and dusting blinds -- you know, all the usual stuff you do before company comes. Even though they won't be here until Wednesday evening, I have to have most of it done by Monday because the carpet cleaner guys are coming in the morning. I should just focus on one thing until it's finished, but at least this way, everything will be finished at the same time -- until then, it just looks like a hurricane landed in my apartment.

Yes, it's been a very loooonnnggg time!

But, you see, I forgot my sign-in and password. Only through entering it about a bazillionty times did I finally guess the right one. Or maybe the blogger police just took pity on me and let me in with the wrong password, because I sure can't figure out why I made part of it what I did.

So what to write about now that gardening season is officially over? Actually, it was officially over not long after my last post. As you may recall (especially if you read over my last entry to refresh your memories), the last time we saw the tomatoes was when we were in the middle of a huge heat wave and drought. The mighty 10-foot tower had toppled over, and the tomato plants were languishing, draped not so gracefully over the hedges. To my chagrin, they still are. Only now they're brown and crispy. As is every single last plant in my containers. We went on water restrictions quite a while ago, and I misunderstood what I could water and what I could not. I found out today that I could have watered the plants because I was not sprinkling, I would be holding the hose to water. Who knew? Obviously not me.

I keep reminding myself that I need to get out there and clean everything out, but other things keep getting in the way. End of season garden clean-up has never been one of my favorite things. This year, though, it shouldn't be too bad if I ever get around to it. The roots of the plants are so huge, I just need to dump out the dirt and carry everything to the dumpster. When I replant in the spring, I'll order new dirt to fill the containers and start over from scratch. I can't wait!

I haven't received any garden catalogs yet for the spring season, but I know they aren't far away. This year, I'll get a new Bio Dome from Park Seed and start my own tomato plants -- that way I'll be able to have exactly the kind I want instead of buying the only plants I could find. They did amazingly well, but I would rather have an heirloom variety instead of what grew. I also won't plant beans again -- that was a waste of a container for what I harvested. The local farmers' markets have great beans, so I'll just buy them there. I am going to plant loads of zinnias so that I have lots for my vases, and I'll be buying another Crazy Daisy to replace the one that died in the drought.

Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and I'm so excited that I have family driving down to join me for the long weekend. I'm looking forward to cooking a huge dinner and spending lots of time with people I love!