I’ve got half a mind.  That’s how I feel sometimes!  Possibly it’s the allergy meds I took to see if they deal with a contact allergic reaction I seem to be having.  I’m even more lethargic than usual.

But I did manage to take down the rest of the branches from the sukkah, which is now a mere skeleton of its former glory.  I threw the leaves and debris onto the 3 sisters, and left the branches to be chipped, hopefully.

Also, I refined the three sections for leaves, chips, and debris, by removing as much of the rich black soil as possible to the woods trail.  After hosing it down, it looks more ready to receive its respective offerings.

I did the usual homey chores, but mostly I played with fire.  This is my FIUH time of year.  After water, fire is my element.  I attempt to rehab all the old candles, mostly just to stare at fire!  So productive.

I made up for yesterday and got lots done today.

I cleaned up the strawberry area more and planted N’s strawberry plant, and a row of native Passiflora (passion flower) seeds to stratify.

I cleaned off the patio and weeded the patio beds.

I removed most of the branches from the sukkah (except the roof) and laid them on the 3 sisters raised bed.

I hand-cultivated around the greens in the veg garden and the rest of the empty space in the back.

I watered the back and the front.

I played frisbee and ball with Loucious.

I put up some more light strings, this time in front on the railings, little conifer, and hedge.  It’s supposed to be purple.  Inside the front door, I put up orange, purple, and green lights.  Apparently my camera is colorblind.

In between jobs, I got some research done on the upcoming election, and on insurance plan comparisons.  Plus the usual housework.

Sorry about the overuse of “I”.  At least it’s not AI.

Today I had what may be my last dental appointment for the foreseeable future, at least with the dentists I’ve come to trust and like.  That’s what our insurance system does, ensure that you won’t be able to consistently see and afford a good dentist for long.  But that’s a story for another time.

Then I ran some errands for the family, picking up meds and groceries.  It was too gorgeous out to stay inside for long, so L and I played frisbee and ball, and I took down all the sukkah decorations.

Then I finally rolled back the gourd monster from the strawberry bed, and cleaned up that section to match the other two.  Now it’s a nice big bed for perennial fruits and veggies.

Later, while Avdi and S worked on HW etc. at the table. Stacey and I had a good conversation on the patio.

All the small gourds you see were grown here.

I spent the morning comparing health insurance plans.  How utterly tiresome, but necessary.

Then I picked up my new reading glasses!  That was fun.

Then I made an Aldi shopping list for tomorrow.  Using my new glasses.

I barely made it to the garden, on a perfect warm spring I mean fall day.

Loucious is now Soccer Dog.  He’s a dog of many talents.

Y is now M.  Got all that?

After “sleeping”/not sleeping overnight at A’s, I was a zombie.  The rest of the family had plans to go to the RenFaire, so predictably, Y decided not to without letting A know, K/S had forgotten after weeks of planning, but managed to rally late, N was up early but didn’t feel like going, and half of A’s costume had mysteriously disappeared.  It would be funny if it weren’t so par for the course.

They eventually got themselves there, meeting up with Stacey and S, and Jess and family.  I gratefully went home to bed and slept for hours, through all the usual angsty texting back and forth.  How did they live back then without smartphones?!  Probably just killed each other with leg of boar.

It was actually chilly out, and warmer inside!  I love it, mostly because I use very little electric at home this time of year, but also just because.  I was emitting steam this morning in the garden!  When you realize it’s not our job to “clean up” i.e. ravage and commit creature genocide, which only makes things less sustainable for next year, it frees you up to just admire the natural changes at work.  I do compromise a little and manage it, since I’m going for a mini-MOBOT after all.

Get a last look at the sukkah, before it comes down.  🥲

Erev, continued…my two smallish challot actually rose this time!  Stacey brought her excellent homemade borscht and a chocolate and orange cake.  Jenny also joined us.  Even with some absentees, it was a full table, and a lot of hanging out was done.  The skeleton may have partied too hard, and lost his head.

The theme of this post should be lights in the dark.  Sundown happens earlier, so we had Shabbat candlelight, the rope lights outlining the yard for badminton, and the big bundles of old light strings from the sukkah.  I’ve ordered additional light stings for the front.  One can never have too many!

The cool rainy front has brought a huge inhale and exhale of relief for the whole plant and animal/human community.  I can feel it in myself.  I can’t wait to get back to ‘helping’ our micro-ecosystem prepare for the next transition.  It’s the opposite of neurotic “fall cleanup”.  It’s how forests and savannas do it.  We’re just the caretakers.

A dramatic change came over the atmosphere today.  It was very cool, very windy, with intermittent rain and sun, and the hoodie officially came out!  L and I and the garden were loving it.  Flowers are blooming still, as you can see from the bouquet.

I got three more jobs done (besides challah): I swept the patio and dumped the leaves on the cardboard-covered walnut stumps.  I took down all the light strings from the sukkah, for whenever we disassemble it.  And I went ahead and sowed the mixed natives I got from Great Rivers Greenway/Pure Air Natives, in the second half of the strip along the trees.

Just a few more big jobs on my list, and then comes dumping leaves, wood chips, and mulch on things.  Also a bonfire B&B is in the works.

It’s been pouring, a welcome relief.  It’s getting cooler.  I can feel all the xylem and phloem like blood coursing through arteries and veins toward a grand finale.  Too graphic?  It’s the perfect balance of yellow leaves and yellow flowers.

It was also the perfect day to clean off the back porch, and walk around in the mist.  It’s the fall converse of my favorite spring weather–cool rainy mist and critters all over the place doing their seasonal thing.  A chippy ran by with cheeks loaded to the gills (?) with food for winter storage.

That gourd-looking thing is an actual loofah, the only one this year, probably too late, but hey, I finally grew one!  It was originally Y’s idea, though he probably forgot about it.  Quite a few of my gardening schemes originated with the kids’ impulses, later outgrown.

It rained a lot!  Today it was like a cool misty rainforest.  I was able to finish chopping up the strip along the trees, and strung up a rope light along it.  I also raked the back of the veg garden more, and then strung up a light string along its back fence.  They look beautiful in the dark.

All these gourds came from the monster gourd plants that ate the strawberry area.  I confess the large pumpkins came from Aldi.

I spent much of the evening with K/S, picking up the Aldi order, shopping for additional items at Schnuck’s, and taking her to Walgreen’s for hygiene /beauty products, where I was no help at all!

I was able to go shopping for groceries and supplies yesterday.  I was also able to refrain from resorting to my credit card this month (so far), so my credit score outdid itself.  That may change with an upcoming routine dental.

At Avdi’s, I mostly watered back and front.  Guess what it finally did last night and this morning–rain!  It hasn’t rained in months!  It was still very warm out–it felt like 90º–but today it’s cooled off.  The garden is happy.

Speaking of, I think I may have jumped the gun a little out of impatience: I have poppies and other seedlings coming up all over the place!  Ironic, because I couldn’t get them to grow much this past year, mostly due to those !@#$ aggressors choking them out.  Now that I’ve made an effort to create conducive conditions, they just couldn’t wait and stratify all winter, they went ahead and germinated.  Oh well, maybe it will all work out.

Autumn is a time of subtle nuance for photography.  You have to focus a little more to see the beauty in masses of modest, unpretentious asters and goldenrods of all kinds, solomon’s seal turning golden, all the unidentified-by-me white flowers, and little flashes of marigolds making a last attempt.  Even some veg greens in sparkling reds and greens.

This is why you be patient and don’t ravage the garden in the name of “fall cleanup”.  All the beneficial critters are about to use all those stems and leaves for their winter hibernation.  Life doesn’t just stop, it goes underground and keeps on transforming.  Ope, I feel a metaphor coming on…