Egads, it is Autumn!

... a work in progress, just like my garden right now

How lovely it is to see the leaves changing colours again, and the Manitoba Maple has dropped more than half of it's leaves in my back yard. We are starting to have frost on the trucks in the morning and I am making the girls put jackets on in the morning.
Yesterday, I finished repairing the raised bed beside my garage. That was some job, I tell you. I had to dig out all the soil so that I could replace the wall and reinforce it, but my little faithful cordless drill just didn't have the umph for the job. After the weekend of trying to find a solution and checking out the possibilities I am thrilled to say it is done.
I moved some of my beloved mint into the bed and I am just going to let them go. I am going for the wildness there. I really like Nasturtiums hanging over the wall there and since they are going to seed anyway they can just be. Yesterday in my search for a tool rental, I found a bag of 50 assorted tulips for just $13.99! But my biggest bargain was two planters -12" pots only $1.99 (you can't buy those pots alone for that price, nevermind filled with plants), each with a beautiful deep wine colored Hechura or Coral bells, a graceful grass, a trailing Heather that I doubt will overwinter but it is worth a try, and a Creeping Charlie. So now there are tulips, strawberries, pansies and Calendulars. Whatever grows there will just give me more plants for next year.

Last month, I revamped my big planters at the front door. There were some beautiful purple asters that had seeded from last year, so I moved some of these plants into the front planter with the hope that they will seed themselves there for the spring.

Tomorrow, I will have to bring in my collection of geraniums with the hope and prayer that they will survive my basement and my husband.

Last week I emptied one of my compost bins. As I was digging I was surprised to see a mouse running around. My faithful companion Maggie was quick to rescue me and chased down that mouse. After a few trys, she did manage to catch it and then started to play with it like a cat. I'm not sure if she ate it but I cam hardly wait to empty the second compost bin. I know that Maggie will be right there watching close as I dig!