Hello Idylls! After being without the computer for a few days, I hardly know where to start! It was filled with dust and dirt (I am not surprised), and, in spite of our virus prtoectors, there were 400+ active viruses. No wonder the thing wouldn't work! While it was gone I cleaned and tidied up the office, and made an especially good area for TCS to do his work. We refer to it as his office, and as there are not t.v. or toys there to distract him, he is doing a little better at getting the homework done. Garden chores are finished here now, with yesterday emptying water barrels, turning off the taps and covering the air conditioner. Time to turn my attention to the inside of the house. The guest room will be completed today, finally, and DH will do necessary repairs to the antique furniture that is going back in there. Gee Chelone, our very own Biddy Suite! Next week he has agreed to help me do a real big clean up and decluttering of the storage. Finally. I too hate the idea of one kid causing trouble for all. I haven't run into this yet with TCS but I recall this with my own two in elementary school. I think the poor teachers often just give in to frustration - and I don't blame them either. A big first here this morning: Tucker and I had a leisurely stroll around the block with a neighbour and her pup. Tucker was not socialized in his original home, and so is very excitable with other dogs, and sometimes aggressive. He has come a long long way. It must be the beatings.... Mary I am glad the leaf sweeper worked so well. I remember all too well the huge Norway Maple and the extra-huge oak at our previous house...Working on the gardens is so much more enjoyable. And with your chickie friends. Sounds like a peaceful, pleasant experience. If I just say the word "squash" here everyone runs for cover. You are one busy lady, V. It's amazing how much you manage to fit in to your life! My Gingko doesn't turn at all = it just drops the leaves, all at once, still completely green. I kind of wanted the yellow in the fall, but I guess it just gets too cold too fast here. Cyn, retirement is certainly a less stressful way to live, but things aren't always the way you think they would be. I sent this to my ex-co-workers a month after retirement: When I retired I thought: I would sleep later. My house would be cleaner. My money would go farther. My DH would drive me nuts. I would have lots of free time. I would miss working. My gardens would be meticulous. I didn't think: That jeans wear out a lot faster when you wear them everyday. That everybody else in the neighbourhood would still be working. That the words "week-end" would lose all meaning. That staying home all day with a little kid would be fun (TCS was a baby then). That there are least 40 kids under the age of five in Merrickville (where we lived then). That COSTCO shopping would fill up a whole day That I would read a book a week just because I feel like it. I'll leave you all nw with those thoughts! Waving to the many that I have missed! Don't forget your Juliejobs! Gives one a sense of progress, no matter how small! Cheers, Julie

I hadn't really thought of all the uses beneficial insects have for the garden during the colder months. Thanks for the enlightenment! Another good book that has been in my library for decades is " The Living Garden: the 400-year history of an English Garden". In one chapter they discuss the actual amounts of organisms per unit of soil. I found it fascinating and informative.

Beans are all done. Plants mostly pulled and fed to goats. Tomatoes and peppers still producing. They're way late this year. Toms will probably end up having to ripen indoors. Still pulling a few zucchini, some kale and chard and have a few more onions in the ground. We may get frost this week. I've been working with gleaners and have 200+ lbs. of apples to press into cider, make pie filling and more sauce. I picked 60 lb. of Mirabelle Plums yesterday and have to decide what to do with them. Tiny but tasty little things. They're ripe NOW unfortunately. Oh....and I start school full time on Monday. No problem! Yeah. Right. I love this time of year, but I'm glad when it's finally over and there isn't any fresh produce demanding my attention. Soon....very soon.... However, my favorite local farm has their closing sale on November 1st. I always go stock up on winter squash and whatever else I am short. They slash prices for 2 days, then are closed until spring. Ya gotta be there early! Most of the stuff I buy doesn't require any or at least not immediate processing. Thank goodness! Deanna

Apparently I'm all alone in the no clean up camp. Either that or nobody else will admit to it. I leave everything, including the 8-12 inches of oak leaves that routinely fall on my main hosta beds. After the first killing frost I simply walk away. The birds do love the scapes, checking those out all winter long, even when there is no hope that any seeds remain. It also gives me a nice number of volunteer seedlings every spring. I have not had any problems with pests or disease in the 25+ years I've been doing this, and yes, even the mini hostas will come up through the oak leaves, which by spring have composted down to almost nothing. I do walk through regularly when the hostas start to show green, and manually remove any oak leaves that have pips coming through or showing underneath (alright, I mostly use my foot, but pedally just sounds odd). This is for the hostas in my upper gardens, which are mostly for public viewing. My lower garden a work in progess, and is mainly for growing out divided plants, lining out small divisions, but also has some more landscaped areas. And by landscaped, I mean 98% hostas, but grown more as specimens, with 2% astilbes, bleeding heart, ferns, and a few other perennials. This area gets no attention at all until I'm ready to start dividing hostas in the spring. Maybe a little weeding if I'm feeling up to it, but for the most part those hostas make it all on their own. That area gets some oak leaves and lots of walnut leaves. My only slightly coddled hostas are some very small minis that live in a bed that generally doesn't get many oak leaves. Things like Manzo, Kifukirin Otome, and few other tinies live near cedar trees, but in a mostly sunny area, in a slightly raised bed, and they overwinter very well.