I go like a squirrel in the fall and collect as many bags of leaves that I can (I have neighbours who drop off their bagged leaves in my driveway) and I lug them to the back where most are deposited right on the lasagna vegetable gardens and in the raspberry patches. I keep as many more bags as I can so that once the snow starts to accumulate, I can scatter more leaves onto of the snow on the lasagna gardens so that even if the entire yards are covered with snow, I can still see where my gardens are at all time - keeps me motivated not to forget about them. I've started to prep my WSing containers and have a barrel full of soil and amendments in the garage that soon will be brought inside so I can stuff the soil into the WSing containers. I really love the fall and I find myself planting bulbs right up to Christmas - last year I was still planting bulbs on the first/second week of January as the weather was still mild enough (and White Rose was basically giving them away - they were some of my nicest tulips - came up yellow, opened to orange and spread open to red - really cool). I'm hoping to be able to keep planting bulbs until January; keep topping up my lasagna gardens until March and then have only April to wait my little winter sowed perennials to poke their little heads up when the weather takes another turn towards warming up. (It also helps going into the fall knowing that for the month of February I'm in florida)...

Lol! She's pretty nutty Ceph! It's great that BF sticks up for himself, you, and A___ though. Sweeby is right in the fact that he sounds like a gem. He may not be A___'s real father, but he's his dad. That's fantastic and he should be proud. Keep your chin up lady! Find humor in the situation. Lord knows it's needed.

Sorrel packs are awesome! DD has some North Face boots that she loves -they look nice, but are very warm. The key is to not get them too small. Give your toes a little wiggle room! Don't wear two pair of socks either. Just get some decent socks - that also aren't tight. Smart wool is a great brand - they wick the moisture away. One of my DD's has a terrible time with cold feet/hands. She wears the boot warmers when she ski's to keep her feet warm. They are very thin, and stick to the bottom of your sock. They are like the hand warmers, you open them and shake them a bit to start the warming - one time use, but they are very good to have on hand.

Thanks, daisy. I ended up buying a pair from a British company called Duo when they were offering free international shipping. Duo was recommended to me because you could order by calf size. Often boots sold in wide widths have wider boot shafts but I don't have wide feet. Within the past couple weeks I've received notices that Duo has changed its name - not sure if it's a merger or buyout, but they claim they'll offer the same quality & service. It's a two-name name like "Muffy & ........" (Can't think of it right now) My calves really are pure muscle - I got them from my Dad. My thighs, well, that's a different story... I was so impressed with the quality of the La Canadiennes I'd like to try them again. Maybe a style that isn't knee high could work. ETA The new name for Duo is Ted & Muffy