Cold and Rainy

Dear Friends,

It's been cold and rainy all day. I woke up this morning and had to layer in clothes in the house and close windows. I don't think it got above the 50's today. Today's chill reminded me that I really need to get the shed prepared for housing animals during our long cold winter. I need to clean it out and organize it so that they have space and are easy to tend to and I need to set up a light on a timer for them and heat lamps and heated waterers. I also need to buy some hay, maybe two bales should do it? And not only all this but I need to make nest boxes for the hens as they should be laying well in another month or two.

The cold also reminds me its time to stop fooling around in the garden and get it cleaned up. Pick green tomatoes to ripen inside, the remaining peppers and to cook up all the pumpkins for the freezer and either dry the seeds and pumpkin skins for rabbit feed or roast the seeds for ourselves to enjoy. Then I need to pull all the tomato plants, weeds and whatever else needs to be pulled, composted or disposed of, mulch beds that still need new mulch, and give the compost pile one last turn over for the season. Also, annuals I wish to keep need to be cut and brought inside for rooting and growing over, and perennials in pots have to be either sunk in the ground or planted then mulched, and my potted amaryllis bulbs have to be debugged and brought inside.

Of course, all this stuff is pretty miserable if it's cold and wet out...Time to start dressing for the cold I guess. Good buy summer clothes!

Good night my friends,

Nickie :)