October

You never know what to make of September. It's often warm, but not always. Sunny, unless it's endlessly wet. The gardens fade, but only to a point. Tree leaves look autumnal, but they're still without the colors of fall.

But October! It has all the markings and shades of this gorgeous season. The air is always crisp around the edges, the nights swing into a frosty range. 

Welcome, October! We are off to such a pretty start!

(Yes, it is possible for a lily to bloom in October, even in Wisconsin. But it's a rare treat.)

(A garden remains colorful until that frost knocks out the annuals. There has been night frost all around us, but we've stayed above freezing. Can you tell??)

(I'm hoping the cheepers are growing out their winter feathers quickly! They'll need them pretty soon!)

I do my morning walk speedily. 

I want to go to the farmers market because I know that today I will still find freshly picked corn at one stand and I will also find dahlias. I'm pretty sure the flowers will stop after this. So I take extra care, picking my own combination from these farmers.

Fall temperatures (see above), fall colors (see below).

I come home late enough that Ed is already up and moving. In fact, it's close to noon when we finally sit down to breakfast. Mindy's Bakery treats are great, even when day-old. The farmette melon -- well, I am getting my fill of it. The farmette pears this year are of varying quality, but good enough if mixed up along with blueberries or other fruits!

And now comes the October reality: I need to get some gardening stuff done. The weeds in some of the beds are enormous and it would be good to clean them out before spring planting. Better yet -- I could prepare the space and put in something still this fall. Now that the curly willow is cut back some, I have more sun in the field next to the farmhouse pathway. The hostas need to be dug out of there -- they fry in the sunshine! A combo of daffodils and lilies in their stead would be wonderful! 

So, I face the work outside and I'm ready for it, especially since the weather is brilliant today. There is, however, that unexpected surprise: the shocking presence of autumnal mosquitoes. For the first time in decades Ed and I are forced to use a Deet spray on our clothing and even that is no panacea. We work for an hour -- he cuts up the tree limbs, I dig up weeds -- and then I throw down my shovel and hide inside.

Toward dusk, we try again. Ed helps me dig out one of the four monster hostas. Bugs fly in our faces, on our hands, shirts, everywhere. We do it, and we get it in the ground by the barn, but it's no fun. We'll have to work on the rest another day. Mornings seem less buggy. Maybe tomorrow, at daybreak?

For now, we are spending a quiet evening together, on the couch. I appreciate this all the more because we have precious few quiet evenings this month together. I'm gone a lot, he's gone some. But all that comes later. Today, we are together and it is grand.