The growing season here has ended.

Putting the garden to rest for this year, is a sad day! It was a killing frost for my garden, with the temperatures only getting into the sixty's for highs, the wind blowing in dryer and colder air with so little moisture. The battle wasn't worth the energy I would use, to get such a small reward. As the sun moves south, I start thinking to next years garden not this year took out the compost bin, it's too big and more work then I'm able to deal with. Next year I'll do my herb's and add in some ground cover and perennial's that are less work, of course my potted flowers. Time to cut back a bit on a few things I do in the heat of summer, with my energy levels dropping so much in the heat of summer. 
Having Nacho who is a joy having around, he is fill out and getting stronger and bigger every day, thankfully hes taking the training very well. Still he is a puppy who loves chewing on his toys, now many no longer have stuffing in them but he still plays with them. Skyli came over last Saturday for a play date with Nacho they both had a great. Nacho treats Skyli more like his mom. Jane and Joyce took them both for a walk, I was glad for I needed a rest.

Most of the time I'm eating real food but I still need to go back to liquids for a few day's or a week at most, no need to worry my doctor is watching my levels closely and so far it's all good. Still my heat muscle is going into spasms not as strong or as long. There is nothing wrong with my heart, of course like most crap it all starts in my M.S. brain. The good part is I'm under 150 pounds for the first time in years! It's much easier getting around this way!

Have a question I want need to ask. Has one had or heard of a dog, that begs and I do mean the whole nine yards, with crying, whining acting as if he'll die a horrible death if he doesn't get some of those, raw vegetables carrots, cucumbers? In my life I for one have never seen a dog go nut's for raw vegetable! Nacho loves them just as much if not more then his dog treats!  

  

So how does Mary's garden grow

It's not a very big garden this year no cucumbers, I've got one tomato and pepper plant, of course my herb's are doing fine. Didn't plant as much as last year. The weather has been weird here and all over the world. Spring came early two days later more like summer then back again to spring, a week later winter then not enough rain then too much. All my flowers and herbs are in pots so if we get too much rain they can drain and if not I can water. Tuesday we had a high heat index warning, I went out early in the morning to give everything a bit of water also gave birds, squirrel food and water. Waited until the sun isn't shinning in the yard anymore, before I went back out there.

My goodness it was and still is HOT, now it's not as bad as other place's. It's our first heat wave of the year, it's a bit early but normal isn't what it used to be well, not in my lifetime anyway. Slowly getting things done around the house no rush, was able to give Ben a bath this week, he does like being clean. The upside to being sick and having to change my diet is I've lost 19 pounds that I didn't need to lug around anymore and my clothes fit and it feels great! Having M.S is one thing add in the flu and my digestive system that makes more acid then it needs I think it has m.s. too it's scared my intestines, much of the time everything work's okay, this just isn't one of them. Soon I'll find normal again no need to worry, it's just I miss chewing my food, having more better day's then bad and that's a good sign.

Walking through a garden

Walking through a garden
By Mary K. Mennenga


That is now over grown

The signs of love can still be seen
The number of roses and colors planted
Surely there where bouquets of 
Fresh flowers throughout the home
Sharing the love
Of two hearts that beat as one
From spring to fall something is blooming
With loving hands it was made
One pair of hands has gone silence
Each year flowers bloom
Makes it easy to see
That love endures

Weather

It's still hard to believe all the weather records, that have stood for so many years, have been broken within the last 365 day's. Including a few new all time highs and lows temperature, reaching dew point temperature never seen here before. Being aware this is happening all over the world, maybe I'm being small minded for thinking more about my little postage stamp than the kind of shape the whole planet is in.

Now that fall has come I think, having eight days of temperatures in the 80's in October isn't something I've seen here before. My garden is finally done and put to rest until next spring, all the flower, rock and shade and perennial gardens are ready for a long winters sleep. All are very small and not much work at all. Still watering everything it's been a dry hot and windy fall so far, the herb's aren't ready to come into the house just yet. The potted plants and flowers have been cut back and heavily watered, covered and just waiting for the snow. That this year I hope will not fall and stay for a month or so.

There is still much to do before the long cold winter sets in, now we go from keeping the heat out to keeping it in, which is much harder to do when we don't get above 32 degrees for six to eight weeks and when the cold winds of January and February start blowing in, stealing the heat in the house away. Making winterizing now a must. It's next on the to do list for us also doing the last window washing until spring, that is only important to me. So I can watch and feed the birds and squirrels all winter long, maybe I'll even get to see a hawk stop by for a snack, as long as it's willing to take it to go, it's not entertaining to watch them eat. It's what I call my equal opportunity feeder winter is hard on all the animals up here, keeping the balance of nature isn't easy to watch it is however necessary. It's been a while since my last post, now that much of the work outside is done, I'll be doing more writing once again.

So far this month has been too much about saying goodbye then saying hello. I'll be glad to see this month end, it's been an emotional one in many different ways for both Jane and I, it will all work out the way it should in the end, because it always does. It's the transition that's hard on everyone, going from what once was to what it will be. Not knowing what that may end up being or if that too will also end is harder still. The unknown is a troubling place to be.       

The fall season is here.

I do enjoy fall yes it is a busy time, with so much to get done so I'm ready for winter. Last year winter came in so fast I got caught with gas in the lawn mower, the snow blower still in the back of the shed. Granted I did need to cut the grass only two weeks before we got 6 inches of snow that didn't melt and was only added to until it final started melting in March. This year so far is starting out more normal with dew points below 50 degrees just two days ago the dew point was 38 degrees. In Minnesota the land of 10,000 lakes, dew points in the 70's and 80's isn't what we are knew for. In a few short Months we'll be back (hopefully) to highs in the 30's and lows in the single digits. This year I'm getting ready for it early, the garden will stay but some of the cutting back I'll start this week like the dogwood bushes and the spring plants. With some help I'll thin the hosta plants this year they got so big and thick, I'm thinking of putting them along the fence it would cut down on the trimming next year. Here are some the plants I grew this years with a few odds and ends added in.

These two below are now over 3 feet tall was told they won't grow too tall may 16 inches if that, my goodness were they ever wrong, I was planning to bring them in the house for the winter, I'm not sure I have the room for them now! 

 

 

This tropical plant and the flowers below it. To say it's rare for it to flower here in Minnesota outside, is an understatement indeed. Having had six blooms already and may still have two or three more yet to come is amazing!  

 

 

Yes I feed all who come be it squirrel's, bunny's and of course the birds. It became a circle of life feeder as a few hawk's came to dine as well thankfully they took their food to go. Most of what they took was mice and no one seemed sad to see them go.

 The bird feeders are for the smaller birds like sparrow's, swallow and the wren's, finch's and the small woodpeckers the downy and hairy. This one in the picture maybe Northern Cardinal but I'm not so sure, it sure is cute whatever it is.

Now that I've had my rest, it time to get back to getting things done. It is so nice to be able to be outside again, with all the heat we had this summer I didn't get to stay outside for long. Here's to hope for a longer fall then we had last year, the fall color's should be grand here with all the rain and heat we had this year. 

About the hawk's we live in the city but are just a few blocks from the Mississippi river that's where they nest the eagles will pass by us on their way to winter in Redwing, Minnesota, the hawk's tend to hang out here until the end of December. 

Oh my what a week!

Now that the sun has come out and the rain has stopped, maybe now my little garden will really start growing, I have cucumbers, green beans and two kinds of tomatoes. Bell peppers I've planted three so some will be green, yellow and red. The herbs have loved this cool wet weather and are doing great, I've already been harvesting and if they keep this up I'll need to thin them out quite a bit. Some I'll move into the house for the winter, I just love having fresh herb's to cook with in winter, I've also been thinking I may want to make herb bag's for the winter season.  This year I may have gone over board with the herb's just a bit, okay more then likely way too much. Growing all my herb's in pots, they do like to spread out and for balance I enjoy having some lawn in the yard, to sit out and look at the garden. The herbs I have are: sage, rosemary and thyme and no because of the song. Three kinds of mint spearmint, chocolate and English.  As well as sweet and purple basil, Italian oregano, tarragon and marjoram yep that's it.

My neighbors tell me my yard smells good enough to eat. Living inside of the city it does stink from  all the pollution, it's the reason I don't hang my wash out on the line to dry, the smell alone makes me nauseous, having that pollution next in my skin now somebody tell me how that can be good. Just because something smells good does not make it clean. Sorry I didn't mean to go off on a tangent like that.

Oh well now lets go back to the garden. Last year I thought  I had killed all of my hosta for sure! Of course I was wrong yet again for they are the bigger then they have ever been. The weather has been  perfect cool and wet, now all I need is sunshine and just enough heat to have a good crop, hopefully better then last year at the very least.

To one and to all, my is hope as we celebrate summer we  remember to take to time out to just smell the flowers. To not hold back the joy of learning some new. Spending time with the people you love and taking the time to share with the people who love you.