It was 40-something when I got out of bed this morning, but now it’s 37 and dropping. The wind is howling out there and I’m glad to be inside. It feels like winter today and I’m not ready for it.

Rob is in the stand hoping a deer will venture out even though it’s windy. I have one of the last cuts from last year’s accidental deer out defrosting for tonight’s supper.

Just the other day it was autumn and the weather was glorious, with beautiful sights in every tree. Today I can’t get the house to feel warm enough and most of the leaves have been blown from the trees. It’s amazing how quickly it goes from one season to the next!

Tonight will be our first hard freeze and tomorrow’s work day is going to feel brutal if the wind continues.

Feels Like Winter – Garden Prep

This morning I opened the drain line on my faucet in the garden. And I put the water sprinkler pointing downhill and upside down so all of the water can drain out of it. The garden itself still needs to be cleaned but it’ll probably stay as it is now until closer to spring. The critters need their hiding and hibernation spots until then, anyway. Even the snakes.

I was thinking last night about how few pest problems I had in the garden this year. The abundance of small wildlife in my garden is why I think the load of unwanted life was so low. There’s a phoebe who watches for the grasshoppers, small snakes that eat anything that creeps or crawls on the ground, toads, lizards, and skinks that eat … whatever they’re eating in there. And then once in a while a larger snake comes in and knocks down the population of all of my helpful friends. Overall, the balance seemed to be perfect this year, and I’m grateful for it.

Nature Connection and Winter

This morning a Quora question was in my email, and for a change it was one I had given thought to before and had a ready answer. The question was ‘Why do people say that despite technological advances, society seems to be more disconnected from nature and spirituality?”. There’s a lot more that could be added to that answer, but it had already become an essay so I quit. My answer focused on comfort, since staying warm was on my mind with the cold weather underway here.

Digging White Passionflower

Since I knew yesterday that I wouldn’t want to do it when it feels like winter outside, I dug up one of the white passionflower roots to ship off to a buyer.

The roots were VERY deep and I had a hard time getting one up with enough roots to ensure a good start for it in spring. I think that might be the only one I ship out this year. In spring I’ll try starting some from seeds and see if those also bloom white. If so, then I’ll keep seedlings in pots so that in fall they’re easier to get ready to send off to new homes.

How’s Your Weather?

I’m not mentally ready for winter and my fingers and feet are chronically cold today. Every year I am on a quest to find ways to keep extremities warm when I have to be outside. I think mittens will be the answer for my hands, much as I hate the inability to have free fingers, lol. For feet, I think I need some of those shearling boots from Overland Boot Company. But that’ll have to wait for a minor windfall – my income goal for the upcoming year!