It's the Season . . .

. . . when all these pretty leaves fall to the ground and Mom has to rake and blow and shred and rake and blow and shred and rake and blow and shred endlessly.

The front sidewalk fills with leaves and Mom tracks them in when she gets home from work.

My deck becomes a mess and leaves fly into my water dish. We have our deck built around a maple tree so lots of leaves fall on it.

~Jake

But it's also a sad time when all the potted impatiens on the deck are killed by a freeze as they were the night before Veteran's Day. Late last month Mom brought inside all the house plants that summer on the deck. It's a ritual for them - six months inside and six months outside.


The same day that the impatiens croaked, Mom found blooms on the witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) that she had just planted this spring. That turned her frown into a smile.

Today's weather is very weird. There was rain early, then it let up and was windy and warm (70 degrees F.) so I was outside with Mom as she took advantage of the weather and read her newspaper on the deck. It rained again just a little time ago and is supposed to get very cold here in the days ahead. I like to be outside when it is warm and that Pesky Jake is inside.

Here's a parting shot of me. Notice the dirty spot on the door? That's from Jake who scratches on the door when he wants to go in, then prompty scratches on the other side when he wants to go out again.

Enjoy the weekend.

~Bathsheba