Friday of MEA Weekend

Friday, October 17, 2025

MEA weekend. Considering I'm not working right now I'm considering all of October is MEA month. I've been working over time on this fern garden bordering Andrea's retaining wall. The above photo dates back to October 2 and was taken shortly after I cut back the dead fern leaves. 

I cut back the overgrowth and reset the garden stones. 

I think it looks pretty fantastic if I do say so myself. 

Leaf changing update: Most trees haven't started turning except a few that are in the early stages. 

There are some exceptions which have completely changed. 

Including this one in the yard across the alley from us. 

Lit up a cigar while Dale was on a bike ride. 

He joined me outside when he got home. He said it wasn't because of the cigar he was sitting away from me but that it was just more comfortable over there. Okay. Sure. Fine. 

                      

He eventually moved closer.

We both commented how beautiful it was outside. 

It really was. 

Rainy and Rather Raw

 Tuesday, October 14, 2025

This bush of mums has really flowered since I got it. Meant to get some yard work done today but that's being prevented due to off-and-on rain. At least the plants are getting water. 

Leaves are noticeably beginning to fall and accumulate. This is just the beginning but the trees'll pretty much be bare by Halloween. 

As I write this the temp is a rather raw 53 degrees. 

These photos of me watering the flowers are actually from yesterday.

I want the annuals to look good and last as long as possible before it gets too cold. They don't have that much time left in the grand scheme of things. 

I'll plant the mums in the ground before the first freeze. I can usually get another year out of them. 

I'm keep the perennials well watered too before they go dormant for the winter. 

******************************************

Cigar Time and Taking It All In

Saturday, October 11, 2025

Over the past week I've been working a bit more than usual in the yard. October has brought cooler but still very pleasant weather as compared to the heat we experienced in July - September. My recent yardwork has been halting the creep of ferns out into the yard. I've been digging up some of the bulbs and moving them back closer to the retaining wall which is where they're supposed to be. I've also been resetting the paving and garden stones that border the fern garden as they've really settled into the ground in recent years (see previous post). Today I weeded the narrow strip of ground between our's and Josh and Breanna's garage. I also removed a small tree from there that came up to my chest. 

Today was a day to just sit back with a cigar and enjoy the space. 

Found a Halloween playlist on Apple Music, which turned out to be quite fun, and then just relaxed and took in everything around me.  

I'm sure I've mentioned this already but I really have loved NOT working this fall.

Kale, Mums, Pumpkins, More!!

 Wednesday, October 8, 2025

Been working hard lately on cleaning up the gardens. This one has been cleared of all the dead fern leaves. I'm also cutting back the ground cover that's grown over the decorative border stones. 

The kale and mums are looking particularly good grouped together. 

    

Cleaned out this garden over by the garage. It was horribly overgrown and I wish I would have taken a before picture for the sake of comparison. Alas, I didn't think of it. 

Bought this pumpkin at Lund's today. They're selling them for $4.99 but you have to be a member otherwise they're $9.00 each. And you can only buy one per day. 

I bought one the other day so now I have two. 

Cigar in the yard this morning before I did my yard work. Leather jacket weather is back and it's glorious. 

October Planting

 Sunday, October 5, 2025

After brunch Dale and I went to Bachman's to get some flowers to fill in some of the gaps left by the recent great flower thief incident. I added some additional pansies to this planter. 

We also got some more kale. This garden by the garage is looking pretty good. 

The pot of mums in the foreground is finally starting to flower. Got some rain today which is nice because we need it.

It's been warmer than seasonally average lately so the rain also cooled things off a bit. I'm ready for autumn. Heat and humidity is more tolerable when you know that's what you're gonna get but we're past that now so we really shouldn't have to deal with this anymore. Just sayin'. 

Great Afternoon for a Cigar

Thursday, October 2, 2025

Cleared all the dying fern leaves out today. Ada came over from next door and asked what I was doing. I told her. She asked if she could help so I asked her if she could put the fronds I was clipping into the leaf bag in the garage.  She was so happy to help. 

She asked what these things were so I told her a wasn't sure other than being part of the fern. I thought maybe they were once leaves or maybe seeds. I'll have to look into that. 

Still so nice out. Sat out back with a cigar. 

Made note of how much of the yard was in shade at only 4:30.

So:"No, ferns do not produce seeds and therefore cannot seed themselves; instead, they reproduce using microscopic spores that are released from the underside of their fronds (leaves) and are carried by wind or water to new locations. If a spore lands in a suitable, moist environment, it can develop into a tiny plant called a gametophyte, which then produces sex cells that fertilize to create a new sporophyte—the mature fern plant." (Info from AI)

Well I guess they're not seeds then. Maybe they're just short leaves? I'll have to look more closely at them next year.