10/10/12

Autumn Garden

This morning when Mike opened the door to get something he left in the car, Smitty leaped over the threshold and was gone.  He's been outside all morning.  I sat where I could watch for him at the glass door if he wanted in, but he didn't come to the door.  He's been busy doing kitten things.

I decided it was as good a time as any to scout out pictures in the yard and see if I could find the little bugger.  He ran right up to me.  He is a happy little guy, and he absolutely loves being outside.  Here is he doing his tiger in the weeds imitation.


The squirrels, ever helpful, dug up all my tulips bulbs this summer and ate them.  They thought sunflowers were a better choice, and so they generously planted these in my whiskey barrels.  


Little suckers.  We had our revenge by trimming the herd.  They ate every single tulip bulb.  When I saw them doing it, I ran outside clapping my hands, yelling, and stomping my feet.  They didn't even flinch, but went right on eating.  Occasionally, they paused their chewing briefly and looked at me is if to say, "What?"

So there isn't much left in the yard to photograph.  We have a lovely crop of weeds growing in the vegetable garden.  No vegetables, but the weeds have done really well this year.



The artichoke is mostly bloomed out, but there are a few huge thistle blossoms still coming.


The leaves on the strawberries are turning red, but they are still putting out new runners.


And the pampas grass put out five stalks this year.  It's sort of hit or miss with its blooming.  If we have a harsh winter, it won't bloom at all.  Last year's winter was relatively mild.  This is the most stalks it has put out since we planted it many years ago.  We had pampas grass at our other house, foolishly believing that they were nearly impossible to kill.  We managed to kill three of them before giving up.  This one has done much better.  It looks like a great kitten toy, doesn't it?


And speaking of kittens, Smitty enjoys munching on the grass in the yard.  Unlike our other cats, he hasn't yet come inside to hork it up right after eating it.  I suppose he's saving that for when we replace the carpeting or something.  Maybe when the carpet is all nice and clean in the sewing room, he'll christen it with a freshly-yakked pile of half-chewed grass.  Yummy.


So a carpenter is coming this afternoon to take a look at the downstairs.  This plumbing access has always had a framed panel of drywall screwed to the wall to cover it.  It's less than convenient as you might imagine.


Also, hanging on the wall to either side of this are components related to our burglar alarm system.  We're going to have them mount those components inside the access area and then finish it around the edges so that we can hang cabinet doors instead of the drywall panel.  It will make it much easier to gain access if we need to.  We don't need to get in here often, but we do need access for things like leaky plumbing.  Also, that single switch that you see in the middle of this image is the master circuit for the well pump.  If we need to turn it off, that's where we do it.  Putting cabinet doors here will be a much nicer finish.  I'll still hang a quilt over the front of it, but it will look less suspect if we ever decide to sell the place.

I don't think the carpenter is going to do any work today.  I think he's just going to take a look and then decide what materials he needs.  For my part, I was supposed to pick up some paint samples yesterday, and then I forgot.  I can do it when I'm in town tomorrow.  It sounds as if they're going to work on the walls and do the painting before they turn their attention to the carpeting.  That will be last.

As for me, I have retrieved the things I need to do for my sewing today.  I'm going to work on the October block for the Block Lotto.  Also, I want to make my October bee block for the We Bee Learning block bee.  If I finish those, I'll make some blocks for the White Trees quilt I started a few months ago.

What's on your Wednesday list?

14 comments:

merrily row said...

Smitty walking on sunshine, how cute. I am torn with my George wanting to be out all the time while there are dangers out there.

But my favorite verb of the day: hork it up. I enjoyed the garden walk.

SewCalGal said...

Beautiful photos Barbara. And, Smitty definitely looks like he is having fun hunting/stalking!

SewCalGal
www.sewcalgal.blogspot.com

WoolenSails said...

I enjoyed seeing you and Smitty out and about, beautiful fall gardens. I miss taking mine out for walks, they are so fun when they play and explore, but mine will take off, so better to keep them in the house.

Debbie

Quilting Babcia said...

Great kitty pics. We had a couple cats that loved to go on walks in the woods with us and our dog. Had one hen that liked to go along too ...
Congratulations on being the August FMQ Challenge winner!!!

Diane Wild said...

When you said Smitty dashed out of the house and you couldn't find him, I was afraid. Hope "Old Bob" isn't around. Glad you found him. I just saw you were the FMQ August Challenge winner. Woot-woot.

Winona said...

Glad you found Smitty. I used to keep my Callie and Aeris in the house all the time, but my hubby said that they love to be outside too much to keep them locked up. So they go outside and prance around, then come back in. I still worry, but they are a lot happier.

Lucky Duck Dreams said...

As president of Amitty's fan club I appreciate the update. My garden is weedy and over grown too. But yesterday I realize that it is not just my end of summer laziness. As I saw small yellow finches and a cardinal pair eating at the seed of the dead and dying plants. The chickadees wont be far behind. The circle of life in my garden.

otterdaughter said...

My fur children are very fond of the stealth hork---preferably in the middle of the night so you won't know where it is until you make a barefoot discovery. Blargh!

I try very hard to only let my boys out in their coop, a pen I've made on the deck just outside our bedroom sliding door. No grass, but I do have a pot of catnip that pokes into their area for them to get their 'greens'.
Of course, when they do escape, they head straight for the nearest patch of grass and start chewing, making them rather easy to catch. :) Cosmo must be herded back to a door, because he turns into a flailing ball of fur when you try to carry him anywhere. Jasper doesn't mind being picked up, but will growl and grumble the whole way back inside and for a while afterwards.

mary mahoo said...

That is one beautiful cat! Your "weeds" look like a gorgeous bouquet to me. The frost hit hard here over the weekend, and it's sad looking here now.

mary mahoo said...

That is one beautiful cat! Your "weeds" look like a gorgeous bouquet to me. The frost hit hard here over the weekend, and it's sad looking here now.

Kathy Felsted Usher said...

It's so pretty up by you. I'll bet Smitty is loving the outdoors.

Dana Gaffney said...

I personally think it's nice the squirrels give you the sunflowers, who doesn't smile when they see a sunflower? Tulips would be nice too though.

Kate said...

Sounds like you are moving slowly towards getting your sewing room back. Thanks for the pictorial walk. It's been too dark to walk by the time I've gotten home this week. One of the draw backs of fall.

quiltzyx said...

Well, at least the squirrels traded SOMEthing for the tulip bulbs.

Love the pic of Smitty with the grass sticking out of his mouth! What a character. :D