For the past week, it has been unusually warm—in the 70s. It hardly feels like autumn in Maine at all.
But the the hostas know that summer is over.
I’ve begun emptying and cleaning pots. This weekend, I’ll start bringing in the garden ornaments.
Somehow, it is always more fun to bring them out in the spring than it is to put them away in the fall.
On other matters…I have done major editing on my book Library Lost, and I will soon be receiving the first proof copy. Always exciting, but the work is not done. I’ll be going over the proof copy line by line. Onward, ho!
A couple of days ago, a terrible hurricane slammed the coast of Florida. What devastation! I wonder what will become of coastal communities, especially in the South, as the oceans continue to heat up and the storms get worse and worse.
In North Carolina, where our daughter and son-in-law live, the hurricane notched itself down to a tropical storm. Nevertheless, the winds were strong, trees were toppled, and there were widespread power outages. In fact, my daughter and son-in-law don’t have electricty. At least they have water. But as a veteran of power outages, I can attest to the fact that they are no fun at all. For us, what a happy day it is when the refrigerator whirs back to life as the power comes back on.
But how horrible to lose everything in a storm. Somehow, when compared with such destruction, a power outage doesn’t seem that bad.
Notes From the Hinterland 
I agree that the taking in of things in fall is not as much fun as taking out in spring. Enthusiasm is clearly lacking! 😉
It sure is!
I wait to clean up the plant debris until the Spring. As long as there’s no disease, I think the birds and creepy crawlies use it in the winter for homes and food. My pigs and turtle lawn ornaments will be in the shed this weekend, along with my gnomes. We have a lot to be thankful for , living where we do, here in Maine. The weather is getting rougher everywhere, yet Maine does have 3 seasons of great weather, and beautiful winter, with a chance of blizzard and ice storms.
I do the same thing with the plant debris in my garden, and for the same reason. Plus, it really doesn’t make spring clean-up that much harder. Yes, the weather is getting rougher everywhere. Very scary!
Lovely pictures, a pleasure to look at them.
Thanks, Susan!
My hostas are just beginning to look like summer is over and it’s so true that it’s always more fun to display the garden ornaments then pack them away. I can’t imagine what these communities are going through during and after these storms and it’s horrible to see so many lives and communities changed forever. I hope your daughter has her power back on soon.
Thanks so much! So far, no power. Rough times are coming to us, to the world.
Lovely photographs Laurie, the colours of the leaves and the blue glass in the last image match the colours of your book covers! Our hearts go out to the communities affected by Hurricane Michael, it is one of the worst we have ever seen. We hope your daughter gets her power back soon. Much love from all of us here 💜 xxx
Our hostas look the same as yours and thoughts are turning to winter already.
Ours too!
Hope Shannon and Mike get their power back soon. It has been a tough fall for them.
Thanks, Beth! Yes, their power is back. A tough fall down South.
I’m sorry your daughter and son-in-law’s part of the country has been affected again and hope that their power can be restored quickly. It is very hard to watch the news and see the storm approaching and wonder whether people’s lives and homes will be safe, and which community might be affected next.
Your autumn colours are glorious, especially in the picture with the gazing ball.
My daughter and son-in-law have their power. So not too bad. More autumn color to come…
I’m always sad to see them go. But, they have to make way for the beauty that will come in the spring!
Yes, yes!
Our power is back on!! A little over 24 hours so that wasn’t too bad considering!
My hostess look just like yours. 🙂 Losing electricity is certainly a major inconvenience. I always just hope it comes back before the refrigerator and freezer have to be emptied. Looks like Shannon got lucky.
The time for hostas is over, at least for this year. I think Shannon did get lucky. So discouraging to have to throw food out, although we’ve done it more than once. This year, we plan to get a generator.
My hostas too are waving goodbye for another year, but luckily I can leave them in situ. Well done on the editing front. A lot of work!
The hostas stay where they are. It’s the garden ornaments that must come in. 😉
I can’t imagine having to bring in garden ornaments. Maybe you won’t get such extremes this year. Our granddaughter, Florence, is in N. Carolina. She is OK
With our winters, extreme or mild, we always have to bring in the garden ornaments. Too cold and too much snow to leave them out. So glad your granddaughter is safe! Such a worry to have family in harm’s way!
🙂
Have you had a hard frost? Is that why the hostas are so far gone? We haven’t gotten that cold yet (maybe tonight) and my hostas still look pretty good. But we’re cleaning up the annuals and bringing in the outdoor ornaments, etc., too. I love fall but the fall chores are sort of depressing.
As far as I can tell, we haven’t had any frost at all, but we might get one tonight. The hostas do this every year before we get a real frost. I think they are just ready. Yes, sad to bring everything in. No more nights on the patio.
Hi Laurie, I have a glass blue ball outside, too. I was just thinking, I wonder if I could leave that outside all winter. I won’t, I know. But, you are so right, it is a pain to put things away. I know summer must be shorter for you than it is here in northern Illinois. I remember short summers from living in the National Forest in northern Wisconsin. Most people don’t even bother landscaping because the deer will eat it all.
In Maine, it is too cold to leave glass things outside for the winter. So in they come.
I wondered if your daughter & son-in-law got caught up in the recent storms.. Hope their electricity returns before everything melts in the fridge! Oh so sad you have no more lovely hostas and no more sitting on the porch in the evening.. .. Winter is good writing time though… 😀
They were without power for about a day, so not too bad. It’s hard being indoors so much, but we did manage to have lunch on the patio yesterday. The air was nippy, but the sun was shining so it was warm enough for us.
I am so pleased your daughter’s power came back on after 24 hours. It is always such a worry not knowing how long it will be before all those comforting electrical hums and clicks start up again. We have already had one power outage this autumn but fortunately it only lasted four hours. I have been tidying the garden as well. 😦
Thanks, Clare! Glad yours only lasted for four hours.
The plants sure know it. Although, my friend, who lives an hour north of here, has Irises reblooming in her garden, and weigelia and other stuff. Strange. We haven’t emptied all the pots yet (we=my husband) but must soon.
Wowsah! Perhaps her yard is in a warm pocket?
I’m thinking so.
We’ve had a couple of frosts so far, but they haven’t done much harm yet. I think that’s probably because we have a very lax attitude to the garden these days.
We just had a big frost. As a break from editing, I plan to take some pictures today.
I look forward to seeing them.