Saturday, October 5, 2013

October is here, but not fall weather

Good morning Folks ~ When you think of October, you think of pumpkins, chilly weather, the smell of smoke in the air, falling leaves, etc. Well, that’s not something that happens down here in s.e. FL.  We have ‘hints’ of fall coming, but it isn’t here yet. We don’t really have falling leaves, smell of smoke in the air, or too many pumpkins either, except in the grocery store or at vegetable markets.  In time, we will have cooler temps and maybe get to use the heat when/if it turns cold.  Last year I did not use the heater at all.

We are coming into the glorious time of year for gardening down here though and I am looking forward to it.  I’ve got several projects I want to work on this fall/winter season and hope to finish them before next summer’s heat and humidity come again.  Right now, it is still very warm and humid, but fall is coming, we just don’t know when.

The bee guy came out, and they don’t remove the bees to another location, the ‘eradicate’ them. FL does not have a shortage of bees, we have an over abundance and the local bees have mated with the aggressive African bees and so they do away with bee colonies that aren’t taken care of by bee keepers.  This company has 5 trucks and they take care of between 100-200 colonies of unwanted bees a week, from properties, homes, businesses.  I felt bad for the bees, but I also don’t want to be afraid, or swarmed by bees when I weedwack or mow. Now I won’t be and I can get back to this area and take care of things.

My old little Mazda wagon is gone.  The tree trimming guy asked about it and I said I was going to call up one of those ‘we buy junk car’ places, but hadn’t done it yet.  He asked me how much I wanted for it and I told him, and I came down a little more after talking about it, and he ended up giving me back my check for the tree trimming job he had done.  So I did my first barter.

Now I have an empty space to stack up iron, to be taken to the scrap yard. The guys can just back up their trailer and load it up. Well, I won’t be moving really heavy stuff to this location, just the smaller things I can handle. This is what my DH wanted me to do, if he left this planet, and I am working on it, slowly but surely.  Grieving, missing him and being alone, really takes a toll but, I’m getting used to it all, by taking things one day at a time, one step at a time, trusting in God all along the way. I do have times of tears, but also have moments of joy.  I am excited about projects I want to do, inside and out and will do them as I can.

Gardens are doing well, roses are blooming along with other things, weeds.  I love this time of year coming up.  Gardening is a joy instead of a miserable chore.

Below are some roses in bloom now.

La Marne is one of my favorite simple roses.

09-26-lamarne

09-26-lamarne2

This is ‘Maman Cochet’ climber.  She smells wonderful.

09-26-maman-cochetjpg

This is an unknown rose I bought this past spring. An old fashioned rose.

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Another shawl.

10-05-susan-shawl2

10-05-susan-shawl

That’s it from Plum Cottage. 

Enjoy your weekend,

count your blessings.

FlowerLady

26 comments:

Annie said...

We've been waiting for Spring and having terrible wintery days. The last 2 have been fine, so I've made the most of it out in my garden.

Jane said...

Good job on the bartering, Rainey! Autumn hasn't arrived here yet, either. We're still sleeping with the windows open at night. Usually by this time of year we have to have the furnace going. Don't blame you at all for wanting to get rid of the bees if they are bred with the African ones. As always, your flowers are so beautiful!

Becky said...

The shawl is amazing! And I always love your roses - mine rarely do well here. I'm thinking it is their location and I plan to relocate them in the hopes they will do better. Scott always kids me about the plants all needing wheels on them for easier moving.

Balisha said...

Wonderful job of bartering. It sounds like you are progressing each day on the jobs that you want to accomplish. I'm sure you have sad times...but just keep happy thoughts of Mark in your head while you are working and hopefully this will help. He'd be proud of you.
Balisha

Susan said...

Hi Lorraine...We are definitely coming up on our nice time of the year. I've been out working in the mornings and evenings, but it still gets too hot to work around mid-day. Congrats on your first barter. It is amazing how taking things one step at a time - - we end up finding our way.

Sorry your emails to me are bouncing. I checked my blogs and they are correct. I'll send you an email, and we'll see if that works. Have a great weekend!

L. D. said...

That is interesting about your bees. We are so desperate to keep bees alive as they get disease up here. My friend has bees on the other end of town and I had pears and apples in abundance because of them. Your roses look wonderful.

RockWhisperer said...

I'm looking forward to seeing what your garden projects are!

We are seeing a couple of cool days and then the forecast is back into the mid-80's. We can't seem to get into fall, either.

I think you are doing wonderfully and Mark would be so proud of you.

Hugs XOXOXO

Ruth Hiebert said...

I love seeing your roses.The first one almost looks like a wild rose.Have a good weekend and get some rest.

Renee' B. said...

Thanks for your sweet email, Lorraine and for the link to this blog. You are doing so well, my friend. I'm certain that the Lord and your hubby are super proud of you. You're right; having to make all the decisions can be daunting. Obviously, the Lord is giving you all the wisdom and strength you need.

Your flowers are beautiful, as are your pretty pink shawl and prayer shawl. You are a walking testimony of God's love and faithfulness! Hand in hand with the Lord, you are going to make it through this challenging journey.

Enjoy your autumn season when it arrives. Hugs and blessings to you.

Rose ~ from Oz said...

Gorgeous gorgeous flowers Lorraine, and the shawl is just lovely.

Your first barter! congratulations!

Oh wow, do I understand about your weather - same applies to here as well. We're still in mid spring but summer has arrived early and with a vengeance, aircons are blasting already and the last thing I want to do is go out into the garden and the heat and humidity. I adore our winter in the tropics though, as you would understand!
Thinking of you often, so often, as you negotiate this new journey.
Much love
Rose

Rebecca said...

Kind of jealous. Our gardening season is definitely on the decline...

Great bartering, FlowerLady! I think this is going to be more and more a way of life for many of us.

Unknown said...

The unknown rose looks like Belinda's Dream.

Too bad about the bees, we caught a swarm awhile back, bought a hive and all is well. When the hive gets too crowded they make a new queen, split up then go set up housekeeping somewhere else.

Glad things are moving forward for you.

Julie said...

i did actually smell a nice smoke smell today but we determined it was coming from a Brazilian restaurant!!!
Ha ha ha!
i can hardly wait for cooler days. and the lovely gardening season! your shawl is a beautiful bright color, so popular right now!

Sunray Gardens said...

Fall is just now hitting here today a little. Altogether this year the weather has been decent. Your Roses are lovely as is your shawl.
Cher Sunray Gardens

tina said...

Good deal on the barter! I love October down south. You enjoy!

Darcie said...

Fall has been slow in coming here too! BUT, finally today we got some much cooler temps in. Makes you want to wrap up in a blanket and read a good book(or some great blogs...like yours). :-) Glad you were able to get all that trimming done, I am sure that feels like another weight lifted.

One Woman's Journey - a journal being written from Woodhaven - her cottage in the woods. said...

A rainy, lonely and turning cooler day here in Northern Tennessee.
Love to see your flowers and my garden now is almost sleeping until next Spring. No Fall colors as of yet but they are on the way.
Take care and special thoughts and prayers sent your way...

Leslie Kimel said...

Wow, your shawl is lovely! Such a beautiful color! It's so much fun to get to see the wonderful things you make!

Unknown said...

I,too,can hardly wait for cooler weather.Or just lower humidity.Your roses are beautiful!

Kit said...

Way to go on the barter! Your love would be so proud of you. :) Kit

jerilanders said...

It's always nice to free up some space by getting rid of an unwanted vehicle! I had no idea about the bees, ours are still friendly... except for those nasty little yellow jackets who's sting is as potent as a snake bite.

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Hi Lorraine, I love Fall --and the cooler temps.. A front came through here yesterday--and it's wonderful today--in the 60's.... Love it.

Glad you got rid of your bees. They are smart to just eradicate them... Hope you can work in the yard now without getting stung.

That was neat that you also sold your little Mazda Wagon.... Neat---Great Barter!

Love your flowers --and the shawl is a gorgeous color.

Hugs,
Betsy

Maryann said...

We have been waiting for fall as well, last several days were in the upper eighties. We broke down and put the a/c back on.most of the gardening we are doing right now is clean up and planting fall greens.
Great bartering by the way

Paul Forster said...

The roses are beautiful, Lorraine! Glad you are having happy moments even though you have had a huge loss. I suppose time heals and there will be more and more of those happy moments. Thanks for your comment on my post! Haven't been keeping up lately!

sweetbay said...

I love your sweet old`fashioned roses, and I hope you can have more and more moments of joy as time goes by.

Here I Am Carrie said...

Way to go making headway. It can be slow, but sometimes things just all fall together. We once had a swarm of bee decscend on our lot at the Salton Sea when we were in our motorhome. It was very scary. Brought all the animals in and called the bee people and they came out and got rid of the swarm. He said in no time they would be in our building and everywhere. It is very much Fall here and ready to snow any day. Leaves are still on but todays weather is taking many off. Yes take one day at time and do what you can.