CherieCoogan said:back from breakfast. Love it when Ed says lets go eat............ Was in that car lickety split.............

I totally agree, no way am I ready for winter yet!! Tomorrow we are going camping for a couple of weeks, the weather is supposed to be great for the next few days at least.

Have fun! No more frost yet, for any of us!!!

No, but it got to 68° today and I was freezing. Last spring when it got 68° I was nice and warm!!!! Amazing how the body adapts!

I agree! No more frost for a while! At least a couple of weeks, please. My niece is getting married on the 17th (outside wedding and reception) and we need our flowers and such to still be going strong and nice weather for that

I Love fall weddings!!! Perfect time of the year! Hope it stays beautiful for her special day!!

I know what you mean Jamie -- had to break out the sweatshirt yesterday and I was working in the garden!! LOL!

...and guess what??? I have my furnace serviced every late Sept. I like it warm in the eves and had been using it regularly off and on all summer. I keep it set at 74° in the summer (warmer in winter) so it has run on cool evenings with no problem. Last evening the temps dropped to about 60°. I was sewing late and it seemed cold in here so I checked the thermostat.

I ended up shivering in the ugly o'le basement at 2AM fooling with the furnace, but couldn't get it going. Yep! ...always stuff on a holiday weekend. Plus, because the temps have really dropped for the first time here (it's supposed to get down to 50° tonight) I'm sure the furnace service I use will be swamped with calls tomorrow AM. In the meantime, B-u-u-u-r-r-r-!!!! Outside of bath times, it's the first time my dawg has ever slept wrapped in a blanket. (see PIX)

And, OT like this, for gardening purposes, there's a picture of my last lily standing (a dwarf OA Hybrid from B&D called Sunny Crown). Like my whole group of Dwarfs, it got eaten nearly to the ground when it was about 6" high but THIS one managed to get through anyway! Next year they ALL will if I have to sleep next to that group every night with a wrabbit bat!!!!

Whatever will the cold climate people talk about here when it's winter and we're snowed in? I suppose we could all talk about indoor plants..... and going to tropical climes (if we can afford to do so). Otherwise, we're going to be kinda stuck, or only those in warmer zones will be able to post?!?!?!

I can sympathize JR; we have the same problem in reverse --- the A/C always breaks down on the hottest holiday weekend of the summer --- guaranteed. The question is: furnace or A/C; why don't they ever break at the more temperate times? We still use them then so why can't they break then?

Well Susan, the cold climate people can post photos of the winter wonderland, especially at Christmas time when we southerners are wishing we could have just a little bit of snow to make it feel like Christmas.

ah yes - the hoarfrost on the trees is so pretty. So much of our winter year can be just plain brown though. In Calgary we don't usually get a lot of snow - can just sweep it off the deck at time.
Changes from year to year though, so we'll have to see what we can come up with.........

And we can speak of plans (even ones that never got done THIS year like the path I started through the turf I dug up so that add to my sunny area garden). Grapevine pruning, done in February (that's the best time for it you know). Plants wintering indoors. Techniques. Plant journals. Vendor experiences. Even plants that create winter landscape keeping the hope of spring alive. We'll find things.

We haven't turned the heater on yet Jamie but I fear it will be coming on soon! We wrap up in blankets like your puppy!!

Jamie, how sweet Inky looks! Is Feb. really the best time to prune grapevines? I am growing some for the first time this year, they are doing great, but I am going to have to move them to an area that doesn't get FEET of snow falling off the roof on them, so I'm thinking of pruning them before the snow flies?

They are lovely! yes, I was pruning in fall too and not getting much yeild. A few years ago, I started doing more research and learned to prune in February (snow covered or not). My Yield is MUUUUCH greater if I do it then.

Here's a picture (old from June of 2008) where if you expand it, you can see them vining up the back porch and over the bridge. Since then, I dug up that sunny part of the yard and delegated it (aside from a pathway) to perennials. But every Feb, I cut the vines down vigorously yet they flourish and now I get lots of grapes.

Cute place!!!

Here is a view towards the east of our place:


And north looking down the road...

Beautiful Christine. Are you N of Duluth? I'm city SW of MKE but in the midst of newer 'developments' still have some nice woods out back. No wonderful views like that though.

Really a sturdy little 'cottage in the woods'. "Inky's woods"...I think he'd be miserable if he couldn't run free.

Actually I am SE of Rochester MN about 25 mins. North of a little town called Spring Valley -- we are on the edge of "Bluff Country" down here in the SE corner of MN. It is beautiful here - you and I are only about 4 hours apart!

I love the shot of Inky bounding thru the woods!! Here's a tree line shot for you too!

HA! Christine! Better add an hour to that or they'l getcha! Did you change your area location while I wasn't looking or did I read it wrong? I was sure it said NE MN Our growing climates are likey VERY similar. Nice treeline! Do you have a gardening helper too? Is that a livestock gate in your first photo?

nope -- always been SE!! I see new reading glasses are in order for ya!

Gardening helpers -- 14yr old boy and a 9 year old girl!! Love them!!!

And yes -- we have livestock -- horses and cattle! good times!

Reading glasses....naw...more sleep...maybe!
no goats, sheep, chickens or dawgs?
horses for riding?
cattle? for? ...or milking?
Children..make you relative youth. How nice to have them.