It's Autumnal Around Here

After some busy days outside, we have light rain today, a good day for a change of pace.

It's the middle of October already, and we are doing October things. This morning we got our flu shots at our local Kaiser clinic. We took some Styrofoam to the Recology Store to recycle and stopped in at Birds Unlimited to buy bird seed. The chickadees are happy. We went to Fred Meyer to buy some more flower bulbs: a few daffodils, crocus, and alliums. Those will be added to the big tulip bulb order we received from the Skagit Valley.

Over the past four or five days we got all of the tulips planted and that meant cleaning out some flower beds first.

In the spring this area will look like this.

We cleaned and planted bulbs in other areas too.

The maple trees and dogwoods are beginning to color up.

 The cedars are dropping old needles and the golden carpet beneath them is forming. 

Tom is taking down the vegetable and cut flower garden.

A few things are blooming, though, like these Monkshood.

 and hardy cyclamen. 

and roses.

Tom can't throw anything away, so as we clean out beds, he saves and pots up stuff, like these Lady's Mantle. When he's not noticing, I throw away the ones I dig. 

He has a project in mind for on top of the wall, a cold frame for overwintering his hardy plants. The lumber is in the garage and the plan is in his head. Non'hardy plants will go into the greenhouse, which is filling up. 

Charlie is beginning to get fluffy again. He'll need his woolly coat to keep warm since he is an outdoor cat, as much as he sits and begs to come in. But mostly he is looking to see if he can get another hand out. Don't tell his owners, but he does get fed lunch here most days. We are friends, after all.