The Garden

According to my husband, yesterday was the last nice day that we will have this year. I'm not sure what he means by *nice* - but yesterday's high temperature was near 80 degrees. I'm still looking for those sunny, crisp fall days when the sky is dark blue, the clouds are impossibly white, and the trees and shrubs are a whirl of gold, red, orange, and brown. I hope we'll have lots of those before winter sets in.

Those are my favorite days of the whole year. Working in the garden is invigorating, and there is something wonderfully cinnamony-apple baking in the kitchen.

For now, we're letting the tomatoes and peppers stay. We've had so much rain this month that all of the tomatoes are split before they ripen. But with colder weather just around the corner, it is time to rescue some of the more tender plants. Today, we're bringing in a calla lily, rosemary, and some Australian violets that won't survive the harsh Midwestern winter. And with some TLC and a lot of luck, we'll be returning them to the garden next May.