Sep 4, 2009, The last of the garden for this year

The last of my Garden 2009

It has rained and rained and rained…………….and then rained some more. It rained so much my pond overflowed and the grass around the pond turned into a boggy mess. There have been floods and people stranded all over the North East of Scotland,  thankfully it’s not been that bad here but it has been very, very wet.
When I came home from work today there was a temporary reprieve from the rain. I opened the gate and realised, my garden summer is over. I always get sad when it’s time to tidy up the garden ready for the winter, and today was the day.
For weeks now my garden table and chairs and the wonderful little wood burning stove have sat in my garden, it has been like an extra room to my house, a lovely place to sit with a glass of wine in the evening or to take the newspaper and coffee in the morning.
Before the evenings grew shorter I invested in some small solar lights that sit on the steps up to my door, now there is hardly enough sunlight to charge the batteries during the day.
There are a couple of small jobs left to do next year, I ran out of time before I had to go back to work. I didn’t manage to do the tiling around the little rockery; the odd looking frames at the back of the little rockery are the supports form underneath the bath.
I’ve planted honeysuckle and jasmine ready to grow around them next year. I didn’t manage to get the sink and pedestal bolted to the shed wall either, that will be one of the first jobs on the list next year.
As I pack away the summer things I make sure I clean out and fill up all the bird feeders, the garden looks sad in the winter but I do get a lot of bird visitors and now is the time of year I like to start feeding.
The leaves are already falling from the old apple tree and the nesting box and the feeders quite exposed.
The dog roses are long gone and now we have the rose hips. The white winter berries are also beginning to grow, they seem quite early this year.
I looked out of my back window and realised my neighbours Rowan tree has already lost all the berries. They don’t last long because the birds devour them almost as soon as they grow.
My garden looks so bare without the summer furniture. I do have something to look forward to, it's my birthday soon and I think my daughters are going to get together and buy me a camera...............oh how I have missed my camera this summer, so with luck these could be the last pictures posted here  taken with my phone

Tags: garden, plants, pond

Prev: Poetry Wednesday; Philip Levine, The simple Truth
Next: Song saturday; Blood Sweat and Tears

reply edit delete

10 Comments

Add a Comment

delete reply gapeach7355 wrote on Sep 16, '09 So the seasons come and go... we favor one or the other more or less...but all is in its own time. Glad you enjoyed your garden and are ready to work contentedly there come Spring again. Something to look forward to...that in itself is a good thing.

delete reply suggar202 wrote on Sep 6, '09 I love your garden Loretta and I am sure that as winter comes, a different kind of beauty will be seen as always (though I have not experience Winter at all)... I hope all is well with you. Hugs ~ Tania

delete reply agnes128 wrote on Sep 5, '09 Already? I'm sad for you, I always feel cheated when I have to put back the hammock into its box. I'm currently harvesting tomatoes and beans. I know the time will come for us around here to take back the Summer stuff into storage. But not yet, weather forecast some sun next week. Youpeeeeeee!

delete reply djdx wrote on Sep 5, '09 Phone or not, the photos give us a view of this lovely space. Do you get an "Indian summer"? I never get to a moment when all is done and stopped for the winter.

delete reply acousticeagle wrote on Sep 5, '09 You put so much work into your yard/garden and so little time to enjoy it before the end of the summer. I was just thinking as I was reading this, how the seasons have changed with the swift passing of time. I remember reading about people on the other side of the world so looking forward to the warmer months and now those warm days are waning for you. As for me in the 'down unders', spring is springing. I could say that it was my first (or maybe second) garden day so far. I planted a punnet of pansies called 'Jolly Jokers' along with some weeding.

delete reply brendainmad wrote on Sep 4, '09 How sad, but you have future projects to look forward to. Yea. you're getting a camera for your birthday!

delete reply bennett1 wrote on Sep 4, '09 I think the rain you got was part of Hurricane Bill (?). I know there was a hurricane that brushed the east coast of the US and they said it was going to follow the Gulf Stream to the northern UK. So sad, but the days are still longer than the nights. And you have lovely blue birdhouses.

delete reply veryfrank wrote on Sep 4, '09 I understand the sadness of 'closing' the garden for the winter, we always call it 'winterizing'. The trees are just starting to turn color and the mornings are a bit chilly, so that time is close at hand. Fortunately we usually have a burst of summery weather in October, commonly called 'Indian Summer'.

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Sep 4, '09 msowens1 said een a pleasure to be a part of your garden this year..... ;-) aww thank you Mo...............

delete reply msowens1 wrote on Sep 4, '09 may your wishes come true [in case I am away during your birthday].... yes it has been a strange weather pattern for the year and I was thinking it won't be long now before I have to put everything away too...... it's been a pleasure to be a part of your garden this year..... ;-)