Doreen's Blog

Steve lost a $10 bet to me this morning. He bet the house temp was 56 degrees. I bet it was 53 degrees. We ran from the bedroom to the living room, because we were freezing, to check the thermometer.

“And the winner without going over is…” Steve drum-rolled.

“Me!” I hollered!

The thermometer read 54 degrees. That’s right. Fifty-four nippin’ degrees in our house. We agreed to turn the furnace on and change the bedsheets to flannel. It was time.

Last evening, I decided to let the garden go. It was time there too. No more covering the tomato plants with sheets to save the remaining crop. Yesterday I picked the red, near-red and green tomatoes worth ripening. I found a lot. The canning room is nearly chock-full but I can always find room for one last batch of salsa, sauce or chili base.

As an aside, it’s worth mentioning that the bulk of this year’s tomato crop came in between the last week of September and now. Go figure. And I was afraid of a tomato shortage. Yup, it has been a strange year, a screwy growing season, and it’s time for it to end.

I need to find room in the house for some outside plants. One houseplant needs to come back inside. It’s about time for that too, before it freezes off on me.

There is also a lavender plant I want to save, the only outside plant I bothered to cover last evening. I’m going to try to transplant it as a houseplant. It can be done, I’ve read, and would be well worth it. I just love, love, love the scent of lavender.

I think this weekend will be spent putting away summer gear – outside decor, furniture, the hammock, the flower pots because, well, it’s time. Oh sure, I know the temps are supposed to climb back into the 60s next week but it won’t last forever.

As much as a person wants to deny it (I do! I do! I do!), winter is on its way. Winter is coming. Sadly, like it or not, it’s time.