Saturday afternoon I sat in my kitchen and was looking out the window at some really interesting purplish flowers that popped up under the trumpet vine we have by the front door.  I never figured out what type of flower they were, they just sprung up a month after we moved in.  Upon moving we did they typical outside chores, mowing, raking, watering etc.  After all that we were rewarded by several volunteer flowers.

First I noticed that some marigolds were coming up by the back porch.  Next to them were some snapdragons.  The Rhododendron I planted died immediately, of course.  In the front yard some moss roses came up along with the purplish flower.  So I sat there admiring them.  I was literally thinking “Those are sure pretty, they’re really thriving there.”

I thought too soon.  Sunday morning I woke up to find our water pipes had frozen and that all my flowers had wilted and died horrible cruel deaths at the hands of Mother Nature.  I grabbed a rake and the wheel barrow and pulled all their pitiful carcasses out of their beds.

Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love winter.  But where does fall and spring go?  It seems we get maybe two weeks of each before jumping right into winter and summer.  Fall and spring are my favorite times of year.

In spring I enjoy the warming of the weather, the singing of the birds, greening of the grass and the planting of the bulbs.  I dislike the wind that seems to come with it.  In the fall I love changing of the leaves, the cutting of the flowers, the cooling of the weather and harvest.

I’m predicting this year we’ll see very low temperatures and a lot of snow.  I can’t wait for the winter activities, but come on Mother Nature.  Can’t we have at least a month of fall?

No matter.  This week I’ll be getting the yard ready for winter.  We have some cedar trees that need a deep watering and our fruit trees need some pruning.  I suppose if I don’t get it done this week I may never have a chance before the snow falls!