Almost

It nearly froze last night. A couple of degrees and it would have. I hustled around all yesterday afternoon bringing some of the house plants indoors and covering up others. Some lacy tablecloths are out there this morning, none of them woven by spiders.

It is so obviously fall...

All day long you can hear the patter of leaves falling and the louder, more insistent patter of woodpeckers, chickadees, and nuthatches hammering at the honey locust pods. I don't know whether they seek the fat beans inside or insects that may infest same, but the sound never stops while the sun is up.

Canada Geese took wing today, over a hundred passing through during my morning bird count. They add their mournful calls to the rustling and shuffling of wings and the ring of Blue Jay calls that mark these cold fall mornings.

Caught three of the four guppies yesterday and brought them in. Number 4 is going to be sorry.

Debating on the plants that are still outdoors. All the memorial plants are in. The Ida Hollenbeck memorial spider plant, all of the Grandma Peggy plants, except for two foxtail ferns I grew from seeds off her original one, which stayed indoors this summer, and the big split leaf philodendron from a get-well bouquet of someone I knew in the seventies. My first ever plant, a Christmas cactus my mother gave me is in. I was eighteen and still living at home when she gave it to me.....

The two-year old datil pepper is in....and covered with little orange peppers. No one seems to quite get why I feel it is such an accomplishment to keep this St. Augustine native growing here in the cold Northeast, but I do love having it. Can I keep it over one more winter? I sure hope so. 

My sister-in-law's pothos are both in but kind of grumpy. The one that spent the summer on the sitting porch seemed to like it out there and it is not admiring the kitchen window much. It took me a while, but I finally got the hang of them.

Gift plants from son and daughters are in. Aunt Ann's giant wandering Jew is in. It did well this summer, after I got serious with the Miracle Grow. Should I bring the cuphea in? I love the little thing, but they are so prone to bugs and disease....guess I will have to decide this afternoon whether to gamble or not.

The geraniums will probably weather a degree or two of frost and we really are only supposed to get close to that tonight. I hate to lose them as I grew most of them from seed, but I would also like to leave them out a couple more weeks, as it is supposed to warm back up.

And....last but not least....the boss turned the heat on in the furnace plenum this morning. Feels good too.