Summer's End

Well, there's not been a tremendous amount of things going on around here but I have managed to keep consistently busy for the past couple of weeks.  I've been hurting pretty badly during this time also, so I haven't even tried to do any pottery.  I did do a little welding for a small repair job, which was fun, but I paid for it that evening.  I figured standing up and working would be better than sitting down and working but I guess I was bent over just enough and could barely move by the time I was finished.  So, most of my time has just been spent cleaning up around the place, cleaning the garden up (as you see here) and cleaning and purging the house.  That in itself has made me feel better.

The girls were a big help in the garden.  We had a few days where we were going to leave in the afternoon, well before they like to go inside, so rather than risk not being able to get them all back in when we needed to go, we just opened the gate from their run into the garden.  I'm so glad we built their run next to the garden with that gate because it has been very handy at times.  Of course, during the summer months we can't let them in there but in the fall and winter there are many times when we can and so they have an expanded area on days when they can't go out in the yard for one reason or another.  The big fig trees in there are good coverage for them too.  If they are under there I can't even see them without digging!  Or they can just run back into their covered run and coop.
Anyway, they really had a good time going through the garden after I had pulled up all the plants I wanted to discard.  I kept a few tomatoes that were still producing a little and the cayenne peppers are still going strong.  Despite those peppers being red the girls don't bother them! Haha!  I find very few grubs in the garden anymore since letting the girls in every so often throughout the year.  And of course, they fertilize as they go!

Susie was trying to decide which of my beautiful marigolds she wanted to trample upon.  They actually left them alone but goofy George, with his gimpy foot, managed to mangle 1 or 2 of the plants.  That's okay though.  The marigolds had gotten so large they had split anyway and were flopped over.

Here Susie is making a last minute inspection to see if I accidentally threw anything away she might want.  They are terribly curious about wheelbarrows and always go through them if you have anything in them.
I also harvested some herbs before the frost gets them and a bucket load of cayenne peppers to dry.  I took my time about doing this cleanup though and enjoyed it, despite having to do much of it on my hands and knees or sprawled out on my hip.  Bending over and sitting much are pretty much out of the question at this point.
I did go last week to see the BFD (big, fancy doctor) again and he has scheduled a MRI on the 20th of this month of my lower spine.  I am very anxious to get that done and see what comes of it.  Until then I skooch along on the ground and walk around a lot.  Ha!  I have developed a bit more enthusiasm for some actual building projects around here but my body is just not cooperating at this point.  So, I do what I can.

The mums are blooming here and there but other than that the flower beds are pretty drab.  The goldfinches were having a blast with a lot of the old seed heads so I always leave them.
The leaves are just barely starting to turn here now and I heard we are supposed to have a colorful fall this year.  How they can tell I have no idea but we'll see.  It was well into the 80s this week but next week is supposed to cool off considerably.
Has fall arrived where you are (or spring?) or are you still stuck in Indian summer?