Random 5 for October 8, 2023 – Lifestyles, pumpkins, ants, suggestion, fall

Gallery

Posted on by

Ok, I cheated. This is Longwood Gardens but some garden centers are just as beautiful. Courtesy of Longwood Gardens. Not my cat but Sasha approved the tuxedo cat.

Lifestyle changes – Garden centers were therapy to me. I would go a few times during the summer and look at the flowers, shrubs, containers, anything gardeny! It could turn a bad mood into a good one. I realized that after I bought a tree in May I haven’t been back. There is a part of me that still enjoys looking at the beautiful flowers but I don’t have the room. I already had enough planters so more would have required more daily watering. Two hours is the absolute maximum I can work outside before I get sneezy and my back hurts. That’s a far cry from the hours and hours I used to spend. It’s a change in the seasons in my life and I’m at peace with it (but I still miss my pond!).

Sasha loving on my “inside” pumpkins!

I wasn’t gonna – but I did. I found a great price for pumpkins and bought two big ones. I had vowed to buy a metal one for the front porch that I could use every year, but I didn’t see what I was looking for. I had looked at real pumpkins, but they were pricey for the short time they spend on the porch. Then the stars lined up. Next year I will start to look for a metal one earlier.

Another invasion! – Yesterday I was sitting at my desk and noticed something moving. Actually, a lot of somethings. There were ants all over my desk. They were around my computer, under my keyboard and on anything I had on the desk. I started to clean them up, but I couldn’t find the source. I don’t keep food on my desk, so I was baffled. This went on for a good half hour before I moved something and eureka! I found it. I had given Gracie her hairball medicine on Friday but didn’t put the cap on properly. It leaked. It is gooey like molasses and just as sweet smelling. There was a pool of goo on my desk with a motherload of ants. I cleaned it all up and this morning nothing. I felt sorry for those hundred ants (more or less) that I killed in my cleanup, but I have limits to my kindness. The odd part is that the office is a second-story room, so they had to come a long way on their tiny feet. I wonder how they found it.

My canna lilies are still blooming their hearts out!

Speaking of itchy – In the course of cleaning them up, some climbed on me. It made me neurotically itchy. I kept checking all night if another one was crawling up my arm. The power of suggestion.

Got to do it – I felt like the little engine that could. This week I started the fall cleanup (you can do it, you can do it!). Most of the flowers on my deck are gone. The deck rail containers are washed out and stored until next spring. I’m holding off for another week or two for the front flowers. They are tired but still look colorful.

So how was your week.

74 thoughts on “Random 5 for October 8, 2023 – Lifestyles, pumpkins, ants, suggestion, fall”

  2. WHOA
    Sounds like you have winter already! (We’ve had 2 mild fronts but it won’t really get cool until Halloween…maybe…if lucky)
    Ditto on the throttling back on yard decor. I bought 3 little mums (out of feeling seasonally negligent as far as plants are concerned) and put them in a big pot outside the breakfast area once the lantana declined once the hummingbirds and monarchs passed through. Then we got huge rains, the pot keeps filling and not draining. While (feeling guilt) I did go out and cupped out the excess water, those poor plants seemed to have just had it. Wish I could get geraniums – which are winter flowers here ( if you can get them) for replacements. eventually I’ll get motivated with mild weather to head to the “good” nursery and buy some pansies (Home Depot/Lowes still have none). That may be it for the winter flowers.
    I miss your pond pictures, too! Just so much time and effort available – what you have is is probably better spent adoring cats rolling pumpkins!

    Liked by 1 person

    • Our petunias are still doing well here (surprise, surprise!). The problem is that I don’t want to pull them but I should. One day it will be too cold (at least for me) to work outside!

      Liked by 1 person

  3. I hope you’re not going to find little tiny ant-sized hairballs all over your house. After I give Lily Laxatone she manages to find some big furballs to puke up. About the garden centers. I know that feeling. We used to love antique stores, but we don’t have room for more, so now the fun is out. It’s not that we always bought something. It’s that the thrill of the chase is over when you have no more room.

    Liked by 1 person

  5. Well poop, my comment didn’t show up. 🤬 stupid WP-lets hope this one gets through. That Longwood photo is spectacular. I’ve mostly stopped going to garden centers favoring public gardens like Longwood. It’s a lovely stroll going through the various plants and far less screaming kids pushing a cart into your back side. 😉

    Liked by 1 person

  7. I am the same way now about working in the garden. Less inclined to tend to that which needs it in order to save my back. I bought some mums at the garden center for the outdoor pots that held the geraniums. Kind of sad to switch them over, though– even if I do love autumn.

    Liked by 1 person

  8. My garden is still producing! Although we get winter sooner at my elevation, I am far enough south that I guess it makes a difference. My squash plants got too cold and are wilting, but the tomatoes are still going strong! Most of our trees are still green, although the maple is starting to turn red.🍁 So it’s a little early for cleanup here. Whew!

    Liked by 1 person

    • My tomatoes stopped producing and that was a signal. Technically the annuals are still blooming but without their usual gusto. I’ll pull the rest out this week. I’ve waited until the first frost but then I take a chance on doing the work when it’s colder than I like. Our euonymous (burning bush) is starting it’s show but mostly we are pretty green too.

      Liked by 1 person

      • You must have a beautiful yard! We are so allergic to flowers that we stick to vegetables, herbs, and trees. It’s not as pretty, but we get a return on our investment.

        Liked by 1 person

          • I am the other way around, because I depend on the automated watering system. I quit using my planters because I forgot to water them – or ran into trouble with them when we go out of town. My indoor succulents are very forgiving, so I have pots indoors. Happy fall!

            Liked by 1 person

  9. Yes to your thoughts on lifestyle changes. I could talk about them more. Some I am at peace with, others not so much.
    Longwood Gardens photo is beautiful!
    Interestingly we don’t have issues with ants, not since the invasion of ghost ants. It still gives me the creeps. I found out that a bottle of Windex is your weapon. Just works to stop them from finding the pantry but it does mess with their scent trail. And they do croak so there is that.
    I guess one of the good things about living in Florida… there is no Fall clean-up. The flowers are here all year and don’t have to close up the pool.
    It will be sad to see your front flowers go but we have pictures and next spring they will be back with a fresh planting!

    Liked by 1 person

    • What I’m not at peace with is the loss of energy. I want my old energy back! Windex is my “go to” for ants too. It does kill them and seems to keep them at bay for a while. I have cats so I don’t want to use anything that would make them sick. Winter is my break from the flower and yard work. I miss the flowers but at least I can focus inside without distraction.

      Liked by 1 person

  10. I do not like ants, but they usually stop by once a year or so, and I get out the traps and spray Windex everywhere making a huge mess. 🙂 I’ve been cutting back perennials and must admit pulling out annuals is a lot easier on the back. 🙂 I have about half my cannas dug up and drying out, but tomorrow is the day to get the rest. My back hurts already. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  12. I really understood Garden Centers as therapy! I’ve done the same for years and years. But our challenge now is that with most of our front yard being all natives, I don’t really have a reason to add any plants. And although I still have a lot of maintenance, I can’t really add. It’s really true you can have so many pots that they become a burden. I think your limits sound very reasonable!

    Liked by 1 person

    • When I first moved to my last house (which we built), it was so barren that I put lots of pots on the front porch and the back doorway to the patio. There were 10 pots in both places. I spent a lot of time watering every day and because the trees weren’t very big, sometimes during hot spells, I had to water twice a day. I don’t know where I got the energy.

      Liked by 1 person

  14. I love your ant story, a great story if you look at it from the viewpoint of the wonders of nature. So amazing that they could find the hairball medicine. In the Philippines, a parade of tiny, tiny ants would join me in the shower, just for the water, I think. They emitted a slight scent that may have told the others where to come.

    I love the colors of fall. Fat orange pumpkins are such a joy. “The colour psychology of orange is optimistic and uplifting, rejuvenating our spirit.” –Google

    Liked by 1 person

  15. We had carpenter ants many years ago – the worst, but I now get the small ants every Spring and only in the rooms I use, on only one side of the house, like the kitchen, bathroom and my bedroom. At least you found why you had the ants and have banished them already. I was at the Botanical Gardens today and was amazed how many flowers were still blooming profusely. They still had the succulents out which surprised me as it was 41 degrees when I arrived there at 8:00 a.m. Gloves and a hat were my friend and will be going forward until April.

    Liked by 1 person

  18. Ants. Urgh. In our semi, they came through a hole in the window casing and marched up my net curtains! We had them on the ceiling beams in the cottage. The previous owners had ivy growing up the back wall which reached the roof. It was also a ‘ladder’ for mice. It came down pretty sharpish! Ants were a problem every year though and we bought some brilliant spray that stopped them crossing thresholds. The cottage was built in 1847 so had no foundations or cavity walls. The extensions did though, and they were coming in there as well as up through the floor. We get them here too, always in the kitchen, though worktops are clean and everything in cupboards is in tupperware style boxes. Hubby has sealed wall gaps and pipe outlets but still they come in. Every year, we clean up, puff powder under the kitchen units and keep watch.

    Liked by 1 person

  19. We had rain and milder temps, so my week was good. I found a metal pumpkin at Hobby Lobby (I seldom go there) that works well. Buying a real pumpkin seems a waste if I am not going to make a pie which is a lot of trouble. I hope the ants don’t come back.

    Liked by 1 person

  21. We haven’t had ants for quite some time but I was always amazed at how good they were at finding food deep inside the house.

    I love all the fall and Halloween displays I’m seeing on my neighborhood walks. I didn’t realize that real pumpkins were pricey… I guess that’s why I’m seeing more and more reusable decorations.

    Liked by 1 person

    • I found a 2 for $10 deal at our local grocery store. They are large ones too. You can’t beat the real thing and I put them around the back for the wildlife for the winter so I try to get my money’s worth!

      Liked by 1 person

  23. The power of suggestion is so strong that now I’m having quick moments where I’m sure something is crawling on me (maybe ants, maybe not!).

    I know we’re supposed to love all of God’s creatures and believe that they have a purpose, but anything that is related to the insect family are so gross to me that I consider grabbing a can of insect repellant in each hand and spraying it everywhere!

    Liked by 1 person

  24. Glad most of your fall clean up is behind you. And that you have evicted the ants . . . for the time being at least. They can be relentless.

    My week was better than BFF’s ~ he had 4 medical appointments in 5 days.
    That’s well above my limit. The good news ~> No follow up appts. for any of them.

    Our niece and grand-nephew are coming for a visit next weekend. He’s a happy little tyke (2 1/2) with a healthy appetite and plenty of energy.

    Liked by 2 people

  25. The ants are relentless. And it’s always the cat food, I swear. Right now, at least, they are leaving the kitchen alone–but that’s because it’s half-destroyed due to a leak and water mitigation measures. It’s not much of a silver lining, but I’ll take it?

    Liked by 2 people

    • It is usually the cat food which is why I was surprised. There is cat food in the office but they weren’t anywhere near it. I don’t know how they climbed up to the second story to find it.

      Liked by 2 people

  26. I should do some fall cleanup, but spending 6 hours yesterday disinfecting the foster room with more stuff to do – thinks we pulled from the room and will clean outside the room – fall stuff will have to wait. Kittens first!

    Liked by 3 people

      • I will need to wait. While the room has been sanitized the virus is notoriously hard to kill. When this group gets adopted I will probably do some more bleaching which is the most effective, but too awful for the kittens to have to smell for days. Most experts recommend waiting 1 year before exposing unvaccinated kittens to the room. However, we plan to paint the room finally when the kittens are out of there, and I will probably move Ember, the adult forever foster we have, into that room since she is vaccinated, and then use the room she’s in for kittens come spring. We shall see.

        Liked by 1 person

Comments are closed.