Here on the west coast we have been so enjoying a fabulous Indian Summer, it is sunnier & drier right now than we ever remember it being so late into the Fall, it is record breaking in fact. Just yesterday morning though we woke up to grey overcast skies, there because of a high fog – a fog that is dripping with moisture. It looks so strange to see everything wet and not bathed in sunlight…

This Thanksgiving weekend we spent many hours working in the garden and preforming exterior house maintenance ~ getting ready for rainy days that are sure to start soon. It felt so glorious to be out in the warmth, working together and accomplishing so much ~ chopping firewood, cleaning out gutters, blowing off of patios & sidewalks with the electric blower and trimming trees & shrubs that were making our garden far too crowded.

One of the trees we planted in our garden eleven years ago is a Sequoia, it’s shape and frothy foliage have always kept one corner of the garden nicely anchored but it has slowly expanded in width, to a point that something needed to be done. So, with work gloves on, in with pruners and loopers we went… it was a satisfying accomplishment.  I’ll show you a couple of before and afters,

Doesn’t that make a difference!? It was a scary decision at first but now I wonder why it was when it opens the garden up so much, freeing up the view from both the road and the garden. We may still limb it up a little further but thought it best to live with it for a bit first.

Not only can you see the difference in the tree, you can really see the difference in the weather ~ from bright sunshine to grey in a matter of a couple of days. That is one of the reasons that it is a good idea to plant trees, shrubs and flowers that turn orange or golden in the fall as they provide the illusion of sunsets and sunshine.

Our sunny days will return throughout the Fall and winter of course but these first days of grey skies are a reminder to start getting ready for and adjusting to the change in temperature and length of daylight hours.

I never really mind this adjustment to Fall ~ pulling out sweaters, scarfs and boots, cooking more comfort style foods, spending more time in the office being creative, reaching back into the knitting basket ~ but ~ truthfully, would also love to keep those Indian Summer days we have so appreciated for a while longer!