Putting It All Away!

When Gary and Owen return from the pre-school bus pick-up, I think we will be outside for a while.

An adventure!

Owen loves to be outside.  He especially enjoys picking up leaves and carting them around in his little wagon.

But the focus today will be moving the chairs from the deck, the wicker furniture from the front porch, and the chairs from the gazebo into the Party Barn for the winter.

We also need to look for the little adornments in the flower gardens and pick up those to place in storage.  I also have some metal flowers and pumpkins stuck here and there that will need to be moved inside so they don't rust to pieces.

On days like today, that are sunny and warmer, I always hesitate to do this task because there is a little bit of me that thinks "Oh, maybe a few more days won't hurt.  We might want to sit outside if it is really warm."  

But who am I kidding?  Looking at the forecast for the rest of the week I see lows in the 20s.  Highs will be in the 40s.  There is even a mention of that dreaded 's' word in the forecast for Thursday.

No...there will be no deck sitting the rest of this week.

Another season is coming to an end.  I noticed the leaves that are left on the trees are just not as vibrant as they were last week. The rain and wind did a number on them on Saturday.  Some of the trees have been stripped of their leaves, just leaving behind the trunks and bare branches.

Fall was never one of my favorite seasons.  I like warmer weather.  I like flowers blooming.  I like sitting outside.  I like opening windows and feeling (and smelling) a warm breeze drifting through the house.  Gary was always busy with harvest in the fall and the girls and I rarely saw him in the evenings.  Dinners together just didn't happen very often.

But now I appreciate fall much more.  I like the crisp temps and the changing colors.  I like taking a drive through the country and seeing apple orchards and pumpkin patches.  I like being inside, warm and cozy, with a good book or watching a movie on tv.

I still don't like putting away the outside furniture though.  But it has to be done.  And better to do it on a sunny warm day than on a day with cold temps and bitter winds!