Even as the garden produce fills farmers’ market stands, some of the vegetable plants have begun to wither and die, cucumber vines, bean plants and some early varieties of tomatoes.

Morning glories that began to bloom in August are still doing well, even climbing our neighbour’s small evergreen. Sedum blossoms turn pink, and Michaelmas daisies and chrysanthemums (commonly known as Mums) come into bloom. And would you believe it, my gaillardias are still blooming after giving off a wonderful show all summer. Even the geraniums and delphinium were up for another showing.

There’s a definite chill in the air these mornings, with the thermometer dipping to single digits like  6 and 8 Celsius at night. Time to pull out the sweaters and jackets, but not the mittens or winter coats yet. We have awhile for that. Our snow-bird neighbour looks forward to going back to Florida next month, since he is not fond of the snow. His wife, who doesn’t mind the cold so much, said she told him it’s not time for mittens yet.

Still, we’ve have some  warm days, enough, I hope, that the rest of our tomatoes will ripen. Our five plants have produced much fruit and we’ve picked quite a few and used them in sauce and other cooked dishes as well as eating them sliced and raw. Other produce we get from market vendors or my parents’ large garden.

My husband is working hard at getting the siding on his workshop, with the front and one long side completely covered. Two sides to finish then he can start on the inside insulation and getting the heater going.  As he’s been working on his shop, I’ve been making pickles, preparing pickled beets, fruit relish, and some jam, as well as putting tomatoes in the freezer for winter batches of spaghetti sauce and other dishes. All this before our granddaughter arrived last week.

As we move into autumn, slowly but surely, the days are shorter and night seems to come sooner.  The skies are heavy with clouds today but a good breeze may blow them away yet. Perhaps the day will be fair for the Heart and Hand Festival tomorrow.