Of course doing this also enables us to get closer glimpses of the wildlife that come along for their daily morning treats as well. We sight chipmunks and squirrels, neighbourhood birds and birds in transit, coming along to the bird feeder. There is a pair of tiny red baby squirrels, the smallest we can ever recall seeing before. But it's a mature grey squirrel that manages to get above the baffle keeping (supposedly) squirrels from accessing the top of the bird feeder, though I did see a black squirrel shimmy up the pole without any trouble at all, only to be stopped when he got to the baffle.
A succession of birds visit daily, from the cardinals, to various types of sparrows; song sparrows, chipping sparrows, chickadees and nuthatches, doves and now that the goldfinches have gone missing in their trip down south, juncos have returned.
We've made a start taking the gardens apart, cutting back perennials and lifting the roots and bulbs of potato vines, giant dahlias and begonias for winter storage in the basement until we can return them to the soil on the arrival of spring.
But we've hesitated to do the same at the front, in the gardens that are still flourishing, and where we enjoy the sight of freshly blooming, gorgeous begonias, petunias, geraniums, impatiens, dahlias and others that are so colourful and give us so much pleasure. We did touch frost last night, but after 24 straight hours of rain, all the annuals were protected and show no signs of damage.
So we've decided to hold off, even while knowing that when extremely cold weather does arrive and the more delicate of the plants succumb we'll be working out there in less than ideal conditions to prepare everything for winter onset. Meanwhile, rose shrubs in the backyard are happily blooming. The tomato vines are still productive, the nasturtiums and the Morning glories are working overtime to produce blooms while they yet may.
Summer leaves the scene with the greatest reluctance -- on our part and on the season's.
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