Troll foot in the face!

Its already November 8th. The weather has certainly shifted to a more seasonal low. T-shirts are now long sleeved and usually I will wear at least a light wind cheater while outside in the garden. I've been out cutting back even though there are still a lot of blooms waving enthusiastically, greeting me each morning and night as I come and go. The darkness of early nights didn't creep up on me it stomped its ugly troll like foot smack into my face! Where was I? Why didn't I realize? Was I just in total denial?  Or was I perhaps trying to be eternally optimistic! At any rate the scenery at Frog Hollow has certainly changed. I did snap this one picture though after cutting several others down with out a thought as to sharing them this fine Fertilizer Friday.. Sorry Glenda.

There are a lot of people who do not like "yellow" or think that there is just too much yellow in their gardens. However it is exactly this time of year when any colour at all is very happily received. Just look at the healthy green of the leaves in contrast to the bright happy yellow.  I also still had some plain yellow and some purple, burgundy and pinks left but I had them cut down before I thought to snap a last minute shot.

I went out to fill a bird feeder and before I knew it I had removed another three big wagon loads of vegetation.I  seem to have an extra abundance of leaves hanging around this year. They blew away last year! There wasn't anything to really concern myself with even raking. But the rains came before the winds right after the first snow flurries so the leaves were soggy and have stuck around. I cut back all the perennials to make sure that all pests etc were removed but the trees were very healthy and Im thinking that letting the worms do their work over the next few months and into early spring isn't a bad idea. Oak leaves however will have to be removed from the lawn.

Do you remember the tree jewelry I made last fall and hung on the tree.. Well it didn't have anywhere near this amount of fruit on it.  Hopefully the birds will enjoy it over the coming winter months. It certainly does add this blaze of colour against the yellow of the grasses and all the other foliage that's been cut back.

Speaking of grasses... just look how this one has a halo with the sun shining through it.  I've cut a lot of the grasses back again to cut down on places for the pests to winter over but also to save myself some work in the spring as well as not to be traipsing around in the beds when the spring bulbs are poking their tops out.

I've taken the mermaid and dragon and several others inside. Im now wondering if I should try to get the fish out of the pond and put them in the family room in an aquarium for the winter.. Does anyone have any suggestions on what they do. Obviously the river is no longer circulating.  The pond is over four feet deep in the middle..  Also, did you notice the back ground change? I thought I would change it to a lighter background colour for the winter.. I like the darker colour for the contrast with the bright flowers etc... But, winter can be far to "cool" coloured all on its own. However I do love to decorate for Christmas and having the wood fireplace going. Winter months also give me down time to do quilting and other crafts. How about you? Do you have other hobbies to fill in your winter months. If you do how about joining us on Manic Mondays link up right here... This week it will be about what projects you have in mind for the next few months.. Maybe you haven't thought that far and you need to find something... It might just be time to go back into Pinterest and review all those saved Pins... or find some new ones! Check back here on Monday to see a few of the challenges I've set for myself.

Have an awesome weekend.

Kate
Psst its Fertilizer Friday... time to hop on over to see what Tootsie has been up to this week.