There’s nothing like an official freeze warning from the U.S. Weather Service to focus the mind.
I’d been dragging my sorry heels through the autumn To-Do list like there was no wintery tomorrow. And now tomorrow was today. (Or last week!) I lulled myself with a bunch of excuses such as A) I don’t want to be outside when those nasty leaf-blowers get going—possibly bad for my health and definitely bad for my cat nap, plus B) it’s so toasty out, I’m sure I can put it off a few more days/weeks/a month. Yeah, I guess I realized it was practically Thanksgiving and those Calypso beans were still on the vine, the beds weren’t prepped and the Mourning Doves were having a field day in the newly seeded lawn. (As if grass could grow at that point anyway!)*
But then, last Saturday, the government posted an ominous statement (caps in the original**):
FREEZING TEMPERATURES MAY KILL SENSITIVE VEGETATION ENDING THE GROWING SEASON.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS… A FREEZE WARNING MEANS BELOW FREEZING TEMPERATURES ARE IMMINENT OR HIGHLY LIKELY. THESE CONDITIONS WILL KILL CROPS AND OTHER SENSITIVE VEGETATION. && $$
(!!!)***
Bewitched as I must have been by the semi-sultry temps of October, it didn’t occur to me that Mother Nature could swat us in the other direction so soon.
Ha!
Okay, they said twenty-nine degrees overnight but I’m sure it only felt like…well, er, twenty-nine. Yikes! And there I was recently lamenting the fact that even a light sweater felt like one sweater too many. Silly backyard farmer! I shoulda gotten out the lawn-chairs one more time and gathered some Vitamin D while I could. Oh well, at least I still had half a day to:
1) Plant garlic.
2) Rake leaves and place in ornamental beds.
3) Cover newly planted allium bulbs with more handy leaf litter.
4) Mulch veggie beds with straw and cover with fabric to deter (not outwit, mind) nut-burying squirrels.
5) Remove last of summer deco from yard; repair and stake scarecrow in cabbage beds.
7) Harvest last of dry beans; lower lids on both cold frames.
8) Get butt back inside warm house!
Done and (finally) done.
And, by the way, isn’t it nice the National Weather Service cares about the sensitivities of our country’s vegetation?
😉
*Wishful seeding?
**Capital letters makes it even MORE official.
***Exclamation added!!!
Copyright 2013, Lori Fontanes
What the Ducks! 
Oh my. Just reading that list made me yawn and want to crawl back into bed. Bless your heart. Of course I would come and help but look at the time. It’s time for my mid morning confrontation with the back of my eye lids – snorts. 🙂
Aaww – I do feel for you though my friend. Where has the time went this year!? XOXO – Bacon
OK, now I’m yawning, too!!! 😉
What you need is a light jacket/vest of down feathers, much like what your ducks wear. 🙂
Great idea!!! 🙂
Procrastination is half the battle!
ECHO ECHO
True, true!!! 🙂
Brrr!
I agree about the blowers..lol…good excuse, I need that one on my list!:-)
Love your ducks…too cute!
Thanks!!! PS, the ducks are getting ready for this year’s snow–eating up a storm!!! I’m ordering a new parka right away… 🙂