Gobble, gobble ....

The spooks disappeared, must have been chased away by these Pilgrims and their turkey!

Not sure where the spooks went, but these seasonal visitors are a welcome change of pace on our kitchen table!  They don't seem to eat much but provide smiles at meal times!

Denny's still head chef while I am recovering!  But, am rocking and rolling along in my high fashion boots now so am helping a bit!  I even got to the grocery store a few days and refreshed my cart driving skills not knocking into displays or other shoppers!

Unusual fall and early winter color!

A few years ago one of our garden club programs featured creating winter holiday bouquets.  The floral arranger introduced us to a beautiful change of pace with a branch of pink berries!  It is a Winter Berry shrub variety called "Coral Berry".

Needless to say, in the spring I was shopping for this delightful addition for one of my flower beds!  It has made a simply spectacular replacement for a rose bush where I wanted to discourge neighborhood kids and dogs from entering a flower bed.  The size and fact that it was a shrub that grows just the right size works perfectly.  Add to that the beauty of the abundant pink berries in the fall and early winter landscape it has been a winner for me!  Simple to care for and prune makes it perfect!

Absolutely charming!

It is also a beautiful green shrub spring and summer!

For more information about this shrub click here!

Are your garden beds ready for their winter's nap?

This hosta bed has about 50 hostas in it! Many of them are big ones!

Thank goodness 90% of our garden beds were all ready for winter before our car accident!

Denny had to finish the job and take care of the lawn/leaves himself this year.   The hosta bed looks pretty empty but we do it the easy way because I have about 100 hostas!  I like to get those leaves off so the slug eggs are exposed to winter temps so they don't survive so well.  Plus,  I don't like removing the dead hosta leaves in the spring and risk stepping on the early rising pips hiding under the dead leaves!   So, we wait until after a killing frost and most of them drying up so all we have to do is pick the leaves up easily and dispose of them in our city compost dump!  Sure is less work than cutting them off and cleaning/disinfecting the cutter blades between each plant to avoid spreading any diseases that may be hiding in the plants!

Looks  pretty dull out there but come spring it will be colorful with spring bulbs of all kinds that peak up to greet the season before the hostas pop up!

I am back again......

Sorry about the sudden break in posts since mid October!

We had a intersection auto accident recently, which caused a few challenges resulting in my not being able to spend much time using my computer, etc.   Denny was not injured but our car was totaled out.  I had the opportunity to observe the Jaws of Life in action very close up and personal!

However, my physical challenges have improved and the added challenges of recovering from cataract surgery in both eyes the last weeks have given my eyes some wonky vision issues to deal with also!

The good news is recovery from both issues is in progress so I am able to restart my posts again!

Attached are pics of our accident results, which has left me feeling very lucky.  Not lucky to have the accident, but my injuries are much less than one could expect from the looks of our car!
Thank goodness for seatbelts, air bags, talented rescue people and skilled medical staff!  I was only in the hospital for one day, and was able to transfer from a metro area ER to home base of St. Mary's Hospital, Rochester!  Two fractured ribs, a fracture in left foot and two fractures in the right foot/leg with additional bruises of various sizes are on the mend!  Without complications I should be all  healed by Xmas!  And I am so grateful to be in "boots" instead of non-weight bearing casts!  Not exactly dancing the light fantastic but using a walker and wheelchair and ramp to get into and out of the house has me being somewhat mobile!  Not pushing the activity level until I get confirmation on the healing of the right foot/leg area, which is the place for complications to happen!

So grateful for so many friends and family who became aware of this situation thru Facebook posts!
Their good wishes have been appreciated.   I am so grateful for a husband that not only can but will step up to be my caretaker!  He is a blessing in my life, as usual!  The car has been replaced and we found a "twin" including the same colors, only 1 year newer with extra bells and whistles and similar low miles on it.  We really liked the car we had!

Spooks come out to play in October!

October is the time the ghosts and spooks come out to play!

I noticed today they moved into my indoor fairy gardens and chased away the fairies and their friends that usually reside there!  
I'm not sure where the fairies went to hide out but hope they find their way back later! 

This one is on the kitchen table!

This one is next to "my chair" in the living room!

Golf Days in MN almost gone!

Unless you have  special Golfer Fairy Garden on your back porch!

Just had to do one of these for my favorite golfer guy!

Do you want to increase the plants in your garden or share a favorite one with a friend!

Recently, I read a fantastic article in our local newspaper, the Rochester Post Bulletin, that I am sharing with you today.

Robin Fruth-Dugstad, who heads up our local college Horticulture Department, is a regular contributor of gardening articles to our newspaper.  She always has such good information and this one is a clip out an save one!

I'm not shy about splitting a perennial and just dig right in.  But not all the pieces survive well because I am not aware of  "what method works best for the various perennials!  This will enable me to be more successful!   

This article covers all the successful ways to divide the various kinds of perennials!  I saved a digital copy as well as a printed copy and I am laminating a copy so it will be handy  right on my garden bench!