In another edition of sights outside my window, today we had a few Cormorants, which are not unusual in our waters. This is a juvenile. Then the spill response guys sat in front of the house, waiting, I presume, for me to finish my lunch and clean up any of the usual mess I make. Who told them?

I didn’t really have a plan for how I was going to spend my day, but the newsletter was finished at the printers, and our friends are able to pick it up for us in Victoria. So E and I spent the morning sorting out the mailing list and printing labels. Tomorrow, all things going well, we should be able to get it in the mail and I will be done, done, done. Diet or no diet, wine will be poured tomorrow night.

I was still able to spend a short while in the garden this afternoon, just thinking and generally planning for next year.

I have never grown Dahlias before, mostly because they sounded awfully fussy. Digging up the tubers every fall seemed like a lot of trouble for a gardener who is inherently lazy, but my friend assured me that her gorgeous Dahlias were never dug up in the fall. So I ordered some tubers and another friend gave me cuttings of her tubers and wow. What a beautiful show they continue to make in the garden. I picked these today.

The only problem is that I planted them on the wrong side of the garden, and they bloom toward the sun. I only get to see the backs of the flowers from my sitting area. I am going to dig them up soon and, in the spring, plant them on the other side of the garden, where they will remain forever.

Heavy rains are predicted for the next couple of days but next week looks good for gardening and tree murdering. We make sure to take advantage of the weather for outside chores as much as we can. The dark days of winter will be here soon enough and there will be plenty of time

for sewing then