Oh no, the weeds are sprouting

A little rain and some unseasonably warm temperatures have resulted in weeds germinating everywhere in my gardens.  Something needed to be done immediately.  My neighbors rushed to my rescue, although they didn't realize it.

Because the weather has been so pleasant, all my neighbors have been graciously raking up leaves, and piling bags on the curb for pick up.  For the last two days, I've been driving around the neighborhood, stuffing huge black bags of leaves into the trunk, back seat, and even the front passenger seat of my car and then hustling back home with my treasure.

Once home, some of the bags went into piles for future use while I ferried most of them in my wheelbarrow to my gardens. 

My gardens are now well watered, thanks to some good, rainy days and thoroughly mulched with a thick blanket of leaves to keep that moisture in and those pesky little weed seedlings from growing up into a wild, weed collection.  

Ready for Christmas

Decorating the outdoors for Christmas has been a little challenging this year.  First there was the drought, which meant the ground was as hard as concrete; there was no way I could pound the anchors into the ground.

Then it rained (for which I am VERY thankful) and while I'm a dedicated gardener, I didn't particularly want to get soaking wet.

The decorations are finally up.  All we need now, are some snow flakes to feel like Christmas is here.

I'm particularly proud of the horse head greenery that I displayed on the gate out at the barn.  I decided to staple dismantled fake garlands for the body, while still gluing on the pine needle main, and using a pine cone for the eye.  This means that when Christmas over all it will just take a few minutes to peel off the mane and forelock and it will be ready for storage until next year.

  

And we have rain

The beginning of December has been wet and gloomy and chilly . . . and I am SO happy!!  My gardens seem to be smiling, and I'm pretty sure I have heard the sound of singing in the rain too.

The long term consequences of the drought are yet to be seen.  One of my drought victims has been my topsy turvy echeveria. 

The birds in my backyard discovered that eating succulents was a terrific way to get a drink when all their usual sources of water dried up.  It looked like I was serving a buffet on my back deck. Had I a faster camera to capture these meals, the photos would have been hysterically funny. 

This is how a topsy turvy echeveria is supposed to look.

This is what my topsy turvy looks like following several months of feeding the song sparrows and cardinals.  I don't mind, this one will grow back next year.