Brrr....

Brrr. All life in the garden has been snuffed out, including the nasturtium, which truly redeemed itself by clinging on to the better end. Apart from a couple of roses and a late blooming black eyed susan, it was the only thing left in the garden with a bloom on it. I have spent the last two weekends cutting, digging and pulling out dead plants. I know you are suppose to let some of them stay for "winter interest", but over the years I've learnt that that only leads to more work in the spring, which I never have time for. So I now cut out as much as weather will permit. I haul it to the roadside and make giant heaps of dead plants. I'm sure I'm the main contributor to our city yard waste pile as Harry hauls dead plants, weeds, and overgrown plants there constantly for me. I've been picking up bulbs again at Menards. Every fall I'll at least throw a few in at the end of the season. The squirrels will dig up all my tulip bulbs, so I tend to stick with daffodils and other spring bloomers.
The outside fish are stacking up like cord wood along the west end of the pond. Not eating and barely moving already. Water temps are at about 47 degrees already. They looked up at me as if to say "What the heck is going on? " "It's COLD down here!!" It just seems too soon to just quit feeding and start to ignore them for the winter. No ice on the water yet as the weather continues be be slightly above normal. The later the better.. I tried to tell them it was hurting me as much as them, but they only looked away in disbelief. I felt like a traitor.