We’ve had our first taste of snow here in Canandaigua, NY this last Thursday the 13th – just enough to whiten the ground and to send out the first wave of salt trucks to our major HI ways. According to my last year’s calendar, the first dusting of snow came on the 12th of November so weather wise things look pretty much on schedule to me.
Veterans Day weather was beautiful and I planted my spring bulbs under the locust tree in the front yard. Susan, Jeanette’s daughter, bought me a new set of tools to dig in our garden or to plant bulbs. I always order my bulbs from Breck’s in the spring when they are on sale and then I promptly forget all about them. They ship the bulbs in the fall when it is time to plant them in your area. Mine arrived in September but I always seem to be much too busy to plant them when they arrive. Shortly after they arrive, the bill arrives and that usually motivated me to get busy!
The weather on Veterans Day was 60 degrees and sunny and with the new kneeling pad that Susan bought me, my knees creaked and cracked as I knelt around the Locust tree. I wonder what the neighbors thought of all those snapping and popping sounds. The trowel that Susan bought was perfect as it is sturdy and has serrated edges along one side which help to break up our hard packed ground and cut through the small roots that the tree sends up looking for that last drop of moisture.
Susan and Jeff always hold a Thanksgiving turkey fry in their back yard in Venetia, Pennsylvania regardless of what the weatherman might bring that day. We always bring some Finger Lakes wine to the festivities but this year I thought I’d do something a little different. The Finger Lakes region produces not only grapes but many fruits and berries like apples, peaches, strawberries, raspberries, and vegetables like tomatoes, cabbages, pumpkins, and squash. I got a good deal on a truck load of cabbages right out of the field so for the Thanksgiving turkey fry, Jeanette and I are bringing a load of cabbages to the festivities! We’ll pass them out like party favors to be enjoyed by everyone after all the Thanksgiving celebrations are over. Won’t Susan be surprised?
