A Day of Work: Fall "To Do" List

the greenhouse waiting to be filled again

I felt at peace this morning reading Silver Valley Girl's post called A Day of Rest here. It is such a contrast from my day yesterday. My sister deservingly took a day of rest and slept, did some reading and writing, plus attempted to get over her cold.
I was energized to have A Day of Work. Our school honored Native American Day on Friday so I had the gift of a three day week-end. Friday I toured our gardens and captured a photo catalog of how plants looked, what needed to be divided, and what perennials needed to be moved.
Yesterday we decided to knock off a "to do list" of fall chores. Even though frost hasn't hit, JEJ decided it was time to move the plants into the greenhouse. I love this fall ritual of saying goodbye to the empty summer greenhouse and filling it once again with the plants that winter over. These geraniums will continue to grow and bloom as they adapt to their winter home. In a few months we can begin to propagate new starts of many plants to have ready in the spring.Our cat Sweet William is in there somewhere. He has already found a spot to sleep among the pots. It is his favorite spot in the winter.
It was also time to make use of the raspberries and zucchini that had a summer rest in the freezer. There is nothing finer on a sunny fall morning that the smell of raspberry jam bubbling on the stove. I have heard it is okay to use a canner on a ceramic top stove and then heard it isn't. I didn't take a chance and used the burner on the barbecue. I felt a bit like a pioneer woman out canning my jam over a hot fire (in this case propane!)
The frozen zucchini was made into bread, but I ran out of ingredients so the rest will be baked today. Now my canning shelf and freezer are once again full of goodies for the winter.

There is that balance between work and rest. My sister leads a very busy life and that day of rest was exactly what she needed. It was my time for a day of work and I enjoyed the feeling of accomplishment as I ended the day with bowl of homemade chili, a warm fire, and a good book.