GARDEN GLIMPSES 11

November came to a close, and there was very little color in the backyard. One small old fashioned rose bloomed redly though, and there were some yellow berries for the birds to enjoy on the prickly tree. In the front yard, plenty of color was visible.

Two of the 3-4 fuschias were still flowering abundantly, the cotoneaster and purple-berry tree were full of fruit for the birds to eat, and the camelia burst open its first flowers of the season on December 1st.

As winter took over from fall, a few garden tasks lay ahead of me. Yet, every time I planned to do one, it would rain or I would be going out. There is no real rush, but I should like to tidy the edges of the front yard path, pull the last mooli, and dig a trench before the frosts solidify the soils.

The trench is so that I have a place to dump composting scraps while 2014 manure makes itself, ready to dig in early next year, from the current bin full. Every few days, I have another bucket or brown paper bag full of scraps and coffee grounds to add. Having only the single composting bin, I need to place these elsewhere for a month or so, to enable the matter currently in situ to break down and not constantly have new material added.

Ideally, I would have dug the trench in October and dug in the rotted compost in December, but wet weather delayed this option. Another choice is simply to purchase a second bin. This is the long term plan, in fact. Then, I can fill one bin while matter in the other rots and composts itself ready to enrich the garden plots in the end of year through pre-growing season of winter.

FALL CLEANSINGS 36/WINTER WONDERS 23

Once more, the walkway area needed attention after I had replaced some of the stuff to allow the door to be used once more. My kitchen was nice and empty without the great big green plastic chairs, though. I have it all clean too, while I was feeling energetic and had the broom and bucket in operation. It is a delight to be able to whizz across the kitchen without having to dodge the chairs - and cleaning is far easier now, too.

At some point, I hope to bring my tan bookshelf downstairs into the room - maybe where the white stools currently are - or on top of them even, if I get myself a suitable coffee table. For now, I left it alone - the day had been filled enough with tasks and it was time to use my spacious kitchen for cooking...

December arrived! Cold weather also arrived. My current routine, which may alter soon if I obtain paid employment, is to take coffee while computing for an hour or so, then 'rush about' for 1-2 hours doing my regular chores, laundry, feeding birds, taking out trash, etc. To progress from this stage into daily life, chores, lazing, or more computing is the next stage and is sometimes joined to the form stage by way of a jahe wangi. On one early December occasion the next stage was my favored chore - re-ordering the pantry!

FALL CLEANSINGS 35

My next task, once the floor was totally dry, was to lay the linoleum. I was uncertain precisely how much I had left, but luckily it was just the right amount! I had measured the length to know which way to start it from and it came up near perfect.

I had a roll from the inside left over - stripey. I was unsure what to do with a large cardboard roll - but eventually decided to dump it. Had it been unmarked card, I could have let it rot down in the garden, but... My next task was to remove the chairs from the kitchen to allow me more space.

I placed the chairs in the position I assumed would be best. I aim to purchase a small 2-seater sofa at some point and dump the chairs, but for now, they will have to do. Of course, I like to play with design decor - so the chairs went through a few positions before i finally had them where I wanted them.

That will do for the time being. I will eventually place a coffee table in the room also, but that too needs to be purchased first and the white stools will 'do' for now.

FALL CLEANSINGS 34

Overcast gloomy cold weather has arrived in the latter half of November and the bright candles are now cheerful rather than pallid. This shot shows how my berry-scented hallway now looks when I am rushing up and downstairs on a gloomy morning, with a bright and cheerful glow of encouragement.

I have not been lazy - the former pink n white room is now a functioning coffee-hide, if somewhat unfinished. Let me show you how this happened. Mid November was chilly and dull, so I enjoyed whooshing about warming myself up doing the chores. Running low of such, I took the opportunity of a slightly warmer day to work on the next big task of transforming the room.

These two shots show where I began. I firstly shook out the linoleum mat and swept up the dead leaves and mud from the pathway through the side of the room. Next, I moved everything I could to the pathway area - blocking the back door. The fact that my son was off from work for two nights and would not be using the door to enter/exit by helped - just in case I got lazy and it took longer than one day.

Out came the bucket and broom with some vinegar water and I scrubbed the floor over one more time. Window wide open to dry the floor quickly, I took a quick jahe wangi break before continuing. As soon as it had dried out, it was time to get the rest of the large roll of linoleum I had purchased a year or two ago to line the toilet and bathroom floors. This had to be roll-carried into the correct room. Luckily it was not too heavy and the task was not too difficult.

FALL CLEANSINGS 33

I left you last post with my nicely polished TV table sitting in the hallway. Moments after polishing it, I dragged the old heavy dark wooden drawers into the spare room our of my way - and sight for now - and placed the modern brighter wooden TV table in situ.

Here are my before and after shots, so you can compare the phone tables and see if you also prefer the more modern version of my lower hallway. I certainly prefer the decor to the way dad had it, though I admit I do not use a TV so did not need the TV table for other necessities as he did.

If you have been reading my blog for a while, you will know that as well as several major shifts, sales, and changes, I like to fiddle about with things. The phone table was no exception. Just like my 3-4 time a year pantry-tidy delight and the hall windowsill fiddling, the phone table went through a series of mild morphings to arrive at its perfection. I have spared you every rearrangement and will just show you a former and the final design.

& from above looking down...

Nice and neat - the shelving hides our daily diary, phone books, address books, pile of pens, and note pads. I like the way the mirror and table are both of a similar octagonal shape and much prefer the lower lighter table to the tall dark one.

This task left a mess in the spare room, although I managed to fit stuff in so it looks more roomy already. You can see that dreadful 40+ year old carpet - cringe.