First snow...time to wrap it up.

 Yup, we had our first snow November 19th.  Nothing major, just a few squalls on and off throughout the day.  It didn't even stick.

Still, it was a reminder that winter will be here sooner rather than later.  It spurred me to take care of the tender bulbs I had pulled and was drying in the garage.  They're all clean and trimmed and nestled in fresh shavings for the winter now.

Thanks to daylight saving time, I don't have a couple hours after work to putter around the yard, so I'm cramming everything into my weekends.  I grabbed a load of 50/50 mix to finish up the giant planter.  I can't lie, having a truck is so handy!  

Today I scoured the edges of the woods for some greenery to give it a holiday feel.  A giant planter of dirt isn't really attractive, and I didn't want the soil splashing up against the house if it rained.  Greens (and browns...I'm going for a more natural look) will help keep the soil in place a little better until it freezes.

 

My mother is a pro at floral displays.  Unfortunately I'm not.  But I have seed heads of asters, goldenrod, and staghorn sumac in there for the birds to nibble on, so it's at least serving a purpose.  I also put some solar lamps among the branches and string lights along the stair rails...for ambiance, I guess.

Quick edit - mom stopped on a roadside and clipped a bunch of Winterberries, enough to share.  Definitely an improvement!

 

I was given a load of sawdust earlier this summer and hadn't used it all, so I scraped up what I could and laid it over the landscape fabric on the tiered garden.  I'm hoping it serves two purposes - one, to weigh down the fabric so it stops sagging and stays in place this winter, and two, provide a base for the mulch layer I'll add in the spring.  

I did some organizing in the garage again, and can now fit the truck, tractor, snowblower, and generator in there.  I have a few furniture refinishing projects to work on this winter and once those are done, it will open up some more space.  And after I go through all the boxes of crap I still have, I can purge again and downsize my hoard.  

I was going to leave Reputa in the she-shed for the winter, but when I took out my snowblower to make sure it would run, I discovered that mice had packed nesting material inside it.  I had to remove a bunch of covers and clean it out so I could start it.  I don't want to take a chance of having mice move into Reputa's engine!  I was hoping I could fit her in the garage with the plow on, but there just isn't enough room for that.  Maybe next winter.  

Now I just have to make sense of my tools, and I'll feel better about the state of things.  

What a mess!!!  At least I can't say that I have nothing to do, right?