Autumn Leaves

Autumn seems to have crept up on us this year. No sudden loss of leaves from the trees and only a very gradual change from green to yellows, browns and reds. But out in the garden this afternoon, I was conscious that there wasn’t as much cover on the trees and that there were a lot more leaves on the lawn and the deck than I remembered from a week ago. And quite a number of them seem to have ended up in the top of our old milk churn. We don’t have a proper top for it, but a plastic plant pot stand fitted perfectly. Not only does it keep the churn from filling up with rainwater (I have drilled holes in the bottom, but they get blocked easily) but it gives the birds who live in the hedge somewhere to drink and have a bath!
I suppose if we did what was right, we would give the garden a bit of a tidy before winter, but I suspect there is more to drop and we’ve got enough on our plates trying to keep the inside works on track. Which is not proving easy. There has been a bit of good news in that they are going to do the carpets at the end of November (originally rescheduled to January 2022) and what might have been bad news about a delay to the furniture actually turns out to be a positive as it should now arrive a few days after the carpet goes down - which makes life easier for the tradespeople but does subject us to a few more weeks of sitting on garden chairs! But the electrician has gone quiet on us and the blinds & curtains people are messing us about a bit. I told them there was only one day in November that we couldn’t do - this Friday. So guess which day they want to come? Yep, this Friday. Even though they admitted that they knew it wasn’t convenient. There was a bit of a veiled threat that if we didn’t change all our plans so they could come this Friday, then we might have to wait a couple of weeks for another slot. Well, so be it. We’ve managed without curtains and blinds for over a month now, so another week or so isn’t that big a problem. My priority was getting the carpets done before Christmas, if possible. So I’ll take that little victory and resume the other battles next week!