The weather this weekend has been quite mild and comfortable. The sun has been largely absent but the temperature has been warm. There are a few zucchini left in the garden that haven’t been killed by frost. The plants that have been killed I pulled out today. Elinor, my helper chicken, was right there waiting to see what might happen. When nothing immediately emerged from the loosened soil, she hopped into the cleared space and started scratching and was rewarded for her efforts.

I picked several pumpkins today. Elinor came to help me with those too but was disappointed because I wasn’t pulling anything out of the ground. None of the pumpkins this year have been large but they are many so that almost makes up for their smallness. I picked more cowpeas too. The frost has nipped the edges of their leaves but the plants are still going. No new flowers any longer but there are still a large number of bean pods fattening up. I noticed some of the fava beans have small pods on them. I wonder if they will live long enough to ripen or whether I planted them too late? I will find out soon enough I am sure.

Some of the plants on the green roof did better than we thought they had. When the flowerbed is above your head, you don’t pay as much attention to it as you might otherwise. The little aster we planted is blooming pretty purple flowers that the bees like. The creeping thyme has spread and is bushy and smells so good. The pasque flowers are holding their own and hopefully they will bloom in spring. The hens and chicks are doing okay too. In spite of the aster’s success, the low growing spreading plants have done the best, something to keep in mind in spring when decidinng on additional plants for the space. Today we planted species tulips and crocus on the roof. They are supposed to bloom together in spring. The crocus are dark purple and the tulips are orange and will make a pretty combination. Fingers crossed the squirrels don’t dig them up and the cold winter doesn’t turn them to mush.

The squirrels are busy busy busy right now. At any given time I can look out into the garden and generally see at least two or three. The Dashwoods don’t pay much attention to the squirrels though if one gets too close they will complain about it. The squirrels for their part keep a bit of distance most of the time.

There haven’t been rabbits in the garden all summer for whatever reason. Earlier in the week the Dashwoods were out and about and all of them began making a fuss. I hurried to see what was the matter. They had all flocked over by the raspberries and were looking toward the path down the middle of the garden where sat a very large rabbit. The rabbit was completely unconcerned with the Dashwoods, but the Dashwoods were not okay with the rabbit. They had never seen one before and didn’t know what to do. Once I had chased the rabbit out of the garden they calmed down and resumed their bug hunting.

I rode my new bike, Carter, outdoors yesterday but it was only a short transportation trip to the tattoo studio for a new tattoo. Since it is bike-related it seemed only appropriate to ride over. Good thing the weather was decent! It took 2 1/2 hours and I zoned out for most of it, listening to the music that was playing and the buzz of the tattoo gun. There were a couple rather sharp moments when I was startled by how much it hurt — closer up behind my knee and when she was using a smaller needle for detailing. But it turned out great and I now have a unique tattoo of flowers whose centers are bicycle chainrings. I love it and look forward to showing it off next spring and summer at a number of races.