September Equinox:

Trying one of those Pinterest projects - turning Halloween Trick-Or-Treat pumpkin baskets into cement pumpkin planters. These'll be filled with some billowy grass and some succulents. I used about half a 60# sack of concrete for these two. If they turn out I will make some more. If they REALLY turn out, I will find some of those bigger tacky lawn decoration pumpkins and make a big one. Love Halloween anyway, and love this idea. Simple, classy and fun.

A good way to mark the Autumnal Equinox, while I wait for my sod order to arrive. More progress on the backyard clearing, too.

◼ 10 Facts About the First Day of Fall - time and date

I'm not a big fan of Fall. The days'll be getting shorter and colder, the mad rush to the holidays begins. It seems like it came early this year, the colder nights, the falling leaves.

For us it means an apple pressing, coming up. One of the good things. That, and our Indian Summer, some of the nicest days of the year on the coast.

Here's how they turned out:

The concrete mix has gravel in it, if you want the smoother look, you might want to use Quikrete. I don't mind the gravelly smile, it is for Halloween after all, and a bit of the macabre is expected. plus in a few years with some moss taking hold, they'll be all the more awesome and rustic. Now to dress them up... grassy mohawks and succulent wigs. Everyone asks are you going to paint them orange, and you could, but no, I like the grey concrete. Tempted to paint the eyes glow-in-the-dark, though, just kidding.

Rain, and Fall

After a rainy week, it's sunny today, and things are drying out. The ground is loving the moisture, but we were hoping for a little bit more time to enjoy Indian Summer.

The roses are putting on their end of summer show.

The succulents have put on a burst of growth - as if they're enjoying the sudden colder weather, which seems odd.

There's not a lot of fall color, but that's just the nature of things here.

I'm running out of time to get my projects done. The futon does have its waterproof cover, but it may have to be moved off the deck and into the greenhouse, if it is going to survive the winter.

(Looking back on that statement, it may seem odd, but this is an area where the climate is mild, albeit rainy, all year long. You can pretty much leave things out - EXCEPT things that you don't want to get wet. This is an area where we hoped global warming was real, because then we could grow bougainvillea, and corn and tomatoes.)