The weather today is unbelievable. It is why I love Fall. Nights are cool enough to sleep, the bugs are pretty much gone — although I did see the honey bees pollinating the pepper plants — and the days can be quite warm and sunny.

I’ve been working too hard at my job, and not working hard enough in the garden. Today, I changed the equation. I put in a couple of leisurely hours in the garden this morning (gotta start slow, or my body would revolt), and stopped to do the dishes. I love multi-tasking. Clean both my dishes and my fingernails at the same time. Don’t try this if you use an automatic dishwasher.

I had this old wheelbarrow just hanging around, not really doing anything useful, just sort of getting rusty. I have been thinking about making it into a planter. Today I did.

Hmmm … should I have painted it first? Rustic more my style, I think — or at least my lifestyle.

First, I lined it with plastic, hoping it will rust out that much later. Then, I gathered up all the 5 gallon pots I had used for the nicotina rustica, which had already been harvested, and dumped the nice soil all in the wheelbarrow.

I took the rootbound Shasta Daisy from its pot on the deck, and planted it in the middle of the wheelbarrow, cutting it way back, first. Trust me, this will get big and busy by next Spring.

I planted some bulbs that were just beginning to sprout (some South African exotic – which is why they are always in pots) and there is room for some of the bulbs I plan on buying tomorrow.

This is the overall effect. Those are yellow pear tomatoes and jalapeño peppers in the background. They will come out next week so I can prepare the bed for more bulbs.

After I finished my wheelbarrow planter, I relaxed on the deck for a while (which also got a clean-up) and watched the hang gliders soar from the top of Plaskett — er, I meant Prewitt, haven’t been able to soar from the top of Plaskett since I closed it in 1996. Very peaceful and quiet. I love watching them!

It was hard going inside to finish up a brief due tomorrow, but I eased the burden, somewhat by opening all the doors and windows. My desk is positioned to get the Cone Peak view, so … making the money to buy the bulbs, and bareroot roses, and fruit trees, and seeds and all sorts of stuff to bring my garden back to the glory it once enjoyed.