First snow

It snowed yesterday for the first time this year. It was just those little hard pellets we sometimes get and it did not stay on the ground. It sounds like they have some north of here though.

I am sick today with a horrid cold. We are NOT amused! I have been trying to concentrate on sewing but to little avail.It seems the thing I am most fixed on is my kleenex box: ( Boo!

The back garden is pretty bare now. We can see right through to the escarpment in some spots.Some oak leaves persist and there are a couple of Maples still burning gold but with polka dots of black Tar Spot fungus. Does anyone else feel like this pestilence has only appeared in recent years? I want to talk to some REALLY old people, even older than I , and ask if this is a new phenomenon.

Has anyone else noticed how prolific the wild grape is this year? Does that mean we are in for a wild winter? I guess we will have to wait and see. There are places in the countryside round here where wild grape hangs in huge blue-black curtains. I need to get some pictures.It is also time to start collecting more pictures of the skeletal remains of the summer of 2011. This is all that is left now of my hydrangea, Endless Summer. Too bad.