Fall Cleanup... of Sorts

For the record, I want it to be known that I definitely would have made it until November 1st without turning on the heat if left to my own devices!

Really. I made it through last night's cold without a problem (thanks to an extra blanket and a dog snuggled near my feet) and the house temp had made it back up to 65 by late afternoon. Nothing colder is in the schedule from now through Thursday, so I figured I was home free... until my boyfriend walked in and announced that he felt chilled, and a little like he "might be starting to get sick." *sigh* Game Over.

He left for a few hours after supper to go teach fencing lessons, so I turned the heat back down to 60 and headed outside to clean up the less artful leaves--these gorgeous beech leaves get to stay in the shade garden for a while yet, since they set off the black mondo grass so nicely--and get a few more things planted.

I am embarrassed to admit that part of my "fall cleanup" this year involved temporarily planting a whole flat of pint-sized herbs, which were probably purchased on sale in late July, into the veggie garden. As I dug holes for sages and lavenders, I was reminded of a post that I had begun back in May about using tough plants like these in my West-facing front garden.

Going back, I discovered that I actually had three draft posts that I had never finished. The "Tough Plants" post from May, midsummer musings on gardening in the vernacular, and a recent post about transparency both in the garden and in blogging.

I have figured out why I never posted these three. The "Tough Plants" one felt too much like a how-to, when it was meant merely as a chronicle of my struggles with my Western exposure. "Gardening in the Vernacular" requires me to do a little more research on garden history and architecture in order to help crystallize my own thoughts there. And I have rewritten the "Transparency" post numerous times in an effort to remove any misconception that my words pass judgment on other bloggers.

As part of my fall cleanup, I have given myself some new homework: To resurrect and finish off these draft posts.

Finding them got me thinking, though... how many other bloggers have post orphans like mine? Begun and then saved with good intentions to complete them "soon." Noticed when the next few posts are written but continually shoved aside in favor of the latest garden events. Finally, they drop off the visible part of the post listings page and fall victim to "out of sight, out of mind" syndrome.

It's too easy to forget unfished posts for me to believe that I'm the only one who has them. Anyone else want to share my fall cleanup homework and give their orphan posts a proper introduction to the world--or at least, share here that you have them to make me feel better?!

(Note: If you're on Blogger you can go into "Edit Posts" list and click the link to "Show only Drafts" to find yours.)