It’s hard to believe that just a few short weeks ago my world was filled with a garden full of vegetables and beds full of beautiful flowers and warm, sunny days that seemed as if they’d never end!

But end they did.

Long gone are the Shasta daisies and the day lilies…

…and the sunflowers and irises…

…and the wildflowers and morning glories.

The corn and peas and cucumbers and lettuce and tomatoes and potatoes and pumpkins have all been harvested. The trees have lost most of their leaves and the grass is slowly losing its green hue and will be brown before long. The sunny skies have been replaced with grey clouds of late and the warm air is now a blast of arctic cold first thing in the morning.

I am glad that I took a million pictures over the last few months so I have them to remind me of what was and what’s to come next year when the warm days return and the garden is ready for planting and the flowers spring back to life to keep me company.

And at least I still have the pups and the chickens and ducks and quail and pheasant and the house sparrows outside my window to get me through the coming dark days of winter.

Of course I am looking forward to the snow and the adventures we’ll have with the pack…

Still, I will miss my flowers and garden much like I miss my children being little.

And just like with my kids, looking at photos of them helps me to remember the happy times and makes it easy to forget about all the bad days and hard work that went into growing them. 🙂