And what a summer it was! A whole lot got done outside, thanks in very large part to the enthusiasm of JD. He was responsible for arranging to have the rotting front porch replaced, and for being the motivation behind the two of us getting a good chunk of the fence re-stained, which it sorely needed.

The new porch is lovely, and isn’t nearly as bouncy or slopey as the old one, which are probably Very Good Things.

And here’s a shot of the equally lovely look of freshly stained fence:

Ain’t it purdy?

I also did some fiddling with the eavestroughs and downspouts that were damaged by the ice dams last winter. That was about a 50-50 success. I got the stuff nailed back up and reconnected, but that led to further excitement. In the front, the tree keeps pulling the downspout off the eavestrough. I really hope they make flexible connectors that fit. In the back, I got it all wonderfully reconnected, only to discover during the next downpour that one of the connections in the basement (in the pipe that takes it from the outside to the sewer connector) had come loose and was streaming water down over my hot water tank. Lovely.

Luckily when I replaced the deteriorating inside piping years ago I had the forethought to install a drain plug over the utility sink in the basement. I undid the drain plug and consequently unleashed a shower of black muck that had been accumulating in the low spot over the intervening years. Fortunately most of it went into the sink. Also fortunately I was wearing black. ‘Nuff said.

I have dibbled in 28 cloves of garlic that will hopefully overwinter and sprout to glorious garlicky life in the spring. Anyone know any good garlic recipes? I think I’m going to need them.

Leftover wood bits from the new porch.

The leaves have mostly fallen, and all the delicate plants have been brought inside. I think it’s time to have a bit of a rest before resuming work on the inside. In spite of all the outside work, the number on the whiteboard is down to 5523.

The grrlz approve of the fall:

The dogs of fall.