Many of our friends and neighbors are not happy that Daylight Saving Time has ended. In fact, some have let it be known that they are already looking forward to Sunday, March 13, 2016, when it’s scheduled to begin again.

We’ve had to turn on the heat in the house a couple of times although there have been some lovely warm days – perfect for working in the garden. There is always much discussion regarding whether to “clean up” now or to wait until spring, leaving it all to Mother Nature to take care of everything.

We still prefer to do most of the cleaning up in the fall. The ground is warmer and not so wet, and we won’t be stepping on emerging precious spring bloomers and perennials. But, as the saying goes, to each his own.

Although light frosts have turned many of the plants to mush, there still are clumps of lovely chrysanthemums in bloom and the Knock Out roses are putting on their last show. There’s still lots of leaf color to enjoy, especially among the azaleas and the Japanese maples.

Our “Holiday cactus,” which spent the summer in our porch, was brought indoors prior to the dropping of temps and has just begun to show some buds. Also called Thanksgiving cactus (Schlumbergera truncata), it is often confused with Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera bridgesii).

Soon, we’ll plant our amaryllis bulbs for their annual indoor show. Thankfully, we remembered to take some cuttings of our favorite summer coleus. The cuttings have rooted in water and wait for me to plant them in some potting soil.

Skunks have dug up sections of our so-called lawn, but not too badly. I guess there aren’t enough grubs for them to eat. Yippee!

Although we haven’t personally seen any deer recently, we know they’re around because we’ve seen their tracks. It’s a bit scary to think that shotgun deer hunting has been OK’d near us to take place on upcoming specific days. Of course, the deer do pose a threat to street traffic and cars have hit several of them.

Although we have no oak trees on our property, the acorns on our neighbors’ trees are plentiful. The squirrels keep spreading them around and “planting” them. We’re still finding the ones they planted last year as the colored leaves of the baby oak plants show up more clearly at this time of the year.

Some of the hollies are full of red berries. It’s time to take some clippings and decorate the outdoor containers for the coming holiday season.

After Thanksgiving, we’ll be looking forward to the Winter Solstice on December 21, when the days will begin to get longer.

In general, so much to be thankful for!