It Was a Beautiful Weekend and We Got a LOT Done

Sunday was a beautiful day - sunny, no wind. It was on the cool side (some would say cold, but we're in Minnesota - LOL).  DH started the day out working at the shop, so I went over also - I'm the one running the tumbler to get everything shined up, he's going through the inventory, item by item, repricing and retagging. I was going to try to get some computer work done for our After Thanksgiving Day sale days, but I ended up working the tumbler instead. I'll do the sale flyer today. It won't take long. 

Looking South, you see the patio stretching out 
before you. The row of tomatoes and peppers 
that were lining the patio are completely gone, and 
only the wired-in planter remains. That will have 
to stay outside for the season - there's no room left 
in the shed (which you can see on the upper 
left - light brown which lighter framed doors. 
The cantilevered structure in the rear center is the 
woodshed that DH designed and made several 
years ago. It's actually three sections, each 
roofed separately with the center section higher 
than the two sides. The whole roof slants to 
resist rainfall and leaf fall. 

When we got home, DH changed into work clothes and started raking the front yard. He's MUCH better at raking than I am, and had it cleared and stacked at the edges of the ravine quite quickly. Then he moved to the lower back yard, and then the upper back yard. I helped as I could, once I found our second large rake. I knew we had a second one, but it wasn't hanging. Turns out it was in the garden shed - who knew! LOL

Here's the rest of the patio area - the wrought-iron table has 
been put away in the shed, along with the four chairs and 
umbrella. All that remain are bags of soil and those can 
stay outdoors for the winter. We'll probably bring the 
fertilizer into the shed, but not necessarily. You can 
easily see the two lobes of our "castle walls", and the back 
curved wall in this photo, with our beautiful maple centered 
along our fenceline. It's a nice yard and we spend a lot of 
time in it during the warmer months. 

It probably took us 2-3 hours to get everything raked up and the yard bucket filled (which won't be picked up until next Spring, but it's covered and out of the way now). He then started working on the patio - getting everything put away properly into our storage shed. It's rather like a Chinese box puzzle - everything has a space, and everything must go into the shed in order to leave room for the table and chairs, etc. We pulled up the dead plants (mostly tomato varieties for my container garden) and I did bring the small pot of Oregano indoors. It fits fairly well on my over-the-sink shelf. I'll put a label onto it to remind me to water it regularly. 

Black Friday and Small Business Saturday mark the beginning 
of our holiday season. I guess I'll have to grab my staple gun 
and replace the garlands for one final time. *sigh* I really hate 
putting them up and taking them down, but it has to be done. 
I also give up my Sundays to work at the shop. Ick! We're 
only open on Sundays from noon until 4:00 pm for three Sundays 
only, but still ... *sigh*. 

So, it's the beginning of Turkey Week, which ends at midnight on Thanksgiving Day when we jump into our Holiday Sales season. It's NOT my favorite time of the year because it's hectic, and we work a lot of extra hours. I'll be sending an email reminder out to our customers late today, and once again on Thursday. The biggest sale we hold every year are for the Friday and Saturday following Thanksgiving, but we still have to decide which Sundays in December we'll be open for limited hours. We rarely get much for sales on those days, but it's important to be open, I think. Have an excellent Monday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini.