It's cold and dark outside in the Carondelet Garden on this last Friday of November.  It's 26-degrees and should be sunny throughout the day with highs in the mid to upper 30s.  Baby, it's cold outside right now.  The Winter pansies are in and should give us a bit of grace even with these freezing temperatures.

Today is "Black" Friday.  I've always disliked the term.  It doesn't sound like a good thing at all.  It's a busy, busy shopping day so you will find this old gardener at home.  Now, tomorrow is "Shop Small Saturday" so you will find Dr. B and I hitting up some of our favorite St. Louis shops and maybe even a pop-up market or two.  We are enthusiastic about our Saint Louis maker-friends.  They do such amazing things and the quality shows.  

We feel the same way about shopping for the everyday things and services around the house.  We use local vendors whenever it is possible.  They know City houses and have the experience to do the job right.  They are also, usually, more reasonable in cost and always friendly and helpful.  So Shop Local!  You won't regret it!

It's a good day for a good day.  Be kind to yourself and others if you are out and about on this Friday.  That's all the news from here in the Carondelet Garden.

It's dark outside this morning here in the Carondelet Garden.  The rains are supposed to be moving in any time now.  It will be a damp, chilly day for us in South Saint Louis.  The perfect day for prepping desserts for tomorrow.

Thanksgiving is a time for family, friends and food.  A good time to be grateful for the blessings we have, but also a time to remember those who aren't with us.  We will have a few more empty places at the table this year.  It happens more frequently as we are getting older.  We remember the funny stories.  We share memories and perhaps shed a tear or two.  We hold onto the goodness.  

We also need to remember that it is hard for some of us during the holidays.  We are constantly bombarded with Holly and Jolly, yet some are feeling melancholy or even depressed during this season.  For so many, the holidays are not "the most wonderful time of the year."  Hold these in your hearts as well.  Be patient and kind.  It helps.

It's a busy time on the highways and byways, airports and terminals.  Be good to yourself and kind to others especially now.  Travel can be stressful.  Kindness goes a long way.  Even when we don't feel very kind.  Hold onto hope.  Keep the faith.  Share a bit of love and laughter if you are able.  That's all the news from here in the Carondelet Garden.

It's almost 60-degrees here in the Carondelet Garden on this cloudy Monday morning.  The sun was shining yesterday, and the skies were blue and cloudless.  The Red Maple still has a few leaves left.  A beautiful sight for this cloudy day.  The temperatures are going to fall down into the lower 40s throughout the morning.  A big change from yesterday.

It is the week of Thanksgiving.  We will be doing a bit of shopping today to finalize preparations for the big day.  We had a bit of pre-Thanksgiving last week with our beautiful nieces.  What a joy!  This week will be chosen family and friends.  I love thanksgiving because it's that holiday that reminds us how important it is to be grateful.  

The day has begun, the work is planned, and this old gardener needs to get things going.  Have a wonderful week.  Be good and be kind to yourself and others as you make your way this week.  That's all the news from here in the Carondelet Garden.

It's dark and chilly here in the Carondelet Garden on this Friday in November.  Earlier this week it was tee shirt weather and lovely as this picture can attest.  As they say about weather in Saint Louis, if you don't like it, stick around, it will change!  We should reach the upper 40s by this afternoon under cloudy skies.  

The old idea that when the world wearies and society fails to satisfy, there is always the Garden.  Truer words were never spoken.  I think we could all use a bit of time puttering around the garden right now.  It would do all of us a bit of good to stop for a moment and admire the beauty and grace of creation.

It's been a busy week as we get ready for the holiday season which is upon us quicker than we may imagine.  Next week is Thanksgiving and then the race is on!  The garden is in pretty good shape.  We are focusing on getting the house ready for holiday decorating.  The carpets are cleaned and ready.  The Doodle Dog is grateful that her world has been restored to its proper order.  Let the decorating commence.

Baking cookies for tomorrow's decorating session with our lovely nieces.  Joy and happiness all around.  Be good to yourself and kind to those you meet this weekend.  That's all the news from here in the Carondelet Garden.

A beautiful morning here in the Carondelet Garden.  It is still dark with temperatures in the lower 40s but abundant sunshine is expected later on with highs reaching into the mid to upper 50s here in South Saint Louis.  Still no frost and these beauties are still giving us grace in the garden.

I was reading somewhere recently, I wish I could remember where, and it said, "Go be your favorite self."  We are used to higher, faster, better, best but, "favorite" leaves room for grace.  We need grace right now.  Maybe more than ever.  Phillip Yancey gave the greatest definition of grace ever when he said something like, Grace means God cannot love you any more than he does right now, and God cannot love you any less.  Period.  God loves you, just the way you are, right now.  Grace!  Simple and yet so hard to accept.  

I've come to the conclusion these past few years that I want a simple, ordinary life.  I want to find the things that are important to me and then discover the simplest pathway to getting them in my life.  I must admit, I'm done with the rules about the number of things you are allowed to own, or what you are allowed to do, where you are allowed to go, how much you can spend, what kind of car or truck you can drive, where you should live or what you need.  No labels!  Just a simple path to a life that works for me.  I want to have a bit of compassion for myself.  Keep doing what I love, master a few skills and acknowledge the progress when it happens.  

C,S. Lewis once wrote, "You can't go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending."  It's a good day to write our own ending.  We can even start right now.  The good news is, we can then start again tomorrow.  Grace!  That's all the news from here in the Carondelet Garden.

It is a wet, dark early morning here in the Carondelet Garden.  The Doodle Dog gave me an early start this morning with here insistent need to make her morning ablutions.  Early morning temperatures are in the low 60s with highs reaching 70-degrees this afternoon.  The rains should move out in early morning with a chance for them to return this evening.  

We spent the past few days gathering the leaves from in and around the Carondelet Garden.  We rake them up, mow them over and then pile them into our compost cube to store for a whole year.  Leaves decompose through fungal action, so we need to keep them damp all through the process.  At the end you get this amazing, wonderful product!  This job is almost done for this year.  There will be one more gathering of the leaves as the rest are beginning to fall with this early week rain.

It looks like we will be getting our first major frost of the season sometime in the next week or so.  We have been busy winterizing the garden a bit.  We harvested the last of our Fall lettuce crop.  What a joy that has been this year.  We are still cleaning flowerpots, but the plants are gone, and it is a job that can be done at any time.  All of our tulip and Spring bulb pots are planted and are setup waiting for the early Spring display.

We are now in the second half of November.  Winter is just around the corner and the looming temperatures are proving that fact.  So as the weather changes it is a good reminder to keep the bird feeders stocked.  It is one of our greatest joys watching the birds feed from our kitchen window.  

It is a bit bleak outside right now.  I guess that is why the song is called "In the Bleak Mid-Winter."  Not quite there just yet, but we can see it in the horizon.  The holidays are approaching.  We've picked up our turkey and ordered our ham for the big Thanksgiving feast.  An empty seat at the table this year.  A glass of bourbon will be hoisted, and memories will be shared.   We are grateful for the gifts shared and the memories we carry.  

Gratefulness and thanksgiving.  Not a bad way to start the week here in the Carondelet Garden.  That's all the news for now!  

There is a definite chill in the air on this Friday morning in mid-November.  Mid-30s right now climbing to the upper 50s by this afternoon.  The good news is we should see the sun a bit later.  

The leaves are falling in earnest around the Carondelet Garden and that means it's time to start gathering them up to create our leafmould for next year.  We learned this from watching our friends on @gardenersworldtv on @BritBoxtv.  We have a three-foot slat cube that we fill to the brim with chopped up leaves from the lawn mower.  We keep it moist and about a year later you get this rich, earthy, loam that is perfect for the raspberry and blueberry bushes and anywhere you need to improve your soil.  The very best part is it is free!

Off to work this old man goes on this Friday morning.  Who knew I would ever be this excited to rake leaves?  That's all the news from here in the Carondelet Garden.

The sun is shining on this mid-week morning here in the Carondelet Garden.  If you told me in the Spring that these little beauties would still be blooming in mid-November, I would have called you a bit crazy! Here we are in the middle of November with no frost to be seen in the 14-day forecast.  Pretty crazy indeed!  We should see temperatures in the upper 50s by this afternoon along with a few rain showers.  

I've been in the garden a lot this past week or so.  The anger and frustration after the recent election has caused me to withdraw a bit and seek the solitude of grace that my garden gives. There is such beauty in the garden right now.  I've learned that beauty has a way of piercing the pain.  It reminds us of who we are and invites us to reconnect with our soul.  

This moment of time is a reminder to seek the beauty.  The truth is: there is good in this world even if you feel as though you have to search a little harder to find it.  As we put one foot in front of the other right now, we need to make sure to pay attention not just to the words that people say but also to what is unspoken or unsaid.  The pauses are where the nuances of conversation lie.  That's where the very breath of creation can be heard and where the ordinary and extraordinary can come together. 

I still cling to hope.  I still have faith, most of the time.  I am surrounded by love though I seldom deserve it.  Grace is here if we only seek to truly see the beauty.  Head out to a quiet place on this mid-November morning and listen to the pretty.  That's all the news from here in the Carondelet Garden.

It's a chilly start to the day here in the Carondelet Garden on this Friday morning in November.  It's 43-degrees under cloudy skies but we should warm up to the lower 60s by this afternoon.  The clouds will stick around but the Marigolds are holding on and giving us a bit of grace.

It has certainly been a roller coaster of a week in our City, State and Country.  My prayer on this Friday morning is that all people in power come to realize that the only thing that is good for any of us is what is good for all of us.  I pray for wisdom for all elected individuals.  Wisdom is not insisting on the old ways of doing things.  It is the ability to make the ancient truth the living memory of today.  Today I pray for wisdom.

Here is a favorite quote from Francis Bacon to end this week:
Old wood best to burn,
old wine best to drink,
old friends to trust,
and old authors to read.

Today I shall read, relax and maybe even watch a movie.  Be good and be kind to yourself and others.  We all need a bit of kindness right now more than ever.  That's all the news from here in the Carondelet Garden.

We woke up to partly cloudy skies here in the Carondelet Garden.  The rains have finally moved on and we should see highs in the low 60s this afternoon.  The Fall lettuce enjoyed the moisture yesterday.  We received over 7 inches here as my rain gauge overflowed.  

I am searching for a bit of hope, a bit of faith on this Wednesday after the election.  The results are in.  I'm praying and hoping against all hope.  Yet, I know that whatever the many deaths of the day, resurrection is coming.  We know that because, give it time, it always has before, and it will now as well.  I am holding on to whatever hope and faith I have.  

Today is a day to be kind and gentle with ourselves and others.  There are so many vulnerable people today.  My prayer is that kindness will, ultimately, win.  We must be gentle and kind right now, even when we don't particularly feel very gentle or kind.  We cling to hope, we search for faith, and we do it with as much love as we can.  

One of my favorite sermons came from an Episcopal priest in New Harmony, Indiana.  It seems they would leave their doors unlocked for anyone who needed a space to pray or contemplate.  One night someone stole their poor box and all the money within it.  The pastor and the vestry were, as expected, angry and hurt.  Their first response was, "we lock the doors!"  The pastor told everyone to wait three days.  "Everyone deserves a three-day snit!" After three days, emotions calmed, and clearer thinking returned.  The doors are still open for anyone to pray.  The poor box is a bit more securely fastened to the wall.  We are allowed a three-day snit.  Then it will be time to get back to it.  Work for goodness and kindness.  We will move forward.  

Today I pray. Mostly, because I'm not sure what else to do.  I pray for goodness and kindness to overcome.  For now, the coffee is ready, and I need it today.  That's all the news from here in the Carondelet Garden.