Ah, autumn!

What a glorious weekend of weather we had. The temperatures were just right, the sunshine was golden and the breezes gentle. After being forced to stay indoors for most of the previous ten days, it was a wonderful release for me to be able to get outside for at least a few minutes each day. I wasn't really able to do anything but sit and enjoy the weather, but that was enough.

Then today the weather turned gloomy and drizzly and kept me mostly indoors again, but even that seemed perfect. How often we have longed in vain for these drizzly autumn days in our recent drought-ridden years. It's a comfort to have them return.

I say I didn't do much while outside on the weekend except sit, but I did accomplish one thing with some assistance from my husband. I refilled my empty bird feeders. I had found my garden to be eerily quiet. The birds all seemed to have fled, except for the House Sparrows which, unfortunately, never desert me. Once all the feeders were empty and no one refilled them, I'm sure they all found other sources of food.

It's an inconvenient time for the birds to abscond, though, because Project FeederWatch begins next weekend. I'll be observing, counting, and reporting the birds that show up at my feeders or to feed at the plants in my garden. Unless I can entice them back in the next few days, there won't be much to report.

I found that some other things besides the birds had changed in my garden during my absence. The big almond verbena shrub near my patio was in full bloom once again, perfuming the air with its sweetness. Likewise the Cape honeysuckle had embarked on another cycle of bloom and had set its corner of the garden ablaze with its fiery orange blossoms. And the white mistflower which I was really beginning to have my doubts about proved to me once again that patience is the essence of being a gardener. It truly looks like a white mist in the middle of the backyard.

Wonderful autumn. It is so good to be able to enjoy it once again.