"And when the vines and stalks are empty, when the soil's been turned, and it is blowing into Winter, we sit with neighbours and compare. About who had the best luck with this year's garden. Outside, the garden's brown again. The crows are back. And we are, all of us, waiting . . . for next year's garden."

Cynthia Ryland, "This Year's Garden"

Today is one of those days that you just feel the need to have a little sunshine in your life. As I look out the window the sky is leaden grey and a light snowfall is gently drifting to the ground. Luckily it is still not cold enough for the snow to accumulate but rather it melts as it hits the earth.

It's hard to believe that it is the end of the first week in November already. Most to the garden chores have been done and the beds put to bed. The garden seems empty and dull with colourings of brown and green but the red rosehips and white snowberries add bright spots of colour. True to form, I still have tulip bulbs to plant. Hopefully we will have a slight reprieve this weekend and I can get them planted.

It seems like the time to sit back and relax but I know I must create next season's to-do list. Fix the fence, replace the lattice, redesign the front garden, divide the hosta, cut back the grapevines (do it earlier next spring because I got lots of foliage but no grapes this year)and build a waterfall for the big pond (that was on this year's to-do list but just didn't get done).

Some people like to think that gardening is an activity that can be "completed", if you can use that word. But a garden is a living, breathing, ever changing entity. Plants grow, or don't grow, and need to be moved and divided and we must always deal with Nature's blessings or her wrath. Our gardens thrive with plenty of sunshine and adequate rainfall or they suffer with cold or too hot temperatures and too much water but that is in fact the true beauty of gardening. No two seasons are the same and the garden is always in constant evolution.

But for today, I'll put the kettle on to make a cup of tea and dream of winter's depths when the land is covered with snow and as both the garden and I take a rest, I'll get my gardening fix getting caught up reading all about other people's gardening exploits.