changeable skies today

After a cloudy night, once the sun climbed over the bank of clouds in the east this morning it looked as if it was going to be a clear day. An hour into house chores I began to realize there was no sun shining into the windows. It briefly looked like rain and I thought, "There go my outside work plans for today!" Then at noon, when I heard the town whistle on the increasingly strong winds, I noticed the sky was clear once again. Though brisk winds still blew, the temperature made it to 56 degrees. One of the jobs I was determined to accomplish today was setting out food and water for the birds. I also thought I should bring their food into the house to make it easier to refill the feeders when it's bad out. There are 2 hanging thistle feeders and one seed cake, just barely visible to the left of the larger thistle feeder.

Then I had a brief scare when I walked over to check on the fish. I saw bright orange, lying close to the surface very still under the overhanging rocks along the pond edge. Then I noticed another a few feet away. Oh no! Were our fish lying dead on the surface. blown to the edges under the rocks by the strong wind? But no, the fish were sunning themselves in the bright sunshine! Soon they were all noticing me and swimming near their favorite feeding spot. Boy was I relieved.
And now here, as promised, is a picture of the dahlia tubers, with some soil still attached, drying for a few days in a box til I can put them in storage for the winter. I bought 3 small thermometers the other day to monitor the temperature in various locations in the basement for storing bulbs, forcing bulbs, and growing seedlings later.

The soil they were planted in was surprisingly easy to dig into and the tubers lifted quite easily. I only spaded a few pieces of each cluster, which I'll remove before storing. There were 5 magnificent plants in the garden. I'll be happy if any of them survive. This photo was taken just outside my back door in the sunlight, though they have not been outside since I dug them.
I also brought in all of the assorted fertilizers and liquid sprays that were in the garage, so they don't freeze out there. Guess I'm going to have to put up more shelving in the basement!
I talked with our electrician today. He will call on Monday and let me know when next week he'll begin. He has to have someone from the electric co-op to come out also, to discuss the moving of the wires outside and the new electric box they will be installing. I will be very happy that some forward motion is finally taking place. But alas, no call back from his brother the construction guy as of yet. I surely do want our doors replace soon!!