Last week I mentioned how pleased I was that even though the temperature dipped down to 32 degrees, I did not lose any of my tender flowers or vegetables. My friend, Sharlee, had a curious experience. Her garden remained intact but the hoop house froze. We figured that the wind moving across the outside plants kept them from freezing, but not so for the greenhouse ones. Had the sides been closed, all would be well. We laughed and remarked, live but barely learn.

Then, on Monday night with a full moon and not a breath of wind, everything froze. I wandered around in the early morning and was struck by the absolute beauty. The flowers kept their colors but were encased in otherworldly ice. Sadly, once the sun hit them, things turned black. It must be my age but, honestly, I was somewhat relieved. After a few more cold snaps, I will be able to dig the dahlias.

I am no longer a slave to the last of the tomatoes. Hopefully, the insect pests on the crucifers were killed.

I am happy that we finally got some much needed rain after such a dry spring and summer. The other day I drove over the tiny bridge at Sweetened Water Farm and saw a family of mallards in the little pond. For months, that pond was dry and cracked like some Texas riverbed. Oddly, however, Whiting’s Pond has yet to fill. It has cattails and looks promising.

Now is the time to get garlic into the ground. I purchased a few pounds at Heather Gardens. The variety was Lambert’s Cove Lisa. That would be Lisa Fisher of Stannard Farm. I was so happy to buy local. They were good sized bulbs.

I took a late afternoon drive down North Road with the setting sun at my back and, OMG, it was absolutely gorgeous — in full and beautiful fall splendor.

In the beginning of August I planted some carrots and turnips. I confess I neglected them. Recently, I pulled some of the turnips which had reached baseball size. They were quite good. I cooked them with some onions and Grey Barn bratwurst. Yummy.

Then, the next day, I heard a segment on NPR about Halloween in England. Tradition had them carving turnips into jack-o’-lanterns. I tried to imagine it but simply could not. Perhaps a different type of turnip?

I have harped about this subject endlessly — I loathe vinyl hoses. Now is the time to drain and store hoses and the vinyls simply refuse to cooperate. Plus, they are more expensive and are made in China. American-made Goodyear has an all rubber 50-foot hose that can be run over with the truck and still works. It is supple and not stupid and annoying.

Violet and I are enjoying our trips to town these days. The charter school scarecrows are fun and interesting. We are trying to guess their literary meaning.

When it comes to recent politics I continue to be one of the baffled ones. The new front runner in Iowa in the Republican presidential race is Dr. Ben Carson. As an African American man, he compares Obamacare to slavery.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sat through 11 hours of pointless and fruitless grilling by the select committee on Benghazi — an investigation longer than Watergate, 9/11 or even the JFK assassination for heaven’s sake.

There is contention in the House of Representatives over the successor to John Boehner. This person is third in line for the presidency. Have mercy. Former speaker Dennis Hastert is facing jail time.

A grown man serving as a policeman threw a 16-year-old girl across a classroom and the person who filmed it on a cell phone was arrested.

The only good news this week...I might eat some Halloween candy.