Wow! It was quite a storm last Sunday. My friend, Sharlee, registered a 54-mile-an-hour gust on Chappy. I will say it made quick work of stripping the rest of the leaves from several varieties of trees. It even blew them right off the lawn.

I wasn’t happy to see a couple sections of stockade fence down as well as some large branches. Mother Nature gets out her pruning shears. On Sunday afternoon, just as the sun was setting, it finally appeared for a moment. All the tops of trees were bathed in gold. Quite a sight!

Monday morning the damage could be assessed. There was ice on puddles, but oddly I still have dahlias, zinnias and tomatoes in the vegetable garden. Granted, they are beaten up and wind-whipped within an inch of their lives.

Now a fall clean-up can begin in earnest. I was putting it off as everything still looked darned good. I cut the hydrangeas pretty severely. I remove all the wonky branches that are flopping all over the ground and cut the spent blossoms back several nodes. I hate them looking all forlorn and unkempt for the winter. The deer have been helping out. They’ve munched several to the point of bare sticks.

Now is the time to remove any vegetation that is rubbing on the house. Shingles can be worried loose and unattractive fan-shaped marks will appear. Word to the wise, avoid planting close to the house. Mold and pest problems can arrive, not to mention fire hazards, especially ornamental grasses — they will go up like a torch. Just saying.

I started draining some of the hoses. People, please buy all rubber, American-made, Goodyear hoses. The vinyl ones get all stiff and the kinks are permanent. I try to keep them neatly on job sites and often resort to colorful language.

After lifting the entire length to remove all the water, I coil and hook the ends together. You’ll thank yourself come spring and add years of life to another piece of gardening equipment.

By the way, the frost-free faucets do not work if a hose is left attached. The water needs air to allow it to drain back into the house away from the cold. Do I even understand physics? I may have made that up.

Apparently, I’m on a roll with hose information. Do not leave the end of one submerged in, say, a pig’s water bucket. It will siphon back out and possibly pollute the well.

I planted a row of dwarf sugar snap peas sometime in August. I try it nearly every year but usually they freeze before I eat a single pea. Wonders will never cease. I have been eating them for a week or so.

Granted there are only enough to enjoy right in the garden but it’s great. I think I will pull a row cover over them at night for the next few weeks. It will give them an extra five degrees. Oddly, in the spring, young pea plants can take a freeze, but the blooms and barely developing pods cannot.

I love the lime green/yellow color on the beech trees right now. They tend to hang onto those leaves for dear life for most of the winter. There are quite a number of the young trees on the right side of State Road between the Thimble Farm Road and the entrance to Old County Road.

I’ve had success bringing in potted Mandevillas for the winter. I leave them in an unheated greenhouse until they get somewhat acclimated. Then they stay in an unheated back room, which thankfully does not freeze.

I’m not big on houseplants per se. I admire the effort others put into them and how lush and tropical a house feels with them. I think I must need a break after three long seasons caring for plants.

I’ve said this countless times — I love the time change. It’s light in the morning and the day ends at a reasonable time.

Sadly, Tom Magliozzi died this week. He was one half of Click and Clack, the Tappet brothers. Their weekly show, Car Talk, was one of my favorites. They had the perfect solution to the time change. They felt we should “fall back” every morning and “spring forward” every evening.

Both Tom and Ray Magliozzi graduated from MIT, but used car mechanics as a metaphor for life well-lived and a source of endless humor.

I’m writing this on the morning of the mid-term election, so I have yet to know the results. I’m sure I’ll have plenty of fodder for next week.

Thankfully, I watch a minimal amount of television so have not been annoyed by endless attack ads. I never answer the phone at dinner time. It’s always a plea for votes or money.

By Wednesday morning speculation over the 2016 election will begin. Have mercy.