Honestly, the weather on the Vineyard is so unpredictable, and in a good way. On Monday, Dec. 1, we worked in shirtsleeves. We were putting a garden to “bed” for the winter. Amongst the leaves and debris in one of the perennial beds, there were three fabulous sky-blue delphiniums in full bloom. They never bloomed once this summer when the property owners were here. Go figure! Sorry, Allison and Norman . . . we enjoyed them for you.

I shut the well down for the winter. It runs on a generator. I drained the pressure tank and made sure the PVC pipe leading to the faucets was empty.

We are so lucky to have a long fall here to attend to all the winter preparations. All the hoses need draining to prevent cracking during heavy freezes. Of course, this would not be a problem if one purchased 100 per cent rubber. They are less expensive and made in America by Goodyear. Just saying.

Now that the well is no longer in service for several months, I will need to haul water to my hoop house. Good thing I was blessed with a good sense of humor and no aversion to physical labor.

The hoop house is really coming along. The tiny seedlings I placed in there about a month ago are easily four times bigger. I’ve been eating Romaine lettuce and baby white Russian kale in salads daily. There is much to be said for a single layer of six mil plastic.

On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving someone hit a turkey on the Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road — poor thing! No one removed it and within two days, it was merely a spot with some wing feathers. Certainly crows did the major work of road clean up. There have been an inordinate amount of them around lately. I see them all along State Road near Cronig’s. I’m fond of them. They chase the hawks away from my hen house. I wonder, what’s the difference between crows and ravens?

As long as I’m on the subject of birds, I have to share an experience I had recently. I was struggling to open a very high garden gate, over six feet tall, when something fell on my head. It was a half-eaten rat skull, probably left on the top of the gate by some predatory bird. Let me just say . . . I’m not a wimp but there was some serious screaming and freaking out by not just me but my worker, Lorna.

One thing about being scared and grossed-out . . . we collapsed into laughter afterwards.

It’s worth a short trip down Clough Lane next to St. Augustine’s in Vineyard Haven. The Callery pears lining both sides of the street are holding on to their beautiful fall color.

Michael Deir, well-known tree and shrub expert, says planting them is like playing Russian roulette with your landscape. They are notorious for dropping huge branches. Never mind, they are lovely blooming in spring, grow rapidly and have an extended fall season. There is another beauty at the corner of First Baptist on Spring street.

This is a wonderful time of year for cooking the fruits of summer labors. I made a saute of my own sweet potatoes, kale and dried beans, with a touch of balsamic vinegar it was a big hit at the supper table.

I’d be much happier if Christmas came in February. I am barely able to get the fall chores done by the time it rolls around every year.

I read an article about the war on Christmas and how Christmas won. They started advertising right around Halloween. There is a channel on the television that has run nonstop made-for-TV Christmas movies endlessly since then.

Plus, the whole Black Friday/Cyber Monday blather is sure killing my possible Christmas spirit. What I want to know — do people really need any more “stuff”? My whole life is one giant George Carlin skit.

I told my family to resist the temptation to buy anything for me this year. I’d rather them come over and remove items from the attic.