My life in Southern Appalachia: house ready for fall

The season is changing and it's porch sitting time again. The 98 degree days and 90 degree nights are done again. I can back off the grass and only cut it twice a month to keep the mower battery going. I can work on sidewalks, fencing, digging the sunflower/okra/zinnia bed to a new length ( 40 feet ) to extend the 20 ft. I had this year. I have four trees to plant and three azaleas. And, a ton of sticks to pick up. I'm already gathering magnolia pods from my friend Janice's trees and freshly fallen pine cones from my neighbors' forest. The walnuts are falling, so that is a job in itself. The green hulls have to be stomped off with a heavy set of boots and then boiled in linseed oil to make the best wood stain. Then the walnuts themselves need to be cracked with a hammer. ( Squirrels are crazy to tackle walnuts but they usually try a few anyway. They bury two or three and forget where they buried them; that's how walnut trees get planted ) . I shall continue to call John the bobcat tractor guy ( with his ADD ) until he comes over to work on the bamboo that has gotten totally out of hand. Not many think of North Alabama as being a part of the southern tip of Appalachia, but once one realizes that, it explains a lot .