Hannah and her crew of workmen are busy preparing the gardens at Bella’s Park for winter. There are fewer blooms on the potted hibiscus bushes, as if the plants know, although it is eighty degrees outside that colder days and nights will soon be upon them.

After blooming in the spring, the azaleas bushes were trimmed back before they set buds on the new growth. Dead stalks were cut from among the stems of rose bushes in the rose garden, and the daylilies have now been pruned, their limp and dying stalks removed. Mulch, three inches thick, is being laid on all the beds.

Soon the rich, rose-red crape myrtle, now in full bloom, will drop its tiny florets to the earth. It will, then, be trimmed back, and all the new small succors, that grow helter-skelter among the stems, will be removed to give the shrub an open airy feeling.

It gives Hannah great pleasure, however, to see bright orange zinnias in full passionate bloom in the annual bed, and to know that they, and the purple salvias and bright cheery impatiens, will hold their own until the first hard frost.

Grace is cleaning out her clothes closet. She has lost over twenty pounds, yet she keeps larger sizes, in case, and knows that that in itself is self-defeating. Weight loss is an important part of diabetes control, and regaining the weight is unacceptable.

Grace inspects the clothes in her overstuffed closet. She can hardly pull anything out, it is stuffed so tight, one hanger jammed against the other. How many blouses, pants, shirts do I need? she asks herself. She decides to reduce the t-shirts and blouses to colors she wears repeatedly: blue, blue/red, light tan, and fold and give away the orange she bought on a whim and has never worn, and that dark brown, long sleeve pullover she’s never taken off the hanger. She will keep the purples for red hat events, though she never wears purple for any other occasion. Lately, she had upgraded her wardrobe with several gorgeous tops from Chicos. She gets lots of compliments on those and will keep them.

Her mother regularly cleaned out drawers and closets. ‘Out with the old. Make room for the new,’ she used to say. Back then, Grace hardly paid attention to things her mother said. What teenager does? Now she’s doing the same thing her mother did. and it feels absolutely right. Her mother also said, ‘It’s wrong to hold on to things you don’t need, when there are people who could use them.’ This week, Grace will deliver several bags of perfectly good clothing to the Salvation Army and to Goodwill.

On September 16th, I will have the honor of speaking at the opening high tea at the Georgia Red Hat Convention in Savannah. I look forward to visiting that beautiful city and enjoying the company of red hat sisters.

In early November your local bookstores, and on line bookstores like Amazon. Com will have copies of a very special novella called, A Covington Christmas.

"Covington’s new pastor gets off to a rocky start when he discovers that one of his predecessors was never ordained, invalidating all of the weddings he performed forty years earlier. By law, these Covington couples were never married!! Eager to amend the past, the couples decide on a white wedding, well, a white-haired wedding, on Christmas Eve, but the church is in great disrepair.

The ladies of Covington, Grace, Hannah and Amelia, step in to organize the church renovations and plan the wedding of the century. But between the lack of funds to replace the furnace and the challenge of coordinating the wishes of four enthusiastic and one reluctant bride, how will they ever be ready in time?

Despite the obstacles and last minute crises, the ladies of Covington demonstrate wisdom, patience and above all, a sense of humor as they orchestrate a near-miracle in this heart warming tale of holiday tidings."

I loved writing this holiday novella. It lifted my spirits, and I hope it will bring a smile to your lips and joy to your heart. I hope that you will enjoy following the ladies of Covington, their friends, and neighbors through this adventure.

Writing about my dislike, even fear, of winter has brought me up short. I have, after all, lived here for 15 years. I don’t have to go anywhere at 8 or 9 or even 10 in the morning. I never have to scrape snow or ice from my windshield. It will melt after a time in the sunshine. If I cannot get down my road, for I live on a hill with a curve, I stay at home. I have added another gas heater to the living room to assure warmth should we lose electricity. My daughter tells me there are battery-operated flashlights and lanterns in every cabinet. I just keep buying them.

I have undershirts and T-shirts, long shelved turtlenecks, sweaters, and jackets of various weights and composition as well as hats and gloves. I do not have to be cold! I never drive my car in winter without running out to start the heat, so when I get into my car, it’s nice and warm. Even my dog, Daisy, is spoiled.

So, no more grumbling about winter. This year, I am going to sit back and let it be, even, maybe, enjoy it.

Due to writing deadlines and other commitments, there will be no newsletter in October. I apologize. Look for the next one in early November.

email: jmedlicott@mindspring.com

web: http://www.joanmedlicott.com