Possessives, Contractions, and Plurals

This is my latest pet peeve. Don't schools teach this anymore? I am astounded by the number of times I've seen these used incorrectly in books and on professional blogs.

Here's a brief review:

Ownership by one person or thing: school's John's
Ownership by more than one person or thing: students'

Using its and it's:
When used as a possessive, use its: The truck lost its muffler
When used as a contraction--"it is": It's best not to question a judge in a courtroom.

When a word ends with the letter "s" (including a plural) to make it possessive use an apostrophe after the "s" without adding another "s": snakes'

How hard is that?

Autumn Rains

I woke last night to the rain beating on the roof although there were pieces of blue sky this morning. There may be a day or two of bright sunny weather in the next couple of weeks, but the rainy season is upon us. I need to find my wool hats and gloves and my umbrella. I'll be using them often for the next six months.

The Last of Summer's Flowers

The sun was warm when I went out to water my flowers this morning, but the air is cold. Yes, autumn is here. Next weekend I'll need to clear them out and get the flower pots ready for next spring. The lavender, sage, chives, oregano, and rosemary will winter over. The basil is in John's office. The Thanksgiving cactus has been put away in a dark closet to force it to bloom.

When I Know Summer Really is Over

There comes a time when it cannot be put off any longer. The radio warns of a killing frost coming that night, and you must say good-by to the garden. You dread it, as you dread saying good-by to any good friend; but the garden waits with its last gifts, and you must go with a bushel basket or big buckets to receive them. ~ Rachel Peden