Wet leaves, last blooms, and a little crafting....

 October 22, 2023

We are enduring a spate of grey, rainy days. Today there is "attitude" in the rain; flying white particles. Despite the wind and weather, one needs exercise, so I suited up in rain gear and headed out. Gusts of strong wind are causing flurries of leaves to fall. 

 My little camera comes along. None of the leaf or flower pics needed any processing. They are straight off the SD card. 

Mother Nature sure knows how to wield her palette. 

The last flowers to bloom...cosmos, brown-eyed susans, and a red poppy.

Perhaps a little bachelor button....
 

 

This padded snap pouch, a gift when we moved, has held and cushioned my little camera well. It pops into my pocket and comes with me. It has served its purpose but the snap has worn through, one side is gone altogether, the edges are frayed, and perhaps when duct tape comes out, it is past time for a serious fix!

A rainy afternoon is a good time to rectify this.

 

A new, padded, zippered, pouch.

So, having shown it off to Hubby...the suggestion was made that he needs a new case for his camera as well.

 Done. Now I have the sewing bug, so a list is being made for a trip to the fabric store!

Still growing and blooming....

October 19, 2023

The sun was shining through the young beech leaves this morning, casting a golden glow on the world.

Here and there, a flash of colour lingers.

The oaks are starting to change colour now.

Under our crab apple tree, this year's single puff ball grew and grew...

September 30

October 13

 The water tanks are all drained and stored for the winter.

60 fat garlic cloves are nestled into the earth, mulched with leaves and covered with screening and rocks.

The baby plum trees have had their trunks wrapped to prevent vole incursions over the winter, and then fenced to deter deer nibbling.

The pond is very low. By spring it will be full to the topmost step visible in the photo...hopefully.

The spuds have been dug, cured, brushed off and stored. Red, Gold and Russet.

There has not been an hard frost at all yet. A few asters and nasturtium seeds I poked into the new perennial bed later in the summer, are now blooming.

A couple more of the sad little rutabaga seedlings I also popped in there have come into their own. The last two are showing their mettle. We ate one of the previously harvested ones at Thanksgiving...so delicious.

Marigolds are still a cheery blast of colour, and a small bed of spinach is doing very well under it's deer deterrent cage.

Radicchio, arugula and a few lettuces under deer deterrent screening are really enjoying these mild fall days.

I've been "got"!

 October 7, 2023

This is my fall greens patch. It was pak choy and collards. I am pretty sure these are the culprits. (ignore the date on the camera.)

There is a doe with two fawns, (one of the fawns is front and centre, and the doe is behind her) who have been hanging around. We have many trail camera pictures of them and have seen them in daylight under the apple trees in the front yard and behind the barn. The little guys appear to not have a care in the world, prancing around and play butting each other, their little white tails flipping up, while the doe watches cautiously. We are pretty sure it is the same threesome I posted a picture of in the spring when the fawns were small and still had their spots. 

So...I cleared out that mess and installed hardware cloth to protect the lettuce and radicchio that are behind, because I am sure they will be back. They also had a nibble on the broccoli plants that I have been harvesting shoots from, so those are pulled and composted as well.  

We have still not had a hard frost, and all the remaining blooms are crawling with pollen and nectar gathering insects. The red dahlia has exploded into this.....

the blooms all drooping down from the heavy rain we had Thursday.

We did a little back roads drive to see some colour before the rain arrived.

The colours are a little muted this year because of the last few weeks of drought. I did find a branch or two that was worth a close-up.

I am so done with apples. This is the last harvest I did with ladder and picking pole.

And this is where some of those apples are now.

More apple pie filling. The rest are filling a crisper drawer in the fridge, and will give us an "apple a day" for quite a while.

"All you need is tea and warm socks..."

October 1, 2023 

But...it is 15C (59F) at 8:30AM this morning!! Yesterday was hot and humid, today looks to be gearing up to be the same. 

Tea, yes; and the latest socks, hot off the needles. Shorter hours of daylight enabled a little knitting.

The harvest continues...

The last picking of peppers, now dried and frozen.

The watermelons, butternuts and acorns....Something had a little (big!) nibble on a couple.

Should have grown more pumpkins..

 Garlic cleaned and stored.

One of the next chores on the list is preparing a garlic bed, for planting in a couple of weeks. 

Four rutabagas that grew like crazy once they were transplanted. Must have been all the rain.

We have had 4 mornings of light frost. Nothing was seriously injured.

A dahlia grown from a freebee in a plant order. 

It was labelled as a variety called "KA's Cloud", and on looking it up, it is supposed to be a "blush-kissed white". Obviously someone boobed somewhere!

The big water tank being towed to its winter hibernation behind the barn.

The wood shed is on the way to being totally filled, and cleaning the chimneys is a job for this week, as we'll surely be needing a fire if the forecast for this weekend is to be believed. This stretch of unusually warm, dry weather is supposed to come to a screeching halt this weekend, which is Thanksgiving weekend in Canada. 

I usually bemoan the end of the garden season, but this year...I am so ready!! Come on Jack Frost!