In Our Backyard....

Hubs and I try to get out on the river as often as we can.  All too soon the locks will be closed for the season, and soon after, the water levels will be dropped, and boating will be done for the year.

Every trip on the river is a different adventure.  Recently we discovered an apple tree hanging over the water, and we tasted the sweetest fruit from that tree.

This evening we took advantage of the warmer weather.  We postponed supper and off we went.

How lucky are we to live where we do!  I never tire of our little home, and the sights we see!  

Enjoy!

Happy Campers!

Hubs and I dug up our potatoes this afternoon, and I think we did very well!  The carrots are coming along but I think I'll leave them a few more weeks...weather permitting!

We've learned a lot...  Next year we will definitely plant spuds again..and carrots....but the biggest lesson learned is that we need to plant earlier, and condition the soil.  

How did your garden do?  What produced well?

A Really Busy Day!

The photo is blurry but you get the drift!...  I have prepared and am dehydrated six trays of peach slices.  I wish I had ordered oxygen absorbers earlier, but I'm sure the slices will be fine until they arrive this week.  Besides, it will take at least a day and a half to dehydrate.  Lots of work but the reward is great at the end!

I have my eyes on the Excalibur Dehydrator.  Oh how I'd love to have it on my counter...  Nine trays....temperature control.  Serious stuff...but...I've got to show Hubs I am serious about dehydrating before I broach the subject.  Perhaps if I make him some beef jerky he might cave in and surprise me with one under the tree.

Peaches today...plums tomorrow?  We'll see!

Welcome Fall!

This long weekend heralds the end of summer, a return to school, and the beginning of our autumn.  I used to, when I was younger, hate Labour Day weekend.  As cottagers packed their cars for the return to the city, the beach felt deserted, and lonely.

Things have changed.  I welcome Fall this year.  Summer was a very stressful time for this family.  Things have settled down now, but I am still licking my wounds, and occasionally feeling as if I want to pull the covers over my head.

Welcome September with your cooler nights, and cozy sweater days.  I am excited about the changing  colours that are now becoming more visible.  I am anxious to harvest carrots and potatoes from our garden, and prepare those beds for a better crop next summer.  

Have I mentioned that Thanksgiving is my favorite time of year?  It's right around the corner, and as we did this weekend, we will welcome family...for a celebration of family...and the last gathering before snow flies.  

It's a cool night.  It's easy to think about Harvest on nights such as this.  For me, the harvest I most value is not what is on the table...rather, it is those that gather around the table.

I look around that table every year with great pride.  My children are doing well. They are hard workers and all are employed.  They all are good friends, and look after each other.  All are married and are loving spouses and parents.  We welcomed our eighth grandchild this spring.  Our tiny house will be filled to overflowing this Thanksgiving.

My heart is filled to overflowing with gratitude everyday...for all our Littles...for all our Bigs...for a loving husband and Dad.

Goodbye Summer.  Welcome Fall!

A Special Day...

Happy Birthday, Dad!  

You are my hero!  How lucky am I to be your daughter!  

Have you counted your admirers?....2 children and their spouses....10 grandchildren and their spouses...and....11 great grandchildren!!  I'd say that is pretty impressive! 

I hope today is a great day for you.  (Even if it isn't your day off!,). Relax, smile, and enjoy!  You are loved!!

So excited !

Have any of you seen the works of Ona Kingdom?  She is a marvelous, talented artist...and she is going to give me online lessons!!!  Am I excited??  Oh!  You bet!

Check out her link below and drool!

http://emotiveexpressions.blogspot.ca/

I am terribly behind on my "Pink Lady."   There never seems to be enough hours in the day, I'm afraid...but lucky for me, this art class can be done at my leisure.  My focus will be portraiture, and this weekend I will have LOTS of subject matter when the "Littles" visit for our end of summer get-together.

What have you planned for this, the last weekend of summer?

A Farmer I Am Not...

Well...my little garden is not doing so well.  My squash are small plants still, have the odd blossom, but no evidence of fruit.  The one and only pumpkin plant is larger than my squash, but nary a teeny pumpkin to be found. 

I had two!  TWO! Peppers from 6 plants.  

I do have tomatoes, and we have enjoyed them in salads over the past week.

Our kale is doing well and we have made kale chips twice.

Grapes we have!  They aren't ready yet, but they hold great promise if they taste as good as they look.

I believe that we will not get corn this year.  The plants are strong and tall, but devoid of cobs.

At this point in time I wonder whether I want to bother with a garden next year.  If I had to feed my family from this garden we'd starve.

I suppose, however, that birthing a garden, is like birthing a child...painful...a lot of work..messy...we all promise to never do it again.  Time passes.  We forget the agony.  Our families grow.  We plant gardens every spring.

I guess that this is a reminder to be thankful for what I have rather than mourning what I don't have.

I think I may be visiting the farmer's market this week.