As I’ve said before, I try to wait until November to turn on the heat. Toward the end of October, I endured some very chilly mornings in the house with tea, sweaters and quilts to keep me going until the house warmed up with the sun. But on Halloween morning, I broke. I woke up and the house was about 12C – so I flipped the switch!

I enjoyed a nice toasty house, we had a wonderful (cool) Halloween night outside… and then BAM! Mother Nature flipped a switch and decided she’d raise the thermostat again. Since Nov 1, the temps steadily rose until day time temps topped 20C by mid week. So the heat went off.

The temps are on their way back down again…but who knows how long they will stay there.

But right now – the gardens are loving it!

The Raspberries keep coming! I’ve got a lot of jam to make – hoping to get to it next weekend. I’m hoping to make three batches – blackberry, yellow raspberry and some red raspberry jelly.

As for the flowers… pretty much everything I showed you last week is still blooming. I won’t hit you with all of it, but here are my favourites.

One good frost, and it will all be gone.

But the Holly will still shine all winter long!

I interrupted a bit of a snuggle session in the catio the other day

I wish I’d gotten the pic about 30 seconds sooner. They were were sound alsleep. And it’s so rare to see them sleeping while touching.

They eventually went back to sleep, but apart. Which is how they sleep more often.

And while they may not snuggle much, of all the cats they are the most “paired” in the house.

And though they are the oldest (Rupert, 11) and the youngest (Lemmy, 4) you’d never know it. They play and rough house like they were from the same litter.

Best Friends Forever

My Christmas socks are on the needles and I’m happy to say they are going swimmingly!

I’m using the Mary Maxim Festive feet I just bought, and though it’s hard to see at the moment… my Undine pattern. Something about those colours and sparkle just called for something lacy.

As you can see, the yarn is a fairly long some-what gradient striper. I’m just getting into the cream now. But these are going pretty quick. I don’t want to jinx myself, but I’m hoping to have them off the needles and on my feet by December 1.

I have no other knitting planned for Christmas this year – in fact, other than making some more jam, and quilting those two quilts – everything is ready for Christmas gifting! I dare say it may be a fairly stress-free holiday for me!

Before Thanksgiving, I took several days and slowly brought in all the houseplants.

I haven’t done a count in quite a while, but I’m pretty sure it’s well over 100. These are just the ones in the lower living room. Every room but Dave’s studio and work out room has plants in it.

Having green and growing things throughout the house helps me get through the long winters.

And while winter hasn’t hit yet, we are off to a good start.

One of my African violets is blooming. And it’s such a happy shade of pink!

My orchids spent the summer under the maple tree, tuck way back at the fence so they wouldn’t get any direct sun. The loved the heat and humidity, as well as all the rain we got in September. They all put on a pile of new leaves, and fresh, healthy roots.

The one on the left is getting a brand new bloom spike, a the one on the right is shooting up a second spike from an existing one! Orchids bloom VERY slowly, so it will probably be almost spring by the time I see actual flowers, but it’s great to see this none-the-less

As I mentioned, it was a busy weekend. So sadly there was not time for tiny sitches. Thankfully, I do have more kitten pictures to make up for it!

From all Mom’s reports, Oliver is a very busy little boy.

She says he’s always into something

And from the pictures she’s been sending me, it certainly seems like it!

But eventually…

He does turn off.

And right now, one of his favourite places to crash is right beside Jem.

I’ll get to see him in person in just a few more days. So you can expect a full report, and an onslaught of pictures!

As you can imagine, it wad a busy weekend here at Chez Wandering Cat. Saturday was Hallowe’en and Sunday has Hallowe’en clean up. We had a great night with just over 150 trick or treaters. And now all the skeletons (including Mr. 12 Footer) are tucked safely back in the crawl space until next year.

Despite the business of the weekend, I did manage to finish the second sock.

As noted previously, the yarn was thrifted so I have no idea what it is. (no labels on any of it). I’m pretty sure it’s acrylic, and I’m pretty sure its DK. It wasn’t the nicest to knit with, but I was working a fairly tight gauge so that was part of it. The other is the tinsel thread – I always find those a little harder on the hands.

But the colours are lovely, and the sparkle is great! It doesn’t show as well in these photos.

I love the combo of pink, burgundy and deep pine green for Christmas – it has a very Victorian feel.

And now these are tucked away in the gift box. I’ll wrap them up in another month or so. Now it’s time to make a festive pair for myself!

Happy November 1st…. can you believe the front garden still looks like this?

I’ll be out here today doing a little more clean up (but not too much – gotta leave habitat for my little garden friends). Here’s a look at everything in still in bloom.

Roses.

Mums.

Dahlias

Zinnias

Tickseed

Nasturtiums

Cosmos

Cleome

Blanketflower

And a whole lot of other beautiful things. Nature really is a miracle!

Today’s the day! It’s finally here….

Furby is patrolling the cemetary

Burton is watching for Trick or Treaters!

And Doug is taking the time to stop and smell the roses!

Hoping you all have a frightfully ghoulish night!

Forget that kitten of Mom’s…

There’s only one cat we should be fawning over…

And he sure is a handsome devil!

One more sleep to Halloween!!!!

I’m afraid this is all I’ve completed on the second of the thrifted DK Christmas socks…

I should be WAY further than I am – but I just have not felt like picking up the needles in the evenings.

To distract you from my sad lack of progress….

Here’s some adorable pictures of Oliver….

Helping Mom with her quilt binding…

And making friends with Jem!

Possibly best friends.