This is the wettest October I think I’ve ever experienced – and while it may not be the coldest, it’s not been very warm. The first week was almost summer-like – but then mother nature flipped a switch, and I count us lucky if the temps get into double digits (Celsius, that is).

While the gardens appreciate the rain, the cooler day have really slowed things down. Instead of bursts of colour, we’re down to a handful of blooms on most plants, with the exception of a few.

The usual suspects are still doing well.

Namely the Susans and the Coneflowers.

Even a few of the fancier Coneflowers are still blooming – they tend to stop a little earlier than the native ones.

Most of the Tickseeds continue to wow

I really hope those pink ones make it through the winter – they are so pretty.

The blanket flowers are still trucking

And of course, the mums are doing their thing still

Those bottom two are new – I don’t think I showed them to you yet. The first is called Red Hot, and the second Flamingo. I think you can see why. They are planted directly in the garden, and hopefully they will come back next year. I’m not 100% sure they are hardy, so I won’t find out until next spring.

And speaking of hardy – have you every heard of Hardy Glads? Neither had I. But look

I got them from my mail order place this spring. They grew, but I didn’t think they’d bloom this year. But when I was pruning the Eden climbing rose, I discovered these two beautiful blooms hiding in the rose branches!!! Aren’t they just stunning??? The blooms are smaller than the big fancy glads, and I don’t think they get as many flowers, but they certainly pack a punch!

And speaking of roses… I never did end up pruning Chrysler Imperial

Because it started getting new growth all over the place. I’m still going to wrap it for winter, just to give it some extra protection, but I think it’s going to make it through just fine.

I got a bit of a suprise with this next one

It’s a pink Yarrow. But I never planted this pink Yarrow. I did notice some odd leaves in the lawn (those little fern like leaves), and wondered if they might be Yarrow. But since I mowed at least weekly, I never found out. Until this one popped up in the new garden around Edible Alley. One of those little sprouts must have migrated to a space safe from the mower. I’m very happy to have it though – I also have red, yellow and a different shade of pink.

And last, I’ll leave you with some of those blooms that shouldn’t be showing on October… but are

From left to right… Shasta Daisy, Spiderwort (Widows Tears) and Clematis.

The weather has been absolutely dismal this October, making it very difficult to get out and decorate for Hallowe’en – but Monday afternoon, it was finally dry enough so I wasn’t about to miss the opportunity. I got all my skeletons out of the closet in my office, and set to work creating my Garden of Bones!!!

It’s all focused in the gardens around the front walkway – which is of course, where the kids will walk to get their candy. All the weird and wonderful (and impossible) skeletons from last year have returned.

And there are a few new additions

No Garden of Bones would be complete with out a DEATH SNAIL!!!!!
And I don’t think I need to explain why I added this little guy….

Could a skeleton be any cuter???

Dave wanted to add some gravestones this year.

So we got three. I think they look great, so I think next year we’ll add a few more. The “Ground Breaker” skeletons with the arms and legs I had from last year.

But the torso coming out of the ground is new. As is the skeleton arm throwing the “goat”

Given that Dave is a guitarist, I thought it was most appropriate.

The rest of the skeletons are scattered throughout the gardens like they were last year. (A very easy way to decorate, I must say)

And Dr. Bones is hanging on the porch with his batty friends

There’s a couple of skeleton lanterns and another bat hanging from the arbour – and I’m still debating about covering it in fake spiderwebs. It’s been so wet though – I’m thinking it will just end up a mess.

My pumpkins are styrofoam, and very light so they won’t go out until Hallowe’en night because they blow away too easy.

But all in all, I’m thrilled with how it looks. Even in the dark!

So now I’ll leave you with a little tune to get you in the mood – Just 10 more days to go!

While I was planting bulbs, I had a lovely visitor…

This sleek grey boy lives at the house across the street. He’s a frequent visitor to our yard, though he’s still pretty shy, mostly running off when he sees us. But more and more, he’s been sticking around as long as I don’t try to approach him.

As you can see, he came that day, for a munch on the catnip, which has filled in beautifully after it’s slow start. After his snack, he even came over and gave me a little sniff. But he ran off again when I tried to pet him.

You know how much Dave and I love thrifting, so while I was on vacation, we took as many opportunities as we could to stop at thrift shops and antique stores while we were out and about. Here are our latest finds…

We are going to be hosting our families for Christmas this year. There will only be about 10 people, but I needed some proper serving dishes. These large banana leaf shaped platters should hold some turkey and stuffing quite nicely!

They stack nicely for easy storage too.

At our favourite used store in Strathroy, I found this 3.5 gallon galvanized bucket, perfect for the garden. And three of the largest Mason jars I’ve ever seen.

Here they are beside one of my 500 ml jars. They are HUGE! I have no idea what I will use them for, but I just had to buy them.

We also made a trip to our favourite antique mall in Woodstock, and each came away with a good score.

There’s over two yard of the Hell Kitty fabric.

And last… on the way home from that Sarnia trip on Saturday (the one that interrupted my sewing) we drove by a pile of furniture on the curb… most of it was in pretty rough shape, but there was a loveseat that was in great condition.

It was the perfect size and just fit into the back of Dory! We brought it home and Sunday I gave it a good steam clean.

It goes quite nicely with our thrifted recliner. It fits well in the upper living room and it allowed me to finally get rid of the broken old futon. Between this and the furniture in the lowing living room, we have plenty of furniture for Christmas entertaining.

But I think our guests might have to fight Burton for the recliner…

The Difficulties were still hanging out…

If you look closely, you’ll notice that I managed to get to the ribbing despite them.

In fact, I’m almost done it.

Just a handful of rounds left and the body will be done. The sleeves will go much quicker!

Time is a funny thing. I certainly doesn’t feel like I’ve spent half my life with this guy.

But I have. And he still makes me smile and laugh like that at least once a day.

Twenty-one years and counting… I think I’ll keep him.

I had hoped this vacation would give me lots of time to get in the studio. Despite the foul weather, it was not to be. There were just too many other projects that had been neglected.

I got in the studio exactly two times. Early in the week when I went in with a migraine, and this past Saturday. I planned to sew all day – but I wasn’t even through the first block when Dave came in and interrupted. He needed some part for his car – and he needed me to drive him to get it…

Sigh… I asked him to let me finish the block and I’d be down.

So this is all the sewing I accomplished on Saturday. It’s the latest block from the Blockheads sew along and will go with my other red and white blocks I made earlier in the week.

Maybe I’ll be able to get some time in the studio this coming weekend… though I doubt it. I also didn’t have good enough weather to paint the catio porch like I wanted to. It’s looking like the weekend will be the last good one for the year… so painting will be priority if the weatherman is right…

While working in the garden, I came across several wee friends… some old, some new…

I love these brown Mantis ladies. The mantis population is very good here in the garden. If only they ate Japanese beetles! Regardless, they are always welcome.

I interrupted an intimate moment between two Grasshoppers on the Royal Red Butterfly bush. The grasshoppers are always very populous here – though they are a little less so in the catio yard, thanks to a certain ginger kitty we brought home.

This moth (either a corn earworm, or a cowpea moth – Google can’t decide) was making the most of the warm sunny day.

There was a Cabbage White butterfly getting what she could out of the pink pincushion plant out front. The pincushion plant is very popular among the Cabbage Whites.

And a bumblebee was taking the opportunity to get a little nectar from the lavender.

Absolutely everybody was getting ready for the coming cold weather.

I better go stock the bird feeder…

One of the reasons I like to take the week of Canadian Thanksgiving off is that it’s almost always guaranteed to be good weather. It’s usually sunny, and comfortably warm during the day. Perfect for doing the last bits of gardening required for the year.

But not this year. The weather has been miserable – grey, frequently rainy, and most days barely reaching above 10C/50F. Except for Thursday.

Thursday dawned sunny, and by 10 am it was a nice, balmy 14C/57F. I wasn’t going to waste the opportunity.

The first thing I did was harvest the carrots.

This was my first attempt at growing carrots, and I definitely made some mistakes. My first planting didn’t get enough water and mostly died. My second planting was too thick, and I didn’t thin them enough. It was also planted a little on the late side. But despite that…. look at all that orange!

Most were on the small side, but that wasn’t surprising given my notes above. But there were still several good sized ones. That’s a cookie sheet they are laid out on so that should give you some idea of size. I cooked several of the bigger ones with dinner that night, and Dave’s been steadily eating the little ones raw since then. So small or not, it’s been a successful experiment. I will definitely be planting more next year.

With the carrots out, I planted up some garlic. I absolutely love using fresh garlic in my cooking, and I’d love to have some homegrown to use. Of course, I won’t get to reap the rewards until next year.

And… I said I wasn’t going to do it… but when I bought the garlic to plant, the nursery I got it from was having a HUGE clearance on perenials.

I ended up filling a flat….

Some familiar friends, but also many new ones. Instead of trying to find space for them in the various gardens – I planted them all in the empty bean bed.

It can serve as sort of a “transfer” garden. They can live there over winter, and come spring, I can expand the garden spaces, and have them in their new homes before it’s time to plant more beans.

I also picked up a Forsythia at an amazing price – just $5.

I planted it just outside the shed where it will bring a wonderful burst of spring colour to the garden.

I also got the climbing roses secured for winter, and all those spring bulbs planted. Now it’s back to rain again. The only thing left to do this season is harvest the remaining squash, which I will probably do this weekend.

There’s still blooms to enjoy until the frosts hit… but the hard work is done for the year – and it’s all been very rewarding!

Last weekend, Mom and Dad were in the area (Dad was picking up an order for hunting season at a gun store not far from here), so they stopped by for an hour or so. And mom brought me a little present.

Pins, just like my blue ones – but in black!!!! How cute are they???? I decided they needed a very special pin cushion… so I made them a little pumpkin!

Just look at all those cute black kitty faces….

Of course, not as cute as the real thing!