Yesterday was the first day of my vacation, and Burton and I were determined to spend it sewing.

I’d set aside the Mod Cat blocks to work on the Hallowe’en quilts, so now it was time to get back to it. Assembling the top is never my favourite part of making a quilt, but these blocks went together easy peasy, and pretty darn fast. Before I knew it, I had them all together.

All it needed was a couple borders.

Burton had taken a break to watch birds from the catio, but he came back just in time for final inspection.

As you can see, it passed. It’s now in the To-Quilt pile, waiting for the next trip to Mom’s. And Burton and I are moving on to the next project!

While the nights are terribly chilly, the days have been rather lovely. So the cats and I have been outside every chance we get, soaking up as much sun as as we can. October can turn grey in a moment.

And the gardens, while not quite as amazing as they were a few weeks ago, continue to chug along…

The mums are pretty much unstoppable until we get hit with a really hard frost.

The Cosmos continue their insanity. I’ve stopped deadheading them because they just keep popping out new flowers without any help from me.

Both the Black Knight and White Profusion butterfly bushes are still in bloom. There’s even a few butterflies still kicking around – mostly Red Admirals and White Cabbages. I haven’t seen a Monarch since our little friend flew off earlier this week.

The bees are still pretty active though. Not as many as there were, but it’s not unusual to see a bee or three out there if the sun is shining.

Cone flowers are still pushing up a bloom or two.

And this Spanish Thrift has been blooming non-stop since I put it in the driveway garden in June. I tried to grow it several times at the townhouse. It would bloom once, than die off, never to come back the following spring. I’ve since learned they they are Alpine flowers, so prefer well draining soil… the townhouse was heavy clay, and just not idea. But here, the driveway garden is perfect. I hope I can get some other colours next spring.

And who doesn’t love a pop of purple in October? L-R – New England Aster, Blue Lobelia, and Toad Lilies.

All this beauty could end any day now, so excuse me while I go enjoy as much of it as I can.

When I was making the Hallowe’en quilt, a certain kitty took a liking to a certain piece of fabric. When the quilt was done, I had a small chunk of it left, so I took a pattern from one of his bandanas, and while I was at Mom’s quilt, I whipped one up for him from the fabric.

Of course, when I headed home, I left the darn thing behind. But Mom was kind enough to pop it in the mail for me.

Doesn’t he look so dashing in those adorable pumpkins?????

You ever have one of those knits that shouldn’t take more than an evening or two, but days and days go by, and you just can’t seem to get it done???

The second Bearly Bonnet is doing that to me.

I’m through the main garter, and should be joining in the round to finish the back… but I’m not. Normally, evenings after dinner are for knitting… but life has just kept me too busy. I’m either out running errands after dinner, working on something around the house, or just too darn tired from the days events to knit at stitch.

But I really want to get this done so I can get it (and the quilt) off to Mom and baby!

As of Friday evening, I’m on vacation for a week. And my first priority is finishing this darn thing!

Ah… October…. the month of the “Fall”iday season!!! Here in Canada we have Thanksgiving on the first Monday of the month, and of course, Hallowe’en on the 31st.

And in this town, the neighbours are starting to get into the spirit

For some it’s a simple as a mum, a bale of straw and a couple of pumpkins…

Or even several pumpkins.

The Presbyterian church up the game with a few corn stalks as well.

And I love this house, with the leaves around the door (and mums and pumpkins of course!)

But another house is already invoking the spookier side with a few strategically placed cobwebs and some caution tape.

And this place has just gone whole hog with ghosts and ghouls hanging from every possible spot!

At the moment, all I have are my mums, but after Thanksgiving on Monday, I’ll be digging out my skeleton collection and spooking up the front gardens.

On Saturday, while digging bulb holes in the catio, I unearthed something curious.

Because of it’s greenish colour, and the fact I literally dug it up, the first thing that came to my mind was a cicada. I had no idea what they looked like underground, but I knew they lived underground for a good part of their lives, and I’ve seen their “shells” left behind so it seemed a logical conclusion to me.

I posted the pics in a Nature Facebook group I belong to, and was immediately corrected. It was not a cicada at all – but a Monarch butterfly in it’s chrysalis!!!!

How it ended up buried is still a mystery. It was directly under the mulberry tree in the catio… that makes sense as it’s the tree nearest the milkweed. (So very good chance it was one of my caterpillars!!!). The wind, rain, me or a cat could have knocked it off. But how it got buried…? It wasn’t terribly far down, but still.

Regardless of how it got there, the internets advised me to try and hang it back up, and keep an eye on it. They said it still looked viable, and there was a chance it could still hatch.

So I did. And yesterday afternoon… things started to happen!

The chrysalis had become clear and you could see the monarch wings. It started to crack around the top, ever so slowly and I watched and watched and watched. Eventually I had to take a bathroom break and when I came back…

It was gone! Only the top of the chrysalis remained. I panicked, because while waiting I had done a little researching and that’s NOT what’s supposed to happen. They are supposed to come out of the bottom then hang from the chrysalis while they unfurl their wings.

I got down on my hands and knees and scoured the ground, praying I hadn’t stepped on it. It took about 10 minutes, but I finally found it.

It was squirming pretty good, so I carefully picked it up and brought it to the safety of the sun porch.

I learned that it’s best not to help them out of the chrysalis. Their struggles help them build their muscles needed for flight. So I sat, and waited. As soon as it got those wings free, I gently picked up what was left of the chrysalis, and got it into a hanging position (like it would have been if it was still in the tree).

After a few moments, it reached up and clung onto my fingers. And there it hung for about 20 minutes or so while it unfurled its wings.

At this point I was able to tell that it was a she…. there’s no black spot in the middle of the black vein on the hindwing.

When I was sure she was strong enough, I put her in the tree so she could finish firming up her wings.

She spent the next few hours hanging and stretching

Now she’ll be winging her way to Mexico. I’m so happy I got to be a small part of her incredible journey!

There was no rest for the wicked this weekend. While Saturday was spent putting plants (or bulbs) outside, Sunday was spent bringing plants in.

It was time to bring the house plants in. Normally I wait until Thanksgiving weekend (Canadian Thanksgiving that is), but with the weather turning so cold so quickly, I decided it would be prudent to bring them in a little early.

And that seems like a pretty easy job… but I’ve got A LOT of houseplants. I’ve never actually counted, but if I had to guess, I suspect it would be somewhere around 100.

Add to that the need to hang some shelves, rearrange some furniture, repot about half the plants, and inspect and clean leaves and stems (I’ve got a few cases of scale and mealy bugs)… and it turned into an all day affair.

I worked from 11 am to about 5:30 pm…. and I called it a day. There’s still a few plants out there – six hanging plants that have to wait until Dave installs some hooks for me, and a handful that need repotting. But I was just too tired to finish it up, so instead I took Dave out to dinner.

When we got back, I took pictures.

After last winter, Dave asked that I not clutter up the lower living room by putting all the plants in one spot this year. So I spent the summer collecting plant stands and deciding where everything will go. Happily, there are several big windows in this house.

Now the livingroom has just this small stand (which was the one we found at the used store – Dave painted it up nice for me), as well as my Monstera and Yucca tree in big pots.

And there’s also one little corner stand.

Happily, the spider plants I have to keep out of reach from the cats, and this stand is ideal for that.

In the upper living room, I added a few more plants to the window sill, and on and around the Ikea table.

And yes, the open space on the table is for the cats. Normally, there’s a little quilted runner there for them, but it was in the wash.

There was one empty corner of that room, but it doesn’t get much light. I repurposed my grow station. It’s ideal for my succulents and cacti that need lots of light. I’m not sure if I’ll start more seeds come spring, but if I do, I’ll have to do some rearranging.

I ordered this stand from Amazon several weeks back. I love how it echoes the rise of the stairs. It will look even nicer when we have the walls and floors finished.

My studio has a west facing window, and as such, the room gets a lot of light. It’s ideal for plants, so I got Dave to hang a couple shelves for me.

And last… it took some rearranging (we had a fair bit of the furniture from grandma’s house in the way), but I also made space in front of the dining room window.

Grandma’s old tea cart, and another little wooden stand keep these beauties in the light. This window is north facing, so I put my orchid collection. The kitchen window is north facing, and my little yellow orchid has been living there very happily since we moved. In fact, it just started blooming again!

And before I go…

My Lifesaver Cactus has bloomed! You can see there’s another bud beside it, but there’s also a smaller one hiding behind it too! I just love this plant, and more so now that it’s bloomed! A huge thanks to Delight Hands for sharing pictures of hers and inspiring me to get one!

As I hoped, the weather has been wonderful this weekend. Sunny and warm, with beautiful clear skies.

Perfect weather to do a little planting.

Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been collecting bulbs. And of course, I still had some that I’d brought from the townhouse. After they bloomed in spring, I bagged them all up, waiting to replant them. If you do you math, and add in the ones I already had…. it’s well over 300 bulbs that needed to be put in the ground.

It took all afternoon, but I managed it. It’s going to be one heck of a spring show!

Here we are on October 1st…. the year just flying by!

On the first day of fall, Mother Nature flipped a switch and we went from summer to autumn in an instant. The days are lucky to make it above 20 Celsius, and the nights are down right chilly. We haven’t turned the heat on yet, but only because I’m stubborn and have lots of sweaters and quilts.

I try to make it to November 1st without having to turn the furnace on… but it’s hard to say if I’ll make it this year. It’s usually a little warmer than this at the beginning of October.

The last week has been mostly rain (where was it all summer???), and since the nights haven’t made it quite to freezing (though it’s been close a couple of nights), the yard is still bright and green, and there’s still lots in bloom.

The catio garden is still pure garden chaos. While I was at Mom’s last weekend, Dave had to bring the cats in at night. Apparently, Relic was being stubborn, and Dave had to chase him around the catio yard. According to him… this garden is too “cluttered”, and the plants were trying to trip him up as he tried to get Relic in the house. I have to admit, you do have to watch your step, but I can’t help but smile when I’m out there, cluttered or not. (Though changes are in store for next year).

Hopefully as you’re reading this, I’m outside planting spring bulbs. There wasn’t a lot of spring colour this year, but now that the main beds are in, next spring is going to be very different.

The roses had a hard summer this year. The heat and the drought are not ideal, and several of the plants weren’t in the best condition when I bought them.

Chrysler Imperial (Red) performed the best, but it had to battle Sawfly larvae all season (you can see the bites they’ve taken out of the petals). I didn’t get a tonne of blooms from the roses out back, but Good as Gold (Yellow) fared the best. Both Chrysler and Red are enjoying some last blooms in the cooler days. I hope the others have put down good roots, and will have a better year next year.

One of my biggest delights was the Honeysuckle. I thought Honeysuckle bloomed once a year and that was it. But this one has bloomed on an off all summer, and it’s STILL blooming! I expect this will be the last for it, but what a treat it’s been. It’s grown right to the top of the catio in just one season, and I hope next year it fills in more, and provides some shade for the kitties as they play.

Another wonder has been this Thunbergia. I bought it on a whim at the hardware store back in June. I hung it on the side porch and it’s brought a smile to my face every time I go out. I love it’s cheery yellow flowers, and the way it’s just grown and grown and grown. Sadly, it’s an annual here, so I’ll have to see if I can get another one next year.

Above are a few late-bloomers. Blue Delphinium, Globe Thistle, and New England Aster. The first two were among the plants I bought in mid-summer, and the Aster is another of my new native plant collection. All should be even more spectacular next year.

Unless we get a good, hard frost, all the current bloomers should hang on for a few more weeks at least. But there’s no denying the end of garden season is coming.

The Toad Lilies have started to bloom and that’s always a sign the season is coming to and end. But we’ll enjoy every minute for however long it lasts.

Well… yesterday WAS supposed to be the last finished quilt for the week, but….

I had a few extra chandelier blocks leftover. It didn’t take much effort to make a couple more and cut up some more setting triangles for a Burton-sized version.

In fact, it was together, quilted and binding attached in no time. Since it was so small, I just did some straight line, stitch (mostly) in the ditch quilting. I don’t quilt on my own machine often, and it was good practice. It was also a good reminder of why I love that Mom bought the longarm!!!

Burton and I spent an evening hand-sewing the binding down.

You will note that he is on top of my Chandelier quilt, and under his during this process. Since the quilt was small, it was ready for a little photoshoot by morning.

It’s about 24″ x 36″ and it’s just the perfect size for their little chaise. And doesn’t it just look so cute draped over the end???

Burton is certainly pleased with it, but now he says he needs a Christmas one too!!!!