“Put that camera down and pet me!!!!”

I did plan to have a post on a new knitting project for you…. but work has been keeping me so busy that I haven’t actually been able to start it! I am on vacation next week (part of the reason I’m so busy) so I won’t have to wait too long to share… but in the mean time…

I have some fun pictures for you. As you know, at the start of the week, it was sweltering here. Well, Tuesday, the rain moved in (not enough rain, but that’s another story) and temps plunged. The day time temps Wednesday, were quite comfortable (about 17 C), but by dinner time, the mercury was dropping.

I’ve showed you pictures of little solitary bees sleeping on the sunflowers before…. something a little different is happening here…

These bumblebees aren’t exactly sleeping…  They are more in a state of dormancy. If a bumblebee gets caught outside when temperatures drop, it can become too cold and inactive to return to its nest or a suitable shelter, causing it to remain on a flower. 

As I walked around the garden, it seemed like every other plant had a bumblebee or two in it.

They were even on the backs of some flowers.

Even a little honeybee was having a wee rest.

The good news is, as soon as the sun warms them up in the morning – they will be off and flying again (probably by the time you read this.

These guys have been working hard all summer. They certainly deserve the rest.

You will recall that several weeks back, Dave got Squirrelington’s all set up for me. It didn’t take long for it to become the most popular spot in town.

The squirrels found it first.

It’s been fun watching them come for a snack day after day. Here are some of my favourite pics so far

Cross stitching went as planned this weekend – even if nothing else did.

I got the orange in this section done and moved my hoop up a bit. The witches are the the biggest section of these piece – with some large swathes of black to stitch. I doubt I’ll get the whole thing done by the end of the month… but I don’t mind. This probably something I’ll leave up year round anyway.

I’m afraid I don’t have much crafty stuff to show you from this weekend. Or even much garden stuff. My plan was to spend all day in the garden Saturday…but it was just too stinking hot. Like 30 C hot… IN OCTOBER. I managed to get my vines pulled (pumpkin, cucumber, gourd and melons), but that was about it. I came inside soon after and turned my attention to repotting and taking care of a bunch of my indoor plants.

On Sunday, other than filling the bird feeders, I didn’t even attempt to do anything outside. Instead, I spent most of morning in bed reading a good book… and when I finally got my butt in gear to accomplish something… I cleaned the studio (it was a disaster), and tackled a pile of clothes that needed mending. I am glad to have finally accomplished that task, but it’s certainly not very picture-worthy.

So what do I have for you…. how about a look back at some of my favourite nature pictures I took this summer…

There were several of these Ruby Meadowhawks flying around the gardens the other week. They are a small dragonfly – but beautiful!

I love this picture of a Carpenter Bee hanging from a Cosmos…. he’s just covered in pollen. Makes me laugh.

This little guy in the centre of a Morning Glory is just as good. I love how Morning Glory centres glow when you take their picture.! It looks like he’s about to entre a portal to another dimension.

I was excited to see this beautiful moth…until I learned it was an invasive species. It’s the Box Moth… and it’s caterpillars just devastate box hedges and the like. Sad.. its so pretty in it’s neutral pallet.

This pic always gives me a smile. It’s a blue jay mid-molt (they molt every summer). He just looks like he’s had a really bad day!

And last… a busy little honey bee visiting the Globe Thistle. The Globe Thistle is done for the season, but the seeds heads will still provide sustenance. They are a favourite of the finches and other small birds.

Which picture is your favourite.

We’re only a few days into October, and normally the gardens are still looking pretty good. This year… not so much. The lack of rain has really robbed the garden of it’s lushness. There’s still a fair bit in bloom, but there’s a lot of brown in between.

The bigger sunflowers are starting to die off – but these Vanilla Icecream ones are still going strong. And the finches are still loving them.

The Mums are all doing pretty well.

Neighbour Bronson gave me a beautiful planter as a thank-you for taking care of Freya and his gardens while he was in Portugal.

It contains a really beautiful Mum which will definitely be going in the garden before the weather gets too cold!

Bolero – the best smelling rose in my garden is blooming again. But sadly, it’s STILL dealing with those darn Japanese beetles. There are a lot less of them – but ARGH!!! I’ve never seen them stick around past early September.

The Cosmos, of course, are still going strong an beautiful .They don’t have quite as many flowers as they could, but the drought doesn’t keep them down. I’ve got several different varieties now and I’m always on the lookout for more.

Just like the tickseed…

The last thing I need is more plants… but I couldn’t resist picking up these two at the nursery the other day. I do have the pink one – but that red one is totally new – look at those neat petals

I also picked up this gorgeous rudbeckia (Black-Eyed Susan). I had it at the townhouse once upon a time. The pot has three plants, too, so I can spread it around a bit.

It’s been a hard year for the Dahlias – but they seem to be making up for it now…

And can you believe this is just one single zinnia plant?

It just keeps going and going and going. In fact, most of the annuals are thriving.

And after waiting, and waiting and waiting…

The “Eskimo” marigolds I started from seed have finally bloomed. In truth, they aren’t white at al, but a pale butter cream.

Still… Marigolds are one of those plants that just shine this time of year.

What I’m really thrilled about are these

I’ve tried to grow Chinese Lanterns for years. And finally – this year, I found success. I have three beautiful clumps and their all starting to turn orange.

And last – I do know that despite the heat (it’s scorching again) fall is on it’s way…

The toad lilies have bloomed, and the Monkhood isn’t far behind. They are the last two flowers to bloom – and the true harbingers of cooler days.

As you’re reading this I’m probably out in the gardens, getting a start on putting them to bed for the winter. I’ve noted before that I don’t do much with the flowers – I leave most of the seed heads up for the birds, and I let the leaves fall and create a thick mulch for critters and plants alike. I will be collecting some seeds if the weather is dry.

But the veg beds do need to be cleaned. Plus I have garlic to plant.

It’s also a great time to take stock of the year and reflect on what I’ll do again or change for next year. So without further ado…

The Good:

Carrots – were FABULOUS this year. I planted a full bed and I still have about 1/4 of it to harvest – which I can do right to frost. I will be planting another full bed because it’s been the perfect amount.

Potatoes- did well too. They were mostly really small. I’m not sure if that’s the type I planted (I just planted some small unknown type I had leftover from the grocery store), or the dry weather. Regardless – they are tasty and I got enough to keep us going for several months. Next year though, I think I’ll try some seed potatoes from the nursery and see if I get a better result.

Garlic – I planted 18 cloves and got 15 bulbs – which is about par for the course in my experience. I am planting them again, but I got a different type this year. Not because I didn’t like the first, this is just what was available at the nursery I was at the other day.

Shallots – In total, I got over 50 lovely little shallots. I think they are going to be my go-to onion. Dave likes the flavour – and I like them because they are small. One is usually just perfect for whatever dish I’m cooking up – so there’s no onions left kicking around in the fridge.

Sugar Baby Melons – In total, I think I got seven good-sized melons. I personally HATE watermelon. But the watermelon lovers in the family (Dave and Mom) said they were great. The Sugar Babies were the perfect size. The only downside – lots of big seeds. So I will plant melons again next year, but I’ll look for a seedless variety.

Raspberries – another fantastic year for the raspberries. But I can’t really take the credit. Once raspberries get rooted, there’s no stopping them. I just give them a trim every spring and let them do their thing.

Blackberries – though I didn’t get a tonne of blackberries, the ones I did get were lovely. (The birds thought so too). It is technically the first fruiting season for the blackberries so I’m sure they will do wonderful next year.

Tomatoes – The tomatoes were a mixed bag, but overall good. I had five seedlings of the yellow pear tomatoes. Only one of them survived, but one was all I needed. And for once, I haven’t been over run with tomatoes. We get a small handful almost every day. It’s just perfect for our needs. The Chocolate Cherry tomatoes I bought on a whim did so-so.. but they are in a pot. I’ve found tomatoes never do as well in a pot (at least for me). Last, I had one small Sweet Millions cherry tomato that grew in the mulch (from last years tomatoes). I put it in a pot and it’s given us a few tomatoes here and there – but like the Chocolate Cherry it hasn’t been spectacular. Still – overall it’s been a win.

Snap Peas – I never do bad with snap peas, though I do think the harvest was down a little this year. That could have been the lack of rain though. But the peas never make it out of the garden to the kitchen, so a big harvest isn’t a big deal.

Swiss Chard – My Swiss Chard is HUGE!! And tasty. We’ve had a few meals from it. It’s supposed to overwinter well so I’m going to transplant it from it’s pot to somewhere more permanent and we’ll see what happens.

Sweet peppers – I’ve struggled with peppers before – so I was thrilled to get four lovely red peppers this year. They weren’t huge – but they were beautiful! I’ll definitely do more next year.

Gourds – Just like last year, I harvested a whole pile of tiny gourds. I don’t think I’ll plant these next year though – they were fun, but I do think I’d like to give the space to something we eat instead.

Now onto the bad.

Pumpkins – I planted the last of my baby Jack seeds (about five or six) and only got one plant – with two small white pumpkins – one VERY small. So a bit of a dissapointment. Of course, this is likely the lack of rain, the squash bugs/squash vine borer. I’m debating on growing pumpkins next year. I’d like to grow some big pumpkins, but I’m not sure I have the room.

Lettuce/Spinach – I don’t know what it is, but I just don’t do well with these two. I did manage to get a little bit (one meal) of spinach and a couple (Very small) heads of lettuce – but the rest bolted and was no good. Neighbour Bronson had an absolutely gorgeous bed of lettuce in his yard, so I may talk to him about what kind he was growing and see if I have better luck next year.

Green Beans – As you may recall – the beans got off to a horrible start. I think this was a couple factors… I think the company I normally get my soil changed things up – and this years soil was crap. I got some seaweed fertilizer from Amazon to make up for it… and I think I got scammed – I’m pretty sure it was soy sauce. Once I gave the beans some bone meal – they seemed to pick up. I think the dry weather also had a poor effect. Eventually though – we did start getting some beans – even enough for a meal a couple of times – though Dave ate most of them raw. They are still producing, so I’ll leave them for now.

Cucumbers – The cucumbers did not do great this year. I think I got a total of maybe seven cucumbers this year – as opposed to the dozens I got last year. We were giving them away, we got so many. I only got two of the fancy lemon cucumbers I bought. But I won’t plant them next year anyway, because they were tricky to peel. But it was a fun experience.

Cucamelons – Last year, by mid-August we were drowning in Cucamelons… This year, I didn’t get a first harvest until late September – and it was small. These will go to the Frost, but we certainly won’t be get the amount we got last year.

Strawberries – I did get some strawberries – but not very many. In truth, I think my plants are past their prime. I’ll get some new ones next year. I also need to get some netting to keep the birds off them so I can enjoy more berries.

The Ugly

Leeks/Green Onions – I did get some green onions, but they weren’t spectacular. The Leeks however, were a complete write-off. I got nothing! I might try the leeks again next year though.

Zucchini – I think the zucchini suffered from the same thing as the beans. After I gave them some bone meal, they did get better – but I only got one zucchini – but it was really small. I will try again though – because Dave really likes grilled zucchini.

Squash – The saddest story of them all, as you may recall. I planted seedlings that came up from last year – only to learn that squash/pumpkins/gourds/cucumbers hybridize super easy. I got some weird monster gourd/squash. Lesson learned – next year I will start with fresh seeds!

Do that’s it. Some wins, some fails – but overall – a lot of fun. I look forward to next year!

And before I go… I harvested the peanuts the squirrels planted…

That little harvest came from three plants. I think it’s only fair I give the bounty back to those intrepid squirrels.

October is here and it’s officially Spooky Season!!!!! His Lordship is ready with his new haunted scratch pad!

The last quilt in the finished quilt parade this week, is another Christmas gift.

Though I’m going to have to give it a good de-furring, becaue Lemmy REALLY took a liking to it while I was sewing the binding.

It’s a super simple pattern – Just large HSTs in really fun, fruity prints.

On the back – more fruit, but in flannel

And that’s another present off the list! And the last of the sewn items. I’m about 40% complete which isn’t too bad for only October!

The next quilt in the quilt parade is one I’m keeping… and I think the boys knew it!

They gave lots of extra “help” with the binding.

This one is my Christmas quilt (because believe it or not, I didn’t already have one). It used the fabric line :Merry Little Kittens, which is made by the same company that made the fabric for my Halloween quilt, and it features the same vintage-style kitties.

This one is quite colourful with red, green, aqua and pink throughout the fabrics.

I love using black in Christmas quilts. It’s like Christmas lights shining bright at night!

For the back I found a nice cozy flannel covered in snowflakes, and a candy-cane inspired striped binding wraps it all up!

Now I’m not rushing Christmas by any means… but I do look forward to snuggling up with this one in December!