Today is last day of August… and the garden is just as beautiful as ever.

The sunflowers are still going strong. Mine are looking beautiful, but they aren’t as tall as my neighbours.

They peek over the fence at me every day.

The Black-Eyed Susans are amazing this year. I split one of the big clumps up so I have them all through-out the garden.

The perennial chrysanthemums are blooming nicely.

I got some more annual ones from the front boxes and pots. Normally, I do a couple colours, but I decided to just stick with the rusty orange this time.

And last…

Two of my favourite roses. Left is Chicago Peace. It hasn’t done great because it was shaded by the white Butterfly bush. But it died off this spring, and I didn’t put the new one in the same spot. Since then Chicago has gotten more sun and she’s thriving. Right is Koko Loko – new this year, but a rose that had been on my wish list for a long time. I’m so glad I finally got my hands on her – isn’t she stunning?

It’s the time of the year when the basket in the kitchen is almost always full of fresh produce.

When I started growing the peppers, I wasn’t quite sure when to pick them. I was actually waiting to see if they would get any bigger…

They didn’t grow more, but they did start to turn red. I thought they were all green peppers… so that was fun!

And look at this!

We finally got a zucchini! I added some bone meal to the pot and it seemed to help. More rain has probably made a difference too. Either way, I’ll be grilling this up for Dave in a day or two.

Like wise the beans have perked up:

We won’t get a tonne of beans, but we might enough for a meal or two.

The fall berries are ripening nicely! I’ll probably do a batch of raspberry jam soon. The blackberries don’t make it in the house unfortunately.

We even have the odd strawberry, though they are small.

What’s good for eating in your garden.

Hey… Guess what Lemmy???

“What?????”

We’ve got a visitor for a couple of weeks….

That’s right! Freya is back!!! Today her dad is jetting off to Portugal so she’s vacationing with us while he’s gone!

It’s going to be a busy two weeks, I think!!!

Today, I was going to post about our trip to the lake on the weekend, but I haven’t had a chance to download my pictures from my camera yet.

Instead, I’m going to share with you a little recipe…

15-minute Garden Fresh Pasta Sauce

This came from one of my fave gardening shows, and added a few things last night when I made it for Dave. (I don’t eat pasta… or tomatoes)

Ingredients

• Pile of tomatoes (I used my Yellow Pear Tomatoes)
• One small shallot
• Cloves of Garlic (measure with your heart)
• Fresh herbs from the garden – I used thyme, oregano and parsley
• A glug of olive oil
• A knob of butter

Chop all your veggies and herbs fairly finely and throw in a frying pan (you can use a pot too – whatever works). Throw in oil and butter. Simmer on medium high heat until everything is cooked and sauce-like…

Toss it on top of some freshly cooked pasta and enjoy!

(Dave likes hamburger on his pasta so I fried some of that up too and put it on but that’s totally optional). He declared it was “Good” and when I asked it I could make it again he said “Yeah.” So in Dave speak – that means it was really, really good.

It certainly smelled amazing! And I took great satisfaction that all the veggies and herbs came directly from my garden. Even if it’s not something I’d ever eat!

It’s isn’t all beautiful butterflies over here… nor should it be! The insect world is vital to the health of our environment, but the truth is… it isn’t always pretty.

But it is always fascinating!

I’ll get the spiders out of the way first, because I know not everyone loves them.

Last year the garden was spider city, but the haven’t been quite as visible this year. Dave also declared war on all my porch spiders because they set off the security cameras – he’s constantly out there sweeping their webs away.

The one on the left is a Cross Orb Weaver… they are super common (and usually on/around the porch). I think they have really pretty patterns. The one on the right is a Tan Jumping Spider – and while it looks quite large here – it was smaller than a dime. She was hanging out on the gate but she didn’t’ stick around long for much of a photoshoot.

This next one was a super lucky find.

A cicada in the green! I’ve only ever come across their molted shells before – never one still kicking! This one was hanging out in the sunflowers out front. Certainly a face only a mother could love.

This next one was rescued from the fire.

It’s a Banded Tussock Moth Caterpillar. We were sitting around a fire in Neighbour Bronson’s backyard and I noticed him inching along a branch that was just thrown in. Naturally I pulled him out and took a picture. He’s not poisonous like some fuzzy caterpillars, but he can cause irritation if you touch him (I did not)

And last… this is not bird poo on the pussywillow.

This is a caterpillar – it’s either a Viceroy Caterpillar or a Red Spotted Purple Caterpillar. The two are very similar and I am not learned enough to know the difference.

Either way, I’m thrilled to have spotted him (there were actually two!) munching away on my pussywillow. It means more butterflies!

Remember….

Stitching went more or less as planned this weekend.

Burton and I settled in our chair each night to work away on it. When I started, I was a little worried only working in one colour would get to me… but so far, I’m loving it.

We didn’t get a tonne done – cross-stitch is a slow, meticulous process….

But we finished up the vines around the mouse, and our second jack-o-lantern. Just another cat left and the first section will be done!

I was determined to get the Sanderson anklets done before the weekend so Wednesday night, I sat myself in front of the TV and knit and knit an knit and knit….

… and ran out of yarn! As you will recall, I was using up what was leftover from the first full pair. And apparently the second ball was a little lighter than the first. Happily, I do have two more full balls, so I wasn’t stuck… but I did put it away for the night.

Thurday after work, I dug out a new ball and Lemmy and I enjoyed some fresh air on the porch while I finished them up.

It didn’t take long

And then they went right on my feet.

While the days are still nice and warm, the evenings are definitely cooler. It’s definitely my favourite type of weather!

Eating is pretty good in the garden.

The pear tomatoes are ripening fast!

The cucumber harvest hasn’t been as good as last year, but it is starting to pick up.

The Lemon Cucumbers look especially peculiar when they grow. I probably won’t grow them next year – they are small and a pain to peel (Dave prefers peeled cucumbers). But they’ve been fun for something different.

Speaking of different… we’ve ot some cool small gourds growing. They aren’t edible but they are pretty!

I cut up the first ripe Sugar Baby! It was the biggest of the bunch, and you can see my hand there for comparison! Dave declared “It tastes like watermelon”, though he requested I try a seedless version next year. We still have three more on the vine, so he’ll have to deal with the seeds for now.

And last – we enjoyed a nice beef stew this week… with Potatoes, Carrots and Shallots from my very own garden!

The horrible heat and humidity went away, we got some rain and…

The roses are loving it. They’ve also had a hard time thanks to the Japanese Beetles which have been horrible this year… but those are now tapering off too. Hopefully the rest of the season will see them thrive.

The first year here, our neighbour had some Morning Glories growing up the fence. They haven’t had them since, but they still pop up in my garden every year! I love them! And I love how their centres glow when you take a picture of them,

The sunflowers are still looking amazing.

As are the zinnias

I will plant zinnia seeds every year from now.

The Cosmos have been a little slower to take off but I thin kit’s going to be a good show now that we’ve had a decent rain.

There may be a touch of fall in there, but there’s still lots to come from the garden

I’m afraid we had a bit of a casualty in the catio the other night…

I was working away in the office, and Dave came up to tell me Lemmy got a Bluejay. He’d come out to find Lemmy throwing the carcass around the catio yard. He took care of the body, but there were still feather everywhere.

I cleaned up the remaining carnage and came in to check the security cameras to see exactly what happened…. the Blue Jays are usually smart enough to stay out of the catio.

And it turns out, Lemmy is not the murderer… he’s guilty of being an accessory after the fact, and committing indignities to a body… but…

I’m afraid it was Mr. MurderPuff who did the dastardly deed. And clearly has no remorse!