This Halloween night was our best yet – with about 100 trick-or-treaters coming to our door. I suspect this is mostly because the weather was nice. Really nice.

It was nice enough that I was handing out candy bare foot. And I was pretty warm under my cloak with only a sundress on.

But of course, it couldn’t last. Last year we woke up to a snow storm on November first. It’s not quite that cold this year, but it’s cold enough to turn the furnace on.

As predicted… the wind has taken care of most of the fall colour. There’s still some out there, but we are definitely past peak.

I took the following pics throughout the week when the days were still pretty warm. Warm enough that the butterflies were still out… and lots of these guys.

If you look closely – you’ll see that neither of them are bees. They are hoverflies.

There are hundreds of different types of hoverflies, and most have markings that mimic bees/wasps. Next to bees, they are probably the most important, prolific pollinators in the garden. I see tonnes of the smaller one there, but the bigger one… well he’s new. That or I’ve always just confused him for a honey bee – because that’s about how big he is.

If it wasn’t for the different shaped eyes, he’d be very hard to distinguish from a bee.

There are still quite a few blooms in the garden, though I suspect they are the last we will see this season. We are really on the countdown to winter now.

Of course, everyone’s favourite feline wasn’t forgotten this Halloween. He looked so good in his Vampurr cape last year, we decided to try something new this year.

Who is the handsomest fluffy bat cat????

Coincidentally… this week is Bat Week!

Do something good for our little winged night-flyers if you can! I’m going to talk to Dave about building a bat house!

Halloween is here!!!! Soon I’ll be dressed in my witches best, and handing out treats to all the little ghouls and goblins who date tread to my doorstep.

And that doorstep is decked out!

I finally got some string lights to put up on the front porch, and I think it was just the thing the set-up was missing. I had a heck of a time finding Halloween lights… Everything was Christmas – even back in September! We finally found some at Dollarama of all places… I hope they last at least a couple years.

For the graveyard, I just rearrange the solar lanterns that were already in the gardens.

I think they work really well in highlighting the headstones and skeletons. It just needs some creepy fog/smoke.

And of course, there’s Doug.

I can’t express just how much I adore Doug. He’s just the cutest!

Overall I’m thrilled with how my little garden of bones has grown since we moved here.

Since I didn’t get much crafting done on the weekend, I thought I’d share some of the treasures collected from our recent shopping/thrifting adventures.

First up… I love old-timey style, round bird cages. Seasoned thrifters know they can be crazy expensive, so I was thrilled to find not one, but two for extremely good prices.

As you can see, I like to put plants in them. The one on the left is fairly small and I put my Easter Cactus in it… though I may change it out as I’m not sure I love it in there. The one on the right is much bigger. It has my Bat Plant in it – which absolutely thrived on porch this summer. I hope the dry house doesn’t set it back too much this winter.

And the next isn’t a thrift, but a gift.

A friend brought them over recently – they were large candle holders she had bought for her wedding and now has no use for. Of course, I’m going use them for plants! I just have to find some pots narrow enough to fit inside the tops. Aren’t they just gorgeous?

And while we are on the topic of plants… This next was bought as a little pick-me up. On the last day of vacation, Dave and I were headed to Woodstock to one of our favorite antique markets… we were almost there when Wilma decided to throw up a “SERVICE TRANSMISSION OW” code on my dash. Sadly, we turned around, limped her home, and dropped her off at the mechanic’s. I was totally bummed, so Dave got his car, and took us to Sarnia instead. He stopped at one of my favourite nurseries where I bought this fine fellow to cheery myself up.

I have named him Yorick… and if you can guess why – you get a cookie! I also got a little goldfish plant to put in him. I have a small collection of skull planters now, but this one is by far the most realistic looking one.

This one isn’t the best picture, but it’s probably our coolest thrift so far.

I have ALWAYS wanted a telescope. Especially now where we live where we can actually see stars. Neither Dave or I could believe it when we came across it in the thrift shop. It was still in the box and we’re not sure if it was ever used.

We haven’t had a chance to take it out and play with it yet, but I’m sure we will soon.

And last, this one is a small treasure, but probably one my my favorites. I love stained glass suncatchers, but they are often so expensive for such little things (rightfully so!)… I was thrilled to find this pretty little butterfly in a thrift store for only a few bucks

She hangs in my kitchen window now.

Have you discovered any treasures lately?

Looks like I’m putting on that same old record again…

Despite this comfy looking scene, I didn’t not have much time to stitch this weekend. Saturday we were tied up with friends all day (and I’m certainly not complaining about that – it was a great day). Sunday though – Sunday I woke up with a migraine. I managed a couple hours on the couch in the early afternoon stitching before it got so bad I had to lay down.

In those couple hours, I got the dark green finished, and started on the mid-green. I REALLY hope I can finish those darn leaves next weekend!

Work is progressing nicely on my little green socks. I’ve rounded the heel on the second on and I’m moving down the gusset. Happily, I have little feet, so I’m well on track to finish this pair by the end of the month!

A while back, Dave and I were at the Re-Store and we came across this amazing couch.

It was in near perfect condition… and even though it was only $75, Dave said I couldn’t bring it home. So cruel.

I was sad.

But a couple weeks later… we came across this on the side of the road.

I suspect I was only allowed to bring it home, because his grandmother had one just like it. He wanted to bring that one home after she passed – but it was really worn out and not worth saving.

This one was in much better condition and while it wasn’t a pink sofa, I was happy to settle for a free pink chair.

Of course, once I got it home, it immediately got claimed. And not just by one cat – every time I turn around, at least one of the four is in it. And sometimes two!

And of course, that means it’s just COVERED in cat hair. I needed something to protect it. I had planned on making a little quilted pad for it. But last week, when we were out thrifting again, I came across someone else’s creation.

A perfect sized little baby quilt! It was definitely hand made, and didn’t look like it had every been used! I was more than happy to snap it up and bring it home to be appreciated.

Just purrfect!

It seems Mother Nature went off her meds again. After a week of very fall-like weather, last weekend, things heated up again and stayed that way until Thursday.

How warm was it?

Warm enough to wake the Butterflies up.

The White Cabbage and Red Admiral aren’t a total surprise. They are always the first butterflies we see in the spring. But this little Fiery Skipper caught me off guard.

Not only is it a new butterfly for my collection, but Skippers I only tend to see on the hottest days of summer.

The warm up also had some of the yarrow blooming again.

So is the Delphinium

And the roses…

Well the roses just haven’t stopped.

The weather is much more seasonal now… so I’m guessing there won’t be much more of this.

But we’ll enjoy the colour while we can

Long-time readers will recall that Rupert and Relic were once arch-nemeses. Well look at them now…

Dave says he comes down almost every morning and sees them in the basket like this. But this was the first time I’d seen it.

Just two little mis-matched peas in a pod.

The weekend did afford one full day in the studio. Once again, I was fighting the urge to start something new. But my Blockhead quilt was still sitting there… just waiting to be put together. And Burton had a plan!

It involved fussy cutting a pile of wee bees.

We turned them into little cornerstars between the blocks. Here’s a closer look.

Then it was time to add a few borders.

Here’s a closer look at those…

It all totals up to a nice little lap quilt (56″ x 70″)

I’ve got this lovely yellow paisley for the back, and more bees for the binding.

And apparently, I did start a new project after all…

I’ve got enough of those fussy cut bees to make 35 little nine patches…. oh dear….