window clings and (half) birthday things

 If you were to Google half birthday, you'd mainly find baby onesies...to which I say, why should they have all the fun?

A small-batch recipe and a foil barrier with pie beads on the empty side that will keep the dough from spreading is all you'll need for the perfect half birthday cookie cake!  Half of a candle set...

...and, if your husband is especially obstinate about PIE being the proper sweet for a birthday - even a half birthday - sometimes you have to compromise.  Voila, half of an apple pie, made the same way.

This is a great time of year, because the third week in October is juuuuust when you slide into deep fall.  One minute your garden is still full of happy flowers...

...and the fall colors are bright and cheerful.

Then much-needed rain comes.  Colder temps, and frost - hard frost.

Colors deepen briefly, and then leaves...drop...fast.

The garden turns completely brown almost overnight.

Then it's time to turn your attention to decorating for the next holiday - Halloween!  Again I say:  why should kids have all the fun?

From garlands...

...to construction paper bats and skulls...

Even window clings for the microwave!

Those hugging skeletal hands, by the way, are on our bathroom mirror, front door, secretary, and even the fridge.  I...love...Halloween.  

It's also the time of year to deal with the remains of the garden - the seeds.  From trading...

...to "practice sprouting" on heat mats to confirm viability, especially in paler seeds.  Will seeds from flowers hit with frost still germinate?  What about flowers used in bouquets?  There's only one way to find out, and it's better to do it now, than to waste valuable space in spring growing flats and soil blocks.

It's been busy.  Bosewichte has been helping in the usual way.

Maybe seeds with bottom AND top heat will sprout faster?  :)  

I've also been working on little projects, like finishing my rainbow gloves...

...and tidying up loose ends, like frogging this old blanket that I knitted a decade ago and never used.  Eight oatmeal-colored skeins of Cascade 220 worsted yarn, current value near $100, will now be used in a sweater.

It feels good to get things done...with a little help from our friends!

Have a great week!

Pics Fix

After 18 months in storage, and after living 18 months with blank white walls...WE HAVE PICTURES.  Oh, how I've missed you!  Everything that I hang has a special significance. 

A tiny (and only remaining) photo of my great-grandmother's house, where I spent many happy afternoons playing in her garden.  A photo of my landlady from my college days, a wonderful surrogate mother to me, along with her daughter.  A Western Union telegram from the Navy to my great-grandmother in 1945, asking if my grandfather was old enough to enlist.  And a children's art piece - bears and bees - both great loves.

I also added a quilted wall hanging to that corner.  It's so bright and cheerful now!

A photo of the grandparents who raised me, with the "surprise!!" letter from my grandpa to his parents, informing them of his sudden wedding.

A hallway lined with my favorite children's art...a trio of framed Victorian bird puzzles in the entryway...and lots of other beloved nature prints in other areas of the house.  Other favorite family photos, too, like this one, which shows my grandpa and his siblings riding in a goat cart in 1926 (note:  my great aunt is still alive!).

Lest I seem like a wall hog, Todd is happy with whatever I want to put up.  :)

It's also been so wonderful to see my pottery again!  My Emma Bridgewater mugs and dishes pair nicely with my navy-colored German pottery.

There are still some stacks of things that don't seem to fit anywhere just yet, like on the bottom shelf of this cabinet...

...but things are slowly falling into place.  It's amazing! 

Now that these things are done, I can turn my attention to some seasonal tasks.  Dahlia tubers don't do well in our cold winters, so they must be dug up in the late fall...

...and stored in some water-retaining medium, like compost, until spring. 

Mice are loving our slightly-warm barn, and the live animal traps have to be checked and emptied daily. 

Todd walks them out to the edge of the property and releases them.  They'll find another place to live, or become food for one of our beloved outdoor animals. 

This season brings such beautiful sunrises.  Winter is my absolute favorite with creams, peaches, and pale blue.

We get some bright colors too!  I can see the sunrise from my office window, and it's amazing how every day is a bit different.

Meanwhile, the cats stay blissed out on their heat mat.

But they're also kissing on the couch...

...or participating in fabulous late-afternoon group naps.

Have I mentioned that I love this season?  There are no group naps in summer!  :) 

Have a great week!