pink sweater

S sports a pink hoodie from Oma's fall collection.  It keeps her cozy during stroller outings and walks in the forest.

walking in the rain

I don't mind walking in a drizzle.  Boots, coat and hat provide the right degree of sepration from the wet.  This year I'm adding gloves to my essential rain gear because my hands aren't in pockets; they're pushing a stroller. 

S gets a little more protection.  As soon as fall weather hit, I scurried out to find a rain coat for the stroller and a fuzzy, hooded sleeper for S.  Doesn't she look cozy?  Passers by often tell me they envy her ride, but I prefer a brisk walk along the leaf-strewn sidewalk, drizzle dripping off the rim of my hat.

Do you walk in the rain?

of pears and tomatoes

A couple of weekends ago, when we were outside, relishing our long-lived summer weather, the neighbours gave us big bag of pears from their tree.  Tonight I hear wind galloping in trees and rain attacking the windows.  What a difference.  But the pears are ripe so I did a little more canning and thought of the stormy nights to come when we'll open these jars.

These are my penultimate tomatoes.  The stragglers are still green in the garden.  I'll have to deal with them soon because the sudden arrival of wet weather spells urgency.  Get it in or it will rot.

angel-wing pinafore

This dress was my nesting project.  I crocheted it for S in the last two weeks before she was born, but only finished sewing the buttons on the back this evening.  The pattern, scrounged somewhere online (forgot where), was for a newborn sized pinafore, but I used a thick variegated yarn and a chunky hook to up the size.  At four months old, S is approaching big enough to wear this and the weather has cooperatively turned cold enough for sweaters.

I think it's the only thing I've made for S so far.  That's disappointing, but it won't be the last.

standing

 

S. loves using her legs.  She wobbles joyfully and smiles at her daddy.  These pictures were taken on Thanksgiving weekend and she's wearing, for the first time, a green dress knit by her Oma.

sunflowers

Bright yellow flowers from the garden perch cheerfully on our table this week.  

more sleep

Here are a few more sleepy moments.  Looking back, I can't believe how small and scrunchy S was four short months ago.  That blue and white dress (top left) fits more like a shirt now.

sleep

S. still takes her naps anywhere, any time.  Sometimes she fusses.  Sometimes she needs to be wrapped tightly or cuddled.  This time she dropped instantly from play to sleep.

bringing in the harvest

Summer lingers with its warmth and brightness, but the smells in our kitchen belong to fall.  We're bringing in the harvest and sealing it in glass and plastic.  The freezer and pantry are filling up with tasty things, mementos of summer.

Preserving and freezing go hand in hand with gardening and we're delving deeper into all three.  To save money.  To not waste.  To eat local food.  And for fun.

I checked this book out of the library have gleaned a few good ideas from it.  Apparently cabbage can be blanched and frozen.  Apples last longer wrapped in newspaper.  We'll give it a try.

Do you put anything away for the winter?

birthday boy

 

We celebrated a birthday this weekend,  so I'm posting a few pictures of the birthday boy with his favorite little girl.

fireplace reno

Before:  This was our fireplace.  Dated.  Huge.  And oh so permanent.  We've talked for years about painting the thing white, not because we thought white brick would look especially good.  We were hoping for less bad.  

Just as G. was leaving to buy the paint:  "Are you sure you want white?  Is there any other colour?"  

That had never occurred to me.  Another colour!  After an hour on Google we had a whole new plan.

After:  This is our new, grey fireplace.  We settled on two tones of light grey to match our furniture.  The  new stove, mantle shelf and hearth tiles compliment other bits of black in the decor and the overall effect is in keeping with the tone of the room.  Now we can't wait for cold evenings by the fire.

first signs of fall

Crisp fall winds bring energy, renewed ambitions and fresh starts.  Even when I'm not going back to school, fall is a time of renewed intentionality.  For me that often means planning or organizing of some kind, but this year is different.  

I feel the urgency of the present.  Motherhood impresses on me how fleeting life is.  My girl grows.  Every day she fixes her earnest gaze on some new wonder -- a shadow or her own hand.  She challenges me to open my own eyes, to see her, to see the first red leaves of fall and know that they mean something that I don't fulling understand.

He has made everything beautiful in it's time.  He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.  I know there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live.  Ecclesiastes 3:11-12

sun hat

We have a love-hate relationship with this sun hat.  I love it.  S. hates it.  We can usually meet in the middle and wear it without doing up the straps, achieving sun protection and a happy baby.  Of course we do experience the occational mishap (see bottom left).

west coast wonders

The ever-bearing strawberries are still producing, slow and steady, enough to slice over ice cream or granola.

And raspberries are just putting on their fall crop.  Summer raspberries are sweeter, but these are precious because of their timing -- raspberries, backyard-fresh, when the squash vines are dying off and the nights are getting cooler.

Cabbages and cauliflower, still young, stand in a raised bed, ready for winter and an early start in the spring.

Salad greens sprout in a cold frame. 

I take pride in coaxing the most out of every ray of sunshine, every hour of daylight and every degree above freezing.  These are the wonders of a west coast garden.

a september walk in the garden

It's officially fall.  Lettuce is flourishing.  Tomatoes are still rolling in.  The apple tree is heavy and the young pear tree makes its first offering.

cucumber snackers

My cucumbers have flourished this year.  The trouble is that I haven't found a way to preserve them for colder days, except by making pickles -- which half the residents of this house don't eat.  So I made one batch of pickles for myself and determined to deal with the rest of the cucumber surplus fresh.  These pretty snackers were a big hit with friends.  Three cucumbers disappeared likitty-split.

Zippy Ham Salad Cucumber Snackers 

1/4 lb deli ham, sliced thick and finely diced

1 celery rib, finely chopped

a couple of spoon fulls of green olives, drained and chopped

2 Tbsp parsley, chopped

2 Tbsp mayonnaise

1 Tbsp yellow mustard

1 dill pickle, finely chopped

1/4 small red onion, finely chopped

salt and pepper

a couple of cucumbers 

Combine everything but the cucumbers. 

Peel off half of the cucumber skin (more if it's tough).  Slice the cucumbers into 11/2 inch disks.  Use a melon baller to remove a scoop from the centre of each disk, making a little cup.  Fill the cups with ham salad.  Enjoy. 

Recipe from Rachel Ray's 30-Minute Get Real Meals (Clarkson Potter Pub., 2005).

tomatoes

Our cool summer pushed all the garden rights of passage back by weeks.  I doubted this day would come -- this day when I have more tomatoes than I can eat -- and more coming.   These beauties aren't all ripe, but I'm harvesting them half green to preempt the greedy slugs that proliferate in cool, moist weather.  Besides, seeing this bright platter on the dining room table makes me happy.

I had planned to can tomatoes, but energy is running low, so I think I'll roast and freeze them.

Strawberries

It was a long, cold spring, but summer is finally here.  How do I know it?  How do I know it's not just another tantalizing start, followed by a week of drizzle?  Strawberries -- fragrant and juicy.  I'm bringing them in from the garden by the bucket-load.  I'm eating them for breakfast, lunch and supper.  It is, after all, the right of a gardener to gorge on whatever is in season.  In that vein, these are my FAVORITE FIVE for fresh strawberries:

1. Tossed with BALSAMIC VINEGAR.  It sounds strange, but just try it.
2. With WHIPPED CREAM.
3. Sliced over a bowl of homemade GRANOLA, topped with plain yogurt
4. In a SALAD with avocado, candied ginger, lime, juice and fresh cilantro.
5. Sun-warmed and STRAIGHT OFF THE PLANT.

How do you like your strawberries?

in bloom

A sampling from my flower garden.

invisible zipper

I've had hard time getting started on this recent sewing project.  It's a good thing the Cloth Castle is only a block away because I had to made two excursions for supplies and tools that I thought I had on hand.  This invisible zipper foot was the object of my second trip and I'm anxious to use it.  

On a side note:  It's amazing that I can still buy accessories to fit a machine that was built in the 1960's.

My project is a skirt -- just a basic pencil skirt -- something I can't believe I don't have.  I'm using a lovely grey wool-blend fabric with tan paisley print.  Stay tuned for a photo of the finished product.