Good Bye Summer, Hello Fall

Today on the calendar indicates it is the "First Day Of Fall".  The temperatures are in the 70's and it is foggy outside.

This is outside my office window.

I am looking forward to Fall.  I cleaned out my shed this week and found a SNAKE that got caught in some bird netting that I took off the blueberry plant a few months back (freaked me out).  I discovered I had more trash in the shed than I did usable items, some of the items I don't plan to use will go up on freecycle.  Next is to clean the area right inside my back door that I store stuff that I need both in the front and back yard as well as the grow rack in the garage for my seedlings.

I am also trying different techniques in the garden this season.  I hope to see if my results will improve some of the problems that I have been having.  I watched a person on Youtube who lives in a much colder climate and they have their winters early and he put row covers over his lettuce, greens, etc. and the plants were thriving (although he did it more so to obtain heat for the plants than to protect from bugs).  I put some of my winter row covers (will purchase a lighter weight fabric for the short time between summer/fall for the next year over my leafy vegetables (as soon as they were planted) to hopefully ward off the cabbage caterpillar and bugs of that nature.  I check on these plants pretty much daily, just to make sure that mold or drying out is not a problem.

My observations:
I saw that ants were taking up residencly in one of the smaller beds that is located at the front of the garden and gets more sunlight, so I put down some organic ant killer.  I also noticed that the plants in this bed were not doing as well, but still alive (I lost a brocoli and califlower plant).  I think it is because this bed gets more sun and with the "winter" row cover it gets too hot.

However, the leafy greens in the big bed at the back of the garden (where the sun sets behind the privacy fence) and it also has the "winter" row cover have grown a lot and I think I will be able to start harvesting some of the greens.

However, I noticed that my spinach is not germinating, will need to research that, I put these seeds down a few weeks ago and only saw a few sprout, which is odd because I sowed quite a bit.

Next time I will plant the leafy vegatbles toward the back of the garden, espeically becasue of the heat going into fall.   If this works, this will be a norm for me for the fall plantings.   I am also trying different vegetables such as chinese cabbage and brussel sprouts.

Well that is all for now, but more updates from the garden to come soon, with more pictures.

Quilting-Easy Way To Make Pinwheels

I came across this video recently and I believe this is a really neat way to make pinwheels for quilting. I plan to experiment with various size squares and see if you come out with the same results as piecing them the traditional way. This was an interesting technique and thought I would pass it along. Enjoy.

Sleep Well Sadie Girl (1999-2010)

On Monday, June 28th around 3:00 pm, we lost our Sadie girl (basset hound).  We had her for many years and she was truly loved by us.

We got her from a family who were moving and could not take her with them.  I can remember the first time we saw her.  She shied away and did not want to come from behind the chair to greet us.  We coaxed her out of her hiding place and eventually that night we took her home..  Of course the story does not end there.  As soon as we got her into the car she began to shake uncontrollably.  We all figured she was just scarred and in due time she would be alright.  Well as soon as we opened the door to the car (because we wanted to take her to go potty first and then trough the front door (rather than the garage door), she bolted, even with the leash still on her neck.  This dog was sturdy and had serious muscles on her.  Well believe it or not once, but twice around the subdivision, walking after her, she came to our driveway and had a seat.  I guess she was saying, "well since your not giving up on me, then I will allow you to keep me".  From that point on she has been here to stay.

The video below shows Sadie and Mia (mainly Mia being a poop head playing with a grasshopper, the grasshopper did not make it after this video).  Sadie investigates occasionally, but she ultimately knows that it is way to much energy to expend because she was getting up there in age.

                                             

Sadie had to be thinking can I run and still get away from this total humiliation?

Well, I guess I will stay....

Once Mia (Chihuahua) came into the picture, Sadie's energy level soared (including jealousy but that too was no problem)



Sadie girl you are truly missed. Rest, relax and know that you were and still is loved.

Hello All

I can't believe that I have not posted since July.  Time has gone by so fast and I don't know where it went.  I have been doing so much in the garden to prepare for fall and doing some quilting and organizing various areas in my home.  I have a few things that I will be posting real soon.  I hope everyone out there is doing well and that you are gearing up for the first day of Fall next week, Wednesday September 22nd.