Hooray!
The weather is finally cooling down!
The weather is finally cooling down!
The leaves are turning colors slowly, and I harvested about 10 blueberries!
They started out as tiny white trumpet-shaped flowers, and then turned into to tiny berries! Over time, they turned blue and I picked them and ate them! Creatures didn't seem to find them this summer.
I run on the treadmill when the weather is inclement, and sometimes I get celebrated for my efforts!
Nora is proud of me.
Sometimes I just like to look at my cute house. I'm still sometimes shocked and surprised that I get to live here! Here's how the basement seating area looks lately:
These cute babies don't live inside, but they certainly make me smile.
I read that crabapples can be used to make jelly, and we have a crabapple tree on our property, so I decided to try making some!
Greg helped me gather crabapples.
First boil the crabapples, then make jelly with the juice!
I was surprised how beautiful and light this jelly is!
I've modified the recipe a bit (I've made it again since this first time) and I definitely will be making it again!
One afternoon during a storm, the electricity went off! The electric company said they probably wouldn't be able to get things working again until TWO DAYS later!
We have LOTS of flashlights, thanks to Greg.
I was able to read for a while with my trusty reading light, which I use every day, but which is even handier during an outage!
In the morning, I used my chargeable blender to make breakfast.
We headed to the store to get a hand pump to make sure the sump drain hole wasn't too full.
And then we picked up Mark's generator AND his electrical vehicle (a Rivian). The vehicle was able to run our fridge, our garage freezer, AND Greg's work equipment!
I am blessed enough to get to hang out regularly with my parents (and to get to have pizza!)
On this day, my Mom and I got some more plants for my garden!
This one attracts a large amount of butterflies and other pollinators!
We also visited Goodwill.
Check out how munched this hosta is!
And this cute cute little squirrel friend!
Allistair enjoys the cozy basement in the sun, too.
And he loves his Momma.
I'm proud that I do the regular yard work in our family, and I often see interesting things.
My niece Cora is interested in autopsies, crime scene investigating, and forensics. One of her Faux Day presents from us this year was a book on forensic science, so I sent her this photo and asked what she thought. She texted back, "HE DED." Ahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Then she admitted that she had gotten distracted and didn't finish the forensics book yet.
It was a very small skeleton and had teeth, but the covering looked like feathers. I'm going to guess a small hairy creature, though, not a bird. When I went out the next time, the entire skeleton was gone.
I turned 50 last October, so it was time to get my shingles vaccines.
The first one was TERRIBLE. I was sick with flu-like symptoms for almost a week, and then my endurance was very low for another month. I had to work back up to my regular running routine a little at a time.
I was not excited about the second shot because I expected a similar or worse response. But I was brave!
I did indeed have a very long-lasting response. Again I had flu-like symptoms for almost a week and I'm still less energetic than usual. Somehow I also developed what I suspect is a case of plantar fasciitis, so I haven't been running. I'm experimenting with what I can do that doesn't flare things up. I might need medical assistance/advice soon, but I'm emotionally resisting that idea.
Nora enjoys hanging out in the basement, too.
We had the lovely opportunity to meet our friend Paige's boyfriend, Nick.
We approve and look forward to the next time we get to hang out!
I made veggie burgers (one processed, one homemade), guacamole, and chocolate chip cookies.
After some digesting, I made nice cream!
I decided to try making it with multiple flavors: mango and raspberry.
Isn't it beautiful?
Greg and Nick played foosball a bit.
It was a wonderful evening!
More thrifting;
a beautiful scalloped plant pot:
another lovely plant pot:
A cuuuuuttee little wicker bench!
a fabulous day of the week clock! I've never seen such a thing!
I removed the wooden stairs from the side of our bed because I usually trip over them and stub my feet. This little bench works much better!
I also had a fabulous day of finds at a Goodwill after church one Sunday!
Someone named Anne made many many crazy ceramic vessels and I loved most of them!
Some of them seemed to kind of go together like this one
and this one.
And this one
and this one!
These little shallow bowls also caught my eye!
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My parents came over to see how well my garden is growing, and then we went out for pizza afterward.
Greg and I went to Bemidji for the first time in many years.
It was warm weather.
Greg fixed his Mom's doorbell, which made her VERY happy.
I found some extra cute photos of Greg as a handsome little fellow!
Greg's Mom made dinner for a good number of relatives and we had a long time to chat. We got to meet Greg's sister's new husband.
The next day was even warmer. We saw Greg's Mom and then had lunch at Greg's favorite pizza place.
I like that some of the businesses up here use Ojibwe phrases as well as English.
Bemidji was still recovering from a HUGE storm. Many trees (perhaps as many as one million) were lost.
GIOVANNI'S!!!
Giovanni's has delicious pizza, and they have gluten-free options, too!
Greg's Mom passed on some lovely crystal to me. I'm thinking this will be used for special sauce or pickle relish when we have burgers. Maybe olives!
This one has a nice modern pattern that I like.
Greg's Aunt Susie made these beautiful wooden candles for us (from legs off an old table!)
They will be very fun around Christmas!
I have put up some fall decor. I like to switch out some paintings from time to time based on the season.
I also found this painting of the MATTERHORN!!!
We have seen it and we love Switzerland. And you've probably noticed that I have an affection for original paintings.
When asked if Allistair is happy that we adopted two girls, I like to talk about how they snuggle.
This day, Allistair crept up to Nora and laid down on her. They were both very happy.
The liatris I bought proved to indeed attract a lot of pollinators!
We have lots of fun little things growing in our yard that I DIDN'T plant, too!
This is nightshade:
This is a jewelweed.
Hummingbirds and butterflies love this plant!
Nightshade with ripening berries:
Someone is lurking in my office!
It's IVY!
Home in the late summer:
On my walks, I started seeing GRAPES.
After the moderate success with the crabapple jelly, I decided that these grapes NEEDED to be appreciated in the same way.
I came home from my walk with these treasures.
Black-eyed Susans (which I planted along the back of the house!)
Pine needles (which I put under the blueberry bushes to increase acidity!)
Crazy pokey plants I think are very cool! I threw these into the area along pond, hoping they will grow in our yard, too.
Here's an illustration of me from my young friend Paige at church:
After church that day, our friend from college had a party with other people from college, so we went to that.
I wore this after struggling with picking an outfit; it was the first chilly day of the fall.
Everyone is quite elderly now.
On our way home, we went by our old dorm!
Here are most of us when we were in our late teens or early 20s (in 1993!) I'm in the green coat in the front near the middle and Greg is next to me.
Some Ivy cuteness:
Allistair cuteness:
I like the view from our guest room in the summer. Look at how the leaves fill the entire window!
More home appreciation:
The living room is cute and cozy, too.
I found these wooden stools at Goodwill for $6.99. Similar stools (with a brand name - Christian Liaigre) have recently sold for $7500 a piece!
I think the grain is very pretty.
Allistiar sometimes wants NO KISSES.
But it's hard to resist that face!
Here is how grape jelly starts . . .
Then the juice is refrigerated. Apparently some crystals need to settle out.
In the meantime, I made some more crabapple jelly.
It turned out better this time!
And the grape jelly is also delicious!
I felt successful and accomplished!
Crabapple jelly:
Grape jelly:
Now that I know what to look for, there are riverbank grape vines all over around here!
There are also many signs of early fall.
Including a bus!
Rosehips!
Life grows in unexpected places.
And some days have been quite chilly, so I got to LAYER!!!
I got to shop with my Mom a few times. Here is what I wore on a chilly day.
My Dad met us for lunch!
Allistair watched me mow the lawn and do yardwork last week.
Pincushion plant is still blooming (I want more of these)!
The daisy is still beautiful (I want more of these!)
Ivy being cute:
More house appreciation - the library:
Nora being cute - attack mode!
They were fighting.
My parents brought me some apples from the cabin. They got a bit damaged in the big storm this year, but we'll see what we can harvest!
I appreciate the landscape while I'm walking (instead of running because of the foot hurting).
And I found MORE GRAPES!
I had to carry them in my sweatshirt hood!
I was able to get out the stains with a hint from my Mom: boiling water gets out fruit stains!
Ivy has taken to sitting UNDERNEATH the scratching pads.
And Allistair has decided he needs to be brushed on the bathroom counter. It's sweet bonding time that makes him and Momma happy.
Nora watching birdies and being cute:
And the rest of the grape jelly turned out great!
It's such a glorious color!
Fall is often foggy here and I love it!
And I got to spend some time with Esme while the rest of her immediate family was away. She wanted to make sugar cookies, so I looked up a recipe for vegan sugar cookies.
They turned out quite good!
We also made some pink icing (with dragonfruit powder).
Our winged burning bush is turning beautiful colors!
Enjoy this beautiful time of year!
