A Frosty Monday Mornin'

Every morning I like to have my first cup of coffee outside. But baby, it's cold outside, so this morning I had to dust off a toque, scarf and mitts to stay nice and toasty. I wish I had some for my sunflowers to protect them from the hard frost we got. :(






I guess this means that Summer really is over now.

Sláinte!

Laurel

Some Timely Projects

If you aren't busy enough already {!!!} here are some projects that might be of interest to you!

Seed packets

Whether you are saving seeds from your garden, from some wild plants, or a nice squash that you got from a friend, these packets are a nice way to store your seeds.

from Vale Design
from Life in Focus
from Gardens Illustrated

Jar labels

Gussy up your canning!

from Tipnut
from PickYourOwn.org
from Domestifluff

Toasties for indoor plants

You Grow Girl has some neat little projects to help keep your indoor plants nice and warm over the Winter with a Toasty Pot Coaster and a Windowsill Cozy. I can't crochet or knit, so I am using old knitted scarves for the windowsill plants.

Toasties for people

We have to stay warm too!

from Crafty Gardener {scarves}
from pattern-knit {toe socks!}
from Quirky Knit Girl {pretty hat}
from sweet sassafras {another pretty hat}

Feel free to share your projects too! :D

Sláinte!

Laurel

In Local News...

The better half and I in 2005. Photo taken by John Bonnar

Justice Susan Himel of the Ontario Superior Court ruled yesterday that three provisions of Canada's prostitution laws are unconstitutional. In short, sex work has been decriminalized in Ontario, and hopefully Canada will be next! You can find out more at the Sex Professionals of Canada website here.

On October 1st, the very talented artist Angelina Wrona is coming to North Bay's 187 Gallery to reveal some of her new art and to sign autographs. The event starts at 7pm and is the gallery is located at 187 Main St E. Her work will be featured there until October 27th.


And the luverly folks at Soggy Creek Seed Co. are having a contest...go submit your weird carrot peektures or just go have a gander at the ones posted so far! :D

Sláinte!

Laurel

Luverly of the Week: Misty Morning Graze from fauxto_digit

Misty Morning Graze from fauxto_digit

Fall Tidings!

Our winking sunflower was a little shy to reveal herself. ;)

I hope that our friends here in the Northern Hemisphere are enjoying the beginning of Autumn. We sure are!

The garden is finishing off for another year, but we still have some cold weather crops (radishes, beets, peas, carrots, greens). Our pumpkins and squash are ripening, and the last of our sunflowers, corn and tomatoes are almost done.

We have been doing quite a bit of harvesting, both of things we have grown, as well as volunteers.



We also got a whole bunch of apples from a friend's little backyard orchard and have been making different yummy things with them. One thing we made was applesauce using a recipe found in Natural Foods Cookbook by Jean Hewitt.

Homemade Applesauce II

8 cups peeled and cored apple slices
2 cups water
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon mace
Honey to taste

In a six-quart kettle, place the apple slices, water and lemon juice. Bring to a boil and simmer until half the apples are mushy.

Add remaining ingredients including enough honey to sweeten the taste. Press the apple mixture in with potato masher, leaving some chunks for texture. Alternatively, the mixture can be pureed in a foodmill or blender.

Yield: Six servings.

Note: This same recipe can be used to cook homegrown peaches and pears.

Sláinte!

Laurel