Thankful

I am so very thankful to have this little guy in my life.  He brings so much joy to my heart.  Can't tell you how many times a day (and night) he crosses my mind.  I just came back from spending one week with them in New Brunswick.

Had turkey and all the trimmings for supper last night.  Look at those carrots and golden beets. 

Our yearly trek to a small remote community for our acorn picking...

... led us to a very small yield.  I think the squirrels got there before us.

Walk with me

Come with me, I will take you for a walk around the yard to see the gardens and what we have growing around these parts.  It has been an extremely hot and dry summer. 

 The in-ground garden further in the back field.  In here we have onions, calendula, golden beets, red beets and yellow beans.  We had to fence it in because the chickens were busy digging and eating everything in sight.

 Tomorrow I need to get out here and harvest a third round of calendula.

 Cukes - which we have been enjoying for the past couple of weeks.

Green onions.

Leek bursting into flower.

Lemon balm for bedtime tea int he evening.

Prayer flags to keep positive energy for the gardens.

Chime that Dave made earlier this summer.

Still green tomatoes.  The plants are loaded.  Hope we get ripe ones before it starts getting too cool.

Harvesting :: calendula

Calendula is a plant-matter that I use a lot in my homemade lotions, oils, creams, etc.  Last summer I only planted six plants and did'nt harvest enough to dry so I ended up having to order more dried flowers.  This year I have 24 plants and let me tell you - they are keeping me busy having to harvest every second day.  My drying racks are full !!!

All the signs are there

All the signs of Fall are out there. I love the transition from Summer to Fall and of course Fall being my favorite season.

Our cultivated scarlet runner beans. They are a heritage seed from the 1600's.

This little guy is all smiles... I think Fall might be his favorite season also.

We are still eating chard from the garden. It's amazing how much we ended up harvesting this year.

That beautiful golden color of Fall.

Eggplants still growing in the cold frame.

As well as peppers.

This picture was taken a few weeks ago... these are the scarlet runner beans drying in the sun.

Mmmmm, pumpkin pie here I come.

Next post I will share an amazing roasted tomato soup recipe from a blogger that I follow. Stay tuned and get your tomatoes ready. You will want to cook up a pot of this soup.

Right now...

... we are loving the explosion of colors in our flower gardens, Mr. Puss visiting for still one more week, the soothing scent of lavender everytime I go by, many four-wheeling adventures, homemade whole wheat english muffins, eating fresh from the garden meals every day and enjoying this beautiful summer as it zooms by a wee bit too fast for this girl. Two weeks vacation coming up and yes, I will be spending those two weeks doing much of the same as listed above.

Hope everyone is well.

In the garden we went

Some favorites of the weekend :

- three protected tomato plants; raspberry canes, zukes and sugar pumpkins. Everything has to be protected from the dirt-loving chickens.

- a repurposed crow from my son's garbage pile now hanging around our strawberry patch. Let's see if this year we can scare away the ''real'' crows.

- beautiful blue skies all weekend.

- basil seedlings.

- see that huge window that Luc is holding in back of Dave's lawn tractor ? stay tuned, I'm hoping to show you the finished product that this window was used for.

A few link love for you :

I need to make one of these for my side of the bed.

I love pyrex and although I have more than my share of bowls, I don't have one of these.

I have a special connection with bloggers from Maine and this one is no different. Maine has so many similar caracteristics to us here in Atlantic Canada.

Hope everyone had a good Monday and that the sun is starting to shine in your neck of the woods.

I'm back but not 100% yet

I'm back, not 100% flu-free though... had to go back to the doctor yesterday morning. Had the beginnings of pneumonia so I have new meds, drinking a lot of herbal teas and resting as much as possible. For the first time in two weeks, I slept through the night last night without one single coughing fit (meds are already working). I can't even start to figure out the last time I had the flu... it's been years.

Walked around the gardens this afternoon while Dave was cleaning around ...

Kale is keeping strong.

Garlic is growing well.

Dave's newly painted tractor wagon.

Our son and his friend went in the annual two-day canoe trip Friday and Saturday. They enjoyed two pleasant sunny days; although the second day the wind was against them.

Cleaning the grounds

The wet snow we got Friday and early Saturday melted as soon as it hit the ground and that's a good thing ! Today was the perfect day to empty the compost bin for that nice black earth, go through the in-ground vegetable garden with the thiller, creating a new spot for the pumpkin patch (with the help of the girls of course), hoping that old faithful Mr. Thiller will serve us good for just one more season and knowing that the way we are living here suits our lifestyle perfectly and appreciating each and every day we are given here on this beautiful earth.

Something not related to gardening but still nice... since starting this blog 4 years ago I have been inspired by so many like-minded bloggers, found delicious recipes, knitting and sewing patterns, organic gardening tips, homemade cleaners and beauty products and most of these are found through links that my favorite bloggers share. I think ''if I like it, someone out there might want to know about it too'' so here goes a list of a few of the things I'm loving these days :

I love poka dots and I adore folk art, so owning one of these would be a joy just in time for Easter.

This cake pan will be in my cupboard at one point this year. Finding this pan is perfect timing seeing this year I am studying bee keeping.

Something on my bucket list for a while is making a quilt. Can't wait to see this in my mailbox later this week.

This could possibly be my next etsy purchase. Years ago, when I was a wee little girl, my grand parents had one of these and I loved it.

Wishing everyone a good start of the week tomorrow and let's hope we'll be hearing those Spring peepers soon.

Spring and Earth Hour

It looks like Spring out there, smells like Spring but sure doesn't feel like Spring these days. We've been in some sort of cold spell since late last week. The forecast for the next few days is for higher temps; yes please. Nope, this is not a beaver's den. It's the pile of twigs getting bigger and bigger by the day. I've mentioned here before that I love ''pick-up stix'' after the snow has melted and we sure have been picking many, many, twigs lately. If ever this wind can calm down we'll make a fire in the pit.

When we got home from work, Dave and I changed in our yard-working clothes and headed outside to keep an eye on the chickens. We've been letting them free-range but we stay outside with them.

Saturday evening at 8:30 pm it was lights out in this household to celebrate Earth Hour 2011. I was home alone so I sat on my Zafu pillow and meditated for the hour.

Snow storm in the forecast for Saturday !