square pegs...

Who says a wreath has to be round???

got my craft on for a few minutes yesterday.  I had set aside all the needed accessories weeks ago but had to wait to paint the frame.  Just something a little different this year.  And by the way, when I hang it out on the front door I will remove that dang wire!  Happy Fall.

dreaming of bruschetta...

...recently we have been over-run with tomatoes.  Lots of tomatoes, especially cherry and pear tomatoes.  (and fruit flies, but that's another story.)  While contemplating what to do with all of them and looking for something besides marinara sauce my son suggested 'bruschetta.'  He had just made some with the bounty of tomatoes from his grandparents and so I thought I would give it a try.

If you are not familiar with bruschetta (which I was not) it is very simple to make and store and especially simple to eat, and overeat as the case may be.  It is often served as an appetizer in restaurants but we made a meal of it with french bread and avocado on the side.

All you do is wash your fruit, core and chop full sized tomatoes or halve grape, cherry and pear tomatoes.  Put them in a big bowl and add a chopped onion, garlic, peppers (I used a yellow and orange bell) artichoke hearts (not part of the original recipe but my addition) fresh herbs (I used what I had on hand) salt and pepper to taste.  Add splash of balsamic vinegar, 2 Tb of olive oil and mix it up using your hands.  Spread onto large baking sheet and roast in oven 400degrees for about 30 minutes making sure to stir it around every ten minutes or so.  Oh my, the smell is amazing and it tastes wonderful...and I don't even like the darn things!

I stored this in mason jars and it will keep well in the fridge for several weeks.  No need to process the jars but the ones I used were just out of the dishwasher and still hot.


 what have you been up to lately?  be well friends.

Q and A...your way...

...I usually like to comment on the comments as soon as possible, I'm a little late this time but I do have a question for you all.  How do you respond to comments on your blog?   By e-mail, on the post, not at all?  Curious, I used to e-mail a response but so many bloggers are no reply on their settings, then I tried to respond on the post page and wasn't sure if anyone was reading it.  Do you return to the post to see if I responded...should I just respond on the next post?

Well that is what I'm doing today so here goes;

thank you to those who read here and especially if you leave a comment, it truly does make my day and makes my heart smile.

Nancy; my new prosthesis is called Limblogic and is a vacuum system with a small computer that senses when I need my prosthesis to be tighter to adjust to activity or less if there is inactivity.  I have to charge it up at night and it has a special sleeve that is worn over the top of the entire leg.  It is honestly the most comfortable thing I have ever worn.  There are no hot spots and my skin has never looked better.  It can even be set for 'running' which I doubt I will EVER use! 

Pogo;  thanks for stopping by.  I am sure you are ready for summer to end...it has been a slow transition here but I finally see the beautiful colours showing off and turned off the a/c and went searching for a space heater yesterday.  Yay!

Linda;  as always you touch my heart with your sweet comments and thoughtful prayers.  They are much appreciated.

Kathy;  how was the fair?  It was here and gone before I even realized that you would be over there...I'm about two blocks away!  Yes I think I see an end to the apple/ tomato windfall.  Made lots of bruschetta, and marinara.  Got three apple crisp and a pie in the freezer and I think I have enough apples for one more pie.  Then I froze a lot of blueberries and grapes for later.  My freezer is just a tiny one on the top of the fridge and I'm almost afraid to open it in case of a landslide.

As for the header picture, I honestly don't know where it came from.  It was in a folder marker 'autumn' and I can't remember if I took it (really doubt that) or who may have.  If it's yours let me know!   Thanks everyone.   Take care.

turn, turn, turn..

...and a time to every purpose unto heaven."   


well, albeit a hot summer, it went by too quickly.  Just as this year has flown Fall has landed, the leaves are showing their true colours, evenings are crisp with cooler-sweater weather, I can hear the high school football games and the band playing, pumpkins are adorning the front porch, a new wreath is in the making, and apples, apples, apples.  Throw in a few hundred tomatoes and you know what I have planned for the next week. 

much to say about some strange and difficult happenings around here but knowing where to start is always the challenge for me.  I have continual health issues and a few new ones to make it exciting (sarcasm) but I also have good news.  I finally got a new 'leg' and I love it.  I feel like a kid on Christmas morning...it's computerized and there is quite a learning curve but I am UP and OUT and so grateful.

So, tell me about your summer/winter and any weekend excitement?

 

out my window....

I can be grateful that I am not looking out into ten feet of snow with drifts and below freezing temps.  I can be grateful that it's not raining, raining, raining.  But I'm having a hard time being grateful that I have to clean up this yard.  Should have done it in steps but now there it is just waiting.  It will get mowed and mulched and put in the gardens but first the raking must be done because a dog has to do what a dog has to do and he's not telling me where it is hiding.  Have a great day out there.

September morn...

1979 Neil Diamond
where was I in '79?

had a new baby and a two year old, was working part-time in a customer service center at the local mall (it was awful), we had just bought a new to us house and were happily making it our home, we had friends next door and family nearby and I remember looking out the bedroom window one snowy November as my hubby and son were building his first snowman and my baby girl was sleeping next to me and thought; life does not get any better than this.  And I was right.  Where were you?

The sun has arrived at the equator on it's journey south for the winter.  I find it a most happy time of year...like the changing of the guard.  And if it were up to me the New Year would start with Autumn.  The crisp-cool temperatures, the crisp-cool apples, sweet hot lattes and pumpkin pie, cinnamon sticks and vanilla sugar, falling leaves and vivid colours, football and the world series,  college dreams and long lost sweet-hearts, anticipation and celebration, little goblins, quilts, "Moondance," bleachers and stolen kisses, marching bands, mums and pumpkins, gourds, corn, spider webs (ack!), fire-pits, corn mazes, brilliant skies, darker nights, shorter days (ick!), summer memories and on and on...

September morn...sometimes it still can make me feel that way.

 

Hello September...

"in the external scheme of things,
(all photos in this post were taken by me and are of a sunflower gone to see and left for the birds, squirrels, etc.)

shining moments are as brief as the twinkling of an eye,

yet such twinkling's are what eternity is made of~~

moments when we human beings can say...

"I love you," "I'm proud of you," "I forgive you," "I'm grateful for you."

that's what eternity is made of...invisible, imperishable, good stuff."

the world according to Fred Rogers.

Monday snap...

... Fall arrived a little late this year, which is fine with me, nothing I love more than to have Summer stretch it's lovely warm days into the next season.  With leaves still on the trees and the colours slowly changing we were happy that the raking chores were light.  Then came last weekend, and a huge windstorm, and a few inches of rain, and more wind and then some cold and well...the leaves have fallen.  And so the raking begins.

Except for this guy.  He was face height at the back door a few days ago, begging to come in the house.  I could hear him knocking and pleading to be let in, he didn't wish to become mulch like the rest of the leaves.  So I brought him in and now he's between the pages of a book.  Wonder which is worst?
Happy Monday Peeps!

what a difference a day makes...

...twenty-four little hours.  And touchdown...we have Fall.  Nothing like kicking sweet Summer's butt to the curb.  No gentle reminders here, oh no.  Get used to it...it will be like this until March.  Summer along with baseball (for our team) is done, over and out.

a rainbow, a sign?

although it looks it, there are no fish swimming in front of my house!

 

I now have no excuse to keep my Summer decor out.      Happy Fall!                               

it's officially not offical...

...we had a harvest moon last night, wow, it was gorgeous.  And this weekend is the official start of Fall but I decided to get started today on some baking since I have a box of apples.  I made smoothies out of all the peaches and we ate the corn so we are left peeling and peeling.  The first apple pie of the Fall season has arrived.  

and it is quite delicious.  Makes all the work worthwhile.  Enjoy!

resistance is futile...

...no matter how hard I try to pretend, or wish it away, or refuse to say the 'F' word...I have no choice but to accept that it is here.  Fall, in every sense of the word has arrived to my little spot on the planet.   The leaves are changing and 'falling.'  The grass is green again.  The dog is shedding like a madman having a hot flash.   It's time to put up the patio furniture (which has only been enjoyed for a few weeks), it's time to clean up the gardens and get them ready for rest.  It's time to rake, and rake, and rake.  It's also apple time, which is really a great benefit of living here.  We found a back way out of our little neighborhood this weekend, a little frustrated that we were 'locked' in due to road work, and happily found a farm stand.  Around the corner and up the hill, back down and over the river, through the intersection past an old church...you know right?  As hard a we tried we could not resist.

 tomatoes, squash and pumpkin, peach preserves,

 ohhhh beautiful nectarines,

 and crisp colourful apples,

 pumpkins of every size, shape and colour, I only bought two, for Maude.

boxes of apples, fresh herbs, sunflowers and

fresh corn with their little mop heads.

Ready or not here it comes.  It will be less painful if you just roll with it and hope for Indian Summer!  Are you a 'Fall' person?  (It really is my favourite season of all!)

Ode to October...

...Oh, my dear October, my favorite time of year.  Thank you for the beauty you bring, for cooler days and crisp clear nights.

The show was magnificent, as always.  And even though we were quite soggy you did not slow down or hide your beautiful charms.

 The reds, the golds, the greens and brown, the everything in-between have reminded me to slow down.

 To be patient as I look around and watch your splendor. To savor every moment that is given to us.

Rest well, my sweet friend, until the next time around.  I will be waiting.

November: please be kind.  We have not always had a good relationship, in fact it has been quite hostile.  Please be gentle with me this go around and I will be forever grateful. 

Blessings to you all as we roll into another month, may it be a kind one to you and yours!

Wednesdays Child...

...is full of woe.  Woeful Wednesday.  Wednesday...whoa.  Time to take a few moments and tie up a few loos ends, all pretty with a sweet little bow.  By the way, I am not a Wednesday child but today I embrace my inner woe.

I wanted to do some catching up, not realizing how long it's  been since I posted.  Since taking part in the 30 day challenge I feel as though I have said all I possibly can about everything!  But, you have all been so kind and inquiring about my health that I didn't want to leave you hanging.

Last Friday, after a fun-filled exciting time long morning at the dentist getting my two front teeth capped (see previous post) I grabbed a coffee drink and headed over to my doctors office to have my thyroid biopsied.  47 needle pokes later, with no anesthesia at all, and a bruised neck, I went home with no real answers and many, many questions.

During the procedure, which was ultrasound assisted, the doc found a mass in my neck that is wrapped around my larynx and esophagus.  This may or may not be c but either way it needs to come out.  There were also five hard nodules on the other side of the mass.  All of these were biopsied.  The wait will be 5-7 days.

Note:  the ONLY symptom I have had of thyroid c is that I keep losing my voice.  All labs and other tests were normal.

I spent a long weekend with myself and am surprisingly at peace with all of this.  I finally got outside and 'fall-ified' my porch today.  Gourds and leaves and scare-crows oh my!  It truly is the most beautiful time of the year.  Thanks for thinking of me and for all the sweet comments and e-mails...they mean so much.  Blessings to you all...

What September taught me...

...I always enjoy taking a look back at the month, seeing where I have gone and where I am going on this life journey.

we picked apples today

September is teaching me patience;
I think, more than any other month, September is the one where you can see the seasons change.  It's subtle, watching as the sun moves slowly away from us and the afternoons and evenings getting shorter.  Seeing the flowers slowly loose their vigor and silently retreat into the earth to await the awakening season of Spring.  The leaves turning from their lovely greens to stunning golds and reds only to drop to the ground, their job done for the year.  It, to me, is the most magical of seasons.

lots and lots of apples

September has taught me that I can survive a summer without sunshine!  I have learned that I can make and keep even the smallest of promises.  It has taught me that balance is highly over-rated (an upcoming post), and that being in the middle is as confusing now as it was when I was growing up the middle child (another upcoming post).



gravenstein and jonagold

September has taught me to "shop the house," to be more frugal now than at any other time in my life.  It has taught me that waiting for my first grand-baby-girl is a joy beyond anything I have ever imagined.


and honey crisp

Most of all September has taught me Gratitude.  I strive every day to live a life of Grace and Gratitude, to be kind and forgiving with a heart full of Mercy.  This month has been full of extreme emotion with highs and lows of great worry mixed with overflowing joy.  And through it all I have turned to you, my bloggy friends, and you held me up.  You've given me strength and hope that I can beat this cancer, I know whatever lies ahead that you will be there to support me...thank you!

AND I learned that I could finish the 30 day challenge and still love blogging!  Phewwww...see y'all in a few.  

What did September teach you?

Getting my Fall on...

...all photos are out of order, thankyouverymuchblogger. 

My hubs was out in the yard today and nice guy that he is, he harvested all the hydrangea for me.  I lost two of my bushes last winter so I only have two left...the blues were gorgeous.

The purple/pink ones were not as vibrant as in years past and with the exception of one they already look a little worse for wear.

somewhere in there is a white blossom that was all alone on a plant that had only one stem on it.  I think I like the white ones best but I have never had luck drying them.    For me the blues dry the best but we shall see what happens this crazy year.

I have them in vases with about an inch of water in the bottom, I just let the water evaporate and after that is done the plants are well on their way to drying on their own.

Have you started your Fall decorating yet? or

are you a procrastinator like me!

Happy Monday

 

isn't the reflection of the light in the den extra special??!   gah.

Harvest moon...



I was able to add the photo after I posted.
this was taken in North Carolina
during the harvest moon.


...last Wednesday was quite the party in the skies with the "Super Harvest Moon," and the "Autumnal Equinox" taking place at the same time.  For those of us in the Pacific Northwest we have only to read about it as we have not seen the skies (clearly) in several days.  I found this article from the Seattle Times interesting and wanted to share.  I wanted to share a photo too but alas blogger has other ideas.

"Now is our season on the verge, a time of endings and beginnings: Seeds studding the blossom ends of spent flowers are setting wing on autumn winds for a new year's growth. Female salmon in their last days of life are returning, their bellies rounded with eggs that will bring their home waters to life next spring.
And deep in the cool glades of the lowland forests, amphibians are on the move.
The crrrrrreck of chorus frogs can be heard in the forests, as they return upland for the winter. Frogs, toads and salamanders are on their fall migration, inching to their winter hiding spots. They'll snug under the sheltering arms of sword ferns and heaps of big leaf maple leaves, just now kiting to ground, shining as they sail through the slanting, golden light of fall.

But the showstopper all this week — clouds willing — will be the moon. Already bright enough this week to wake light sleepers, it's just been revving up for the perfectly full harvest moon.

Its majestic rise and luminous glow were once counted on by farmers to get in their crops, before headlights on megatractors changed all that. Hence the name harvest moon, also called the hunter's moon by some.

While it will be perfectly full only on Wednesday, the moon should still be big and bright for several days. It also might take on a coppery hue at the horizon, as its light passes through more atmosphere, low in the sky, with all its dust and other particulates. That scatters the moon's light, filtering out the blues in its spectrum, and leaving the red."


I'll just have to take their word for it!! 
MIL is home now and seems to be back to normal...which means she is not taking it easy or slowing down at.all.
Enjoy your weekend y'all.

Autumnal Equinox...

...quite frankly, I don't have the energy to put forth an intelligent or intelligible post tonight, so I will wish you~~ Happy Fall~~go see if you can balance an egg and meet me back here tomorrow.  take care peeps!

On such a day...

"On such a day each road is planned
To lead to some enchanted land;
Each turning meets expectancy.
The signs I read on every hand.
I know by autumn's wizardry
On such a day the world can be
Only a great glad dream for me--
Only a great glad dream for me!"
-   Eleanor Myers Jewett, An Autumn Day