The North Side

Did you know that moss grows on the North side? An old hiking hint. 

Another glorious day today and the outlook is looking great!

But the color is very slow to show. Does that mean not much color this year? We are getting colder nights hopefully that will make it turn. 

This is my walking route even after all these years I still love it.

This is at the end of our driveway a bit of pink for a sunset. 

It sets so much earlier now darkness is closing in by the minute. The part of winter I dislike the most.

But watch for that moon it is supposed to another super moon. 

As most of you know I have been cleaning out. Closets, cupboards etc. If I haven't used it in years out is goes. I am now starting on the attic. I brought 2 boxes down and most of it is going I just took a couple of little things to keep. Like this troll dressed as a witch since I am going to a witch hook-in I thought she could decorate my rug room for now. 

Speaking of witches, she is done and hung. I love her and smile each time I walk by. 

I pulled a few more of my Halloween things out to enjoy. A great early start. 

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It is on the news here that the price of wheat is going up a lot along with tomatoes, vegetable oil etc etc. And there could be shortages.  Just when we are coming to prime baking season. I got a gift card when I retired and so I took myself to stock up on my flour of choice King Arthur. I also got some canned tomatoes and a bottle of vegetable oil. Tonight, I am baking pumpkin bread as we speak yummm.

Have a wonderful week!!!

Quite A thrifting Haul

I finally bought a frother for my half and half for my coffee in the morning. I added some pumpkin spice to it and yummm! One of my hooking friends has one and I love it, so I finally purchased my own. 

A local church had their final sale of the season. 

I had skipped a couple of the others. I am so glad I went! 

These are paper patterns for rug hooking! and video I will pass along. 

I poked through tubs and tubs of bits and bobs and came out with so many really great things for stitching and crafting. My grand cannot wait to get here for some crafting time. 

So many wonderful stitching things. And wrapping tissue 

A plastic pumpkin with a fun expression.

Wonderful stitching kit...

A small wooden spoon with a small crack I sanded it and reoiled it. 

A tiny pin that is hand painted that looks like the Jackson Bridge we dance on in August. And there was more than didn't make the picture the price 10.00! It will more than keep me stocked for the winter. I do plan on sharing some stuff and passing on some things. 

I have such fun on the hunt you never know what you will fall into. 

I have been cleaning up the gardens my fairy roses are still going strong. Look at this little bee he is so happy he kept going around and around in this flower. 

Because I have been in the shed, I dug out some of our Halloween decorations. Husband made this pumpkin. It is on our gate and if you look to the left a frog is peeking over his shoulder.

My cement crow stays out all summer I just added the tombstone. 

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There were glorious days last week and I made the best of them. It is now overcast with the threat of rain. Chilly and raw day a good soup day. Football at 1 I hope they do better this week not a good start for them. 

Have a wonderful week!

A Walk About

A sunny lovely day. I did some yard work and caught up on Laundry.

This is a hydrangea that has turned such a pretty pink for fall. 

The acorns are falling in buckets it seems. 

I do believe that some little critter has been enjoying them on this rock in the sunshine.

The growth on an old stump. So pretty if you make the picture bigger. It has wonderful patterns on them.

Not sure what this plant is, it was in the woods. It is losing its

color still so pretty. 

The flowering cherry is starting to ripen, the birds will be landing in flocks soon to pick it clean before they leave for the winter. 

Wild Asters on the border of our woods. If you make this larger you will see a sweet little B on the bottom right collecting nectar. 

And because the weather is cooler, I thought I would try making white sandwich bread. It is with the tanghoz method where make a roux with 6% of your flour and add it to your mixture. It helps to keep it softer longer. Sandwich bread can be hard to get the right crumb and there are problems with this loaf, but it is better than the past ones. Let the baking begin lol.

Time does slip by so fast I thought this was so true.

Have a wonderful week. 

The Hurrican That Wasn't

Much ado about nothing. Yes, the waves were bigger but no flooding no big winds just nothing. I do not say that about Canada I think they got the brunt of it, and I am so sorry for them. 

Husband had a Dr's appointment in the city. So, I went along for the ride. This is not the greatest part of the city, but this fence is old. 

And lovely but sadly not being up kept that well. I always wonder if those who pass it daily  notices this pretty  fence?

Today after the non-storm (a bit of rain a little wind nothing much)

I headed out into my very neglected gardens, and I pulled weeds for a few hours and cleaned up. This hummingbird was all about my zinnias. He must be getting ready to leave. 

I found this years old farmer's almanac. We hang it in the bathroom and by the time the new one comes out it is well read lol. 

They are predicting a cold snowy winter. The weather man is not we shall see who is right. 

It really is a great book lots of info and recipes. 

I will give you my spice mix but I also wanted to let you know about this powered cheddar. I got mine at king Arthur Flour, but I am sure you can find it other places. This is made with Vermont Cheddar. If you want to make anything cheesy such as baked in breads and biscuits, I made a white sauce and added some of this to it gave it a nice depth. Sprinkle it on popcorn yumm that is just the beginning of ideas. 

Ok my spice mix 

1tsp basil

1tsp rosemary

11/2 tsp oregano

1 tsp of tarragon 

2 tab salt 

1 tab onion powder

1 tab garlic powder

1 tab of thyme 

1 tab of parsley

1 tab of black powder

you can leave out or add to

whatever suites your taste buds.

because I dried a lot of my own herbs, I put it all through the grinder and into an old shaker I had. I have been using this on everything and it is delicious!

My tiny garden that never really got started this year because of all the rain decided I needed zucchini late august early September. 

So, I made sweet zucchini relish. The best sound in the world is when canning and all the tops are popping to seal. 

I also went to our local farmer. He had lots of sweet peppers.

For 5.00 a bag I took some home and roasted them, peeled them and put them in olive oil. I still have more to do but this is a start I think I will end up freezing some of them.

My rhubarb is still growing pretty well so I cut some to freeze. 

I will make strawberry rhubarb pie for the holidays.

I guess that is it for the food part of my blog lol. 

I have been stitching this summer instead of hooking, so I treated myself to a needle minder. The witchy season is just around the corner. 

And speaking of the witchy season. I am going to 

"The Witches of Wells hook in" in October. 

I will be the one with the crystal ball......

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Have a wonderful week! 

Go Patriots!!!

The Spice Of Life

I rearranged my rug hooking room cleaning out etc. and found this cat mat that I am not sure how long ago I started. He is finished now and will go on a table in the spare room. 

And this is why I rearranged and cleaned out. We bought some new chairs and this one was odd chair out. So up the stairs (with a lot of effort I might add) into my rug hooking room. I just love it! so perfect! Now if I could just get husband to bring me food I would never really need to leave. (bathroom round the corner lol)

I am trying to up my cooking skills with more herbs and spices. 

I found a spice mix online as a guide and then I did my own thing. I dried the herbs I had grown and then put them in a grinder and made my own mix with other spices I had in the cupboard.  I have to say what a good mix it is! I have used it on chicken and beef so far. Do you want me to post the mix, or would it bore the heck out of you?

Today is my chicken's actual birthday yes, my daughter the one in the middle. I have no idea just how she got to 40 so fast! 

Happy birthday to one amazing daughter!!!

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On another note, we have Verizon for our phones, and we need a signal booster at home because we live in the mountains and the woods and not many towers in our area. Well, the booster went ka-put. I will say the tec took lots of time with me online and we really tried hard to get it going. They could not and those things are expensive! With out that we have no phone service at home. I think the tec felt so bad for us they are shipping us one free of charge!!

Yea Verizon!!!

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It has been so hot and muggy I am so over it. Today we are having down pours with expected severe thunderstorms later. It is supposed to be cleaning out this humid air one can hope. I just hate it!

And the hurricane coming will not make landfall here, but it could cause some issues on the coast, and you know I have some very close friends with lovely homes on the coast, so I am thinking of them this weekend. 

Have a great week!

The Rain Falls Mainly In Maine

A new week another trip to Maine. 

This week  my dear friend offer us her beach house when she went away. just as we got settled in the clouds come rolling in off the ocean. 

And it rained and it was windy, and it was a bit crazy for a good while. 

We stayed in after we got settled and the evening came, and it was lighting so vivid you could stand on the back deck and watch it roll in. The lights flickered a lot, but we never lost power. Not the same for others in the area. We went out and about the next morning and there were electric crews with 5 transformers lined up to be replaced. Trees and limbs down everywhere. We were extremely lucky.

That morning I was up and, on the beach, early for the sunrise. 

and a bit of a walk. 

And then Saturday afternoon we got some visitors! My sweet B and her best friend trying out the ocean. 

And my daughter and son in law. Such a wonderful bonus to have them there with us for an overnight. 

But as aways the sun sets on the good times, and we all had to go back to reality. 

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We have been hotter this past week than we have all summer. 

Usually, this time of year the evenings cool off but not this time. It was horrid 90s and super high humidity. It zaps my energy, and I am good for nothing. I did go to the thrift store for a walk around. (they are air conditioned) I only found this little owl he is about 4 inches high I thought he would look good on my Halloween shelf. Well, he is carved from a piece of Canadian coal. I had never seen anything like that. 2.00 a good deal.

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There has also been progress on our shower install the plumbers came and now it is up to husband to finish up and get the plumbers back for the finish. I will be so glad when this project is done. 

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I am going to get back to healthy eating and exercising I have been not such a good eater lately. Potato chips my downfall!!!

I will also count my blessings for I have so many!

Have a wonderful week.