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Thursday, October 1, 2026

October 1

61°f/16°C, sunny. Another nice day ahead, but a bit warmer. 

Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit! Happy October!


A few photos from this day in past years:






Somewhere in England:

In Wales, 10 years ago. I liked saying this word like a pirate!




And 2 years ago, I was getting my knee replaced. Believe it or not, it's still a little painful, and doesn't bend as well as it should, but overall it's better than it was before replacement.  

Today we have a couple bushels of apples to make into sauce, which we will freeze and save for making apple butter the Sunday before Thanksgiving. That's become a family tradition, one we all look forward to. Our son Derek will be here shortly for breakfast and took help today, so I'd best be getting busy!

A Good Fall Day

What a nice day we had yesterday. It was the perfect way to welcome October.

Our son Derek was here by 9 am. Larry had already been up the driveway to finish cutting up a tree he dropped yesterday, a black walnut that was broken off during an August storm. Then he went down the road to pick up something from our young neighbor Grace, a veterinary technician, to clean a place on our Buddy dog who has developed a hot spot.  Grace is on medical leave, but she certainly knows her stuff about animals!

Meanwhile, I made some waffles from scratch, adding black walnuts that Larry shelled last year, and mixed some strawberries from the freezer with some strawberry syrup from the cellar, for breakfast. Hannah and her little baby Sutton showed up for breakfast too, and she helped and took photos as we made the applesauce. These are mostly Hannah's photos:.






The first bushel, Cortlands, made a light-colored sauce, but the second bushel was deep-red Jonathans and made a darker sauce. 


Baby Sutton was unimpressed by all the activity! 


Porch decor


In the kitchen. Sutton is such a happy little boy!


Saucin'!



We ended up with about 9 gallons of sauce, which, along with the 8 gallons already made and canned, will be plenty for this year's apple butter. I still have about a third of a bushel of apples left, which I will use to can some apple pue filling.

After Derek and Hannah left, I got busy pricing things for our booths, and Larry spent a couple hours brushhogging. We were both ready to put our feet up as the sun set on this lovely day. Today we head to our booths to restock. Bet it will ve an easy day, comparatively speaking!




Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Wednesday, September 30, 2026

Tiny Bouquets

51°f/10.5°C again this morning, about 75°as I write this with partly cloudy skies.

I have been working in the flowerbeds today, getting ready to plant a few mums and a couple Maltese Cross (Silene chalcedonica). My intention was to just go out and plant, but the ground ivy has become so rampant that I ended up pulling up bushels of the stuff. I'm about a 1/3 of the way done in the big flowerbed, and ready to give it up for the day. I'll get my pkants in before I quit though.

While working I picked a few little bouquets for the house. The first is gomfrena, Shasta daisy, lantana and some mini zinnias. 


Then a stem of the drift roses. Like all my roses,  these struggled this year.


I cleaned out the two wash tubs on the porch as the petunias I had in them were pretty well done, but i brought in the last of the blooms. Because of all the rain, there are hundreds of tiny petunia seedlings in the planters. I wish they had time to grow!


And last, a mix of zinnias, marigold, and a few other things.


The flowers will soon be gone, but for now they bring such pleasure, in a way more than the overflowing bounty of summer, because now each bloom gets to shine like a superstar.

Time to get back out there and plant. Then, I think, make a batch of chocolate zucchini bread? I have a few zucchini that I need to use, and this is the  tastiest way to do that!


Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.
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