My goodness it has been a long time since I posted... I really don't know where to start!
So I will just begin with the grandkids...
Thing 1 and Thing 2 are all grown up and no longer require my care, so now I am more or less free to do all the sewing all day that I want  Although Thing 1 (Hayley) does require my car now and then...... she has 2 part time jobs and is part of the robotics team at her high school.  Last year her team came in third in all of Ontario.  They have never hit the top three before , so they were quite happy!   Oh my gosh, she is almost 18!
Thing 2  (Courtney) is in high school now too.  She has a part time job too!  She has turned 14.  Both have grown into very pretty young ladies.  We still have a family dinner night so I do get to see the girls at least once a week.
Neither one asks to go and sew anymore.   Maybe as they get older they will come back to the machine. 
I have certainly been busy at the machine!  Both quilt guilds I belong to have had a push on to make at 150 charity quilts for Canada's sesquicentennial.  150 year anniversary!  and I believe we made that plus more for both!  My hands and wrists were sore from hand binding all the quilts that I worked on, so I needed to learn how to machine sew on the binding.  I could do it but it didn't look that nice...I needed more practice and I certainly got it.  Now I feel more confident sewing the binding on completely by machine.  And I think I will use that method more often!
Sew...that's it for today....

testing...testing..
This blog is testing my patience. 
As I said earlier, it seems I cannot upload pictures anymore.
I tried all sorts of different things to fix it.
I already have the newest browser, but I don't have CHROME and I don't want Chrome.  I prefer BING. And I use BING.
I think that may be my problem.  I think Blogger is part of google and google is part of chrome.
I think IF I want to upload pictures again, I need to install it.
If that doesn't work, then I will have to blog without the benefit of pictures, or just stop blogging all together.




Well....
I installed Chrome....shut down and restarted...
Still can't upload pics....................
So, THAT didn't work!  AT ALL!

I still can't seem to fix blogger so that I can up-load pics.
Soooo frustrating!


Kevin brought his newest quilt home to be repaired.
The kid is hard on his quilts.
At Christmas he brought his newest quilt for repair.
Hummmm...newest quilt ....it's over ten years old.
I don't know what he does to it, but the top and bottom were shattered.
The batting was shredding and the binding was gone.
I really had to sleep on it to figure out what to do to fix the quilt.
All the batting was there just pulled apart, but it was all there, so I decided to use batting tape (fusible tricot ) top and bottom, to fuse the batting back into shape.  I used a good cotton batting in his quilt.  I was able to fuse both front and back, top and bottom.
Then I looked into my stash for the  fabric that I used and BINGO! I found some!
I ended up machine appliqueing new blocks over the shattered ones, or what was left of the blocks.
I cut a new, wider binding, and sewed that on.
All most as good as new!
I would like to show you what I did, but blogger will not upload my pics.  Sorry

I have been sewing, actually repairing, mending and retying  quilts for my son.    He was the recipient of one of the first quilts I made.  I've made him 2 large quilts and both needed repair.
I think he is  very hard on his quilts.
He has a tumbling block quilt;  I tied that one.
It was a challenge for me...all those "Y" seams.  Not a lot of fun.
At least I used large blocks....lol!
It had a puffy polyester batt in it. 
Oh Gosh!  Why do we always want our first quilt to be puffy?
Sooooo, Kevin brought home the tumbling block quilt, saying it needed repair.
He had pulled out almost all the ties, and it was dirty.
First thing I did, was wash it.  Then I had to think about how I would re tie.
I thought, and I thought....for a couple of years...(he got a new quilt in the meantime).. then I took it out and worked on it a bit.
Straightened out the batting...I started doing a bartack to tie the quilt.
Didn't like that much and put it away....for a few more years.
He asked me about it this Christmas....
It was the push I needed, I guess.
Out it came again and  I washed it again. 
Then I seriously got down to getting it re tied.
BUT...instead of a bartack, I thought I would use eyelet buttonholes.
I put a whole lot more ties on the quilt.
And it didn't turn out too bad.
I was going to show a picture but for some reason, I can't upload it. 
I am working on trying to find out why I can't upload.  If I fix it, I will post it!

The holidays are finally over and it is back to reality.
The tree and all the ornaments are put away for another year.  We still have to disconnect all the lights, though.
I washed the tree skirt(s), Christmas table toppers and runners and put them away.
MissT was really out of sorts after I took it all down, kept coming into the living room and meowing at me....wandering around....lost...
MissT  loves to lay under the tree.
As soon as I start putting it up, she is sprawled out underneath.  I have to be careful not to step on her!
 I usually put a small quilt under the tree for her to cuddle in.   She doesn't seem to bother with the ornaments anymore.  Actually she never was one to play much at all.
I never had her as a kitten, I adopted her as an adult....maybe she never learned to play!   Plus she is getting be to an old lady now, she's over 10 years old.
My tree is an old one.  I have had it now for over 25 years.  It was a really expensive one that I bought after Christmas one year.  It really looks real!  Especially when I attach pinecones to the various branches.  It has fooled many people over the years.  The usual comment is that it doesn't have a very strong pine scent.


Grandkids back here after school and Mom over to pick them up.
hehe...I actually forgot they were to be here again yesterday!
I am a terrible Gramma!
The weather has been bitterly cold with lots of snow.
We certainly are getting the winter they called for.
I had to remind each of the girls that they need to cover their ears, wear their mitts and come straight home.
Hayley didn't come straight home and she had frostbite on her cheeks.
I remember my own daughter at this age.....mind of her own....

WELCOME 2014!

We had all the kids here for New Years dinner.
I cooked another turkey roll, scalloped potatoes and a large ham.  For veggies we has broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and roasted onions.
The mister loves his roasted onions.
 Cheese sauce , cranberry relish that my son made, and gravy.
We also had some baked brie as an appetizer again today.
This time I heated the cheese for 10 minutes and put it on a plate with crackers.
I still used that marble slab I have, only not for the cheese.
I starting baking my scalloped potatoes first,  (yes it was that big a pot of scalloped potatoes) then put the turkey roll into the oven.  When it was time to put the ham into the oven, I took out the potatoes, put the casserole on my cutting board and covered the whole thing with a couple of towels.
Not thin ones, good thick ones.  I wanted to keep it all hot.
I put the marble slab into the oven and let it get hot.
I then slipped that under the casserole dish.
Those potatoes were good and hot still when I put everything on the table.
The whole dinner was marvelous, and we were thankful to all be together and healthy.
My hope for you this year is health and happiness.
May your bobbin always be full.

I think this Christmas is one of the most beautiful ones I have ever seen.
We have a lovely white Christmas and the trees all sparkled prettily.  That was due to the covering of ice they still had.
Mind you, it wasn't so nice for some people...no power, so no heat no lights, no dinners and for some no water!
We were lucky, our power was only off 2 hours total for the whole storm and clean up.
 Our Christmas was a huge success.
  The grand daughters  loved their placemats.
I was a little surprised that Hayley was so thrilled with hers, because I just made a placemat to represent Guns & Roses,  not their logo.  But she was thrilled!
Needless to say, I was pleased that they like them so much.
Courtney wanted to eat dinner on hers that night.  I asked her to wait, since we were having pasta (cannelloni) for dinner, she really didn't want to dirty it right away.
We were having our Christmas dinner on Friday.
The girls and daddy went off to see their other grandparents for Christmas day.
Our son came for Christmas day, actually the day before too.
(Big ice storm, no power for him at home, he needed to shower before he went to see a friend).
I made a turkey roll and a duck (yummm) for Christmas with our son, then Friday, I made cannelloni and salad for dinner. Both times apple pie and home made ice cream for dessert.
I also made a large cheese plate and some baked brie for snacks before dinner.
I had a big ooppsie with the brie.
I have a stone, it's marble, you heat it and cook small appetizers on it.
I heated it up( for hours), heated the brie, then put the brie on the stone.
OH MY!
The brie melted all over the place!!
But boy was it good!
I had to scrap cheese off the tablecloth! lol!
I think I will try it again, but not heat up the marble quite so much.
The kids gave us tickets to Cirque de Soleil!
 I am so thrilled!!!
 I can't WAIT!

HOLY CRAP!

The weather forecaster has been predicting freezing rain for a few days.  It was getting to the point where I didn't believe them anymore.  They had been  wrong so often.
Well,  yesterday it came true.
Usually on a Saturday night, my daughter and I go out and shop...have some quality time. 
I called her and said STAY HOME!!
I went to my sewing room and sewed all night long.
I worked on applique blocks for outreach.
Tidied up my sewingroom a bit.
Then I went back to my table runner, worked on that for a bit.
 Still not done.
Every once in a while I would check outside.
It was raining.  It has been drizzle-y for 2 days.
Around 9 or ten, I could feel the air getting colder.
By the time I went to bed, I could here sleet hitting the windows , trees were covered with ice already.
I dozed for a little and with a flash and bang.....out went the power.  I don't know for sure how long it was out, but it was enough for the house to get cold.
I put another blanket on and tried to fall back to sleep.  The power was off and on, off and on.  Each time with a flash and bang.
I awoke to the furnace running and too warm for the extra blankie.
I could hear the neighbour kids outside playing on the ice. 
I looked out, wondering how bad it was.....
After breakfast I noticed the birds trying to get into the feeders.
They couldn't  with all the icicles, so I went out and knocked off some of the ice.  Put some seed out.
I thought, they must be hungry and threw  a bunch on the snow.  They were flocking to it in seconds.
I wonder, with only 3 days to Christmas, will it be a white or green one?
Stay safe
and
Have a great Holiday!

   I went down to my sewing room the other day and really didn't want to sew on my project. 
My shoulder has been sore, I don't know if it was the knitting or maybe sleeping on my arm weird, but it hurts and I didn't feel like wrangling the table runner.
I thought, I want to do some sewing, but something mindless.
I wanted something quick and simple.
I pulled out a drawer with some scraps that had been precut.  I thought something  in here maybe...
I came across some half square triangles that I had trimmed and saved.
I sewed two at a time, then decided on a pattern.
I only really had a few squares to work with, but this is what I came up with.
 Sewn, quilted and bound...all in a couple of hours.  It's 2 1/2 inches by 10 inches.

I took this little quilt to guild for " show and tell".   The white glove ladies told me it was too heavy for them to hold up.  Hehehhe!                                                              

I used up a few scraps of fabric, a scrap of batting, and a smallish scrap (from a friend, for another friend, but it went GREAT) for the backing. 

 

I will be back in the New Year...........                                               

                                               

   Have A Merry Christmas!                          

For Christmas I decided to make a couple of placemats for the grand daughters.
  Courtney loooooves owls right now.  Owl this and Owls that.  
I was at Fabricland the other day and saw an owl decoration on sale for a couple of bucks.  I bought it for her.
We have downloaded patterns and made owl pillows.
I went out and bought an owl panel that was 5 pillows....and owl fabric for the backing.  We made up all five pillows.
So,...I thought....an owl placemat!
I downloaded a pattern, actually the pattern we used for one of the first owl pillows Courtney made.
I made up the owl and cut a placemat . 
The little owl looked lonely all by it's self.
I knew somewhere I had some fabric that looked like wood so I cut a branch.
Needed more than that..
I cut a tree and some more branch bits.

Courtney's

It needed a moon....I have some beige and white hand dyed (by me) fabric that was perfect for a full moon.  The background fabric was dyed by me also.
It turned out pretty good.....the test will be Christmas day...I hope she loves it!
I was glad to use the hand dyed fabric,  I always hate to use it and this was a great way.
Then I started on a placemat for Hayley.
She likes bands now....Hedley, Guns n Roses.

Hayley's

So I looked on-line for Guns n Roses  and made her up a placemat.
I figure I have to be careful because of copywrite.
I don't worry about the girls seeing these before Christmas, they don't read my blog and I know you won't tell them!

Oh my....I really can't say "No" to my baby sister.
She is six years younger than me and was my birthday present when I was 6.  She was born 4 days after my birthday.  Let me tell you, I was really, really happy to have a sister instead of another brother.  I already had 3 of them!   I desperately wanted a sister.
So when she asks me for a favour, I usually grant it.
She wanted some curtains for her townhouse.  She asked if I would sew them.  I said "sure". 
We went out to our local store called Fabricland and she walked into a sale.  Premade panels on clearance.  She bought 10 of them.  Enough for all the windows.
She tried her best to shorten them and screwed it up a little.  They aren't garbage, but now they are too short.
She begged me again....."Please sew me some curtains".
So, out we went, again, to Fabricland.  She went straight to some fabric that she liked and decided that was it.
We browsed around the store, and there on the shelf was the perfect material.
 It was woven squares, and she loved it!
Plus it was DIRT CHEAP!  and I mean cheap!!!!!  $3.50 a metre (39 inches) and 240 inches wide!!!
Because it was so cheap, she decided she wanted a nice tablecloth.
Tabling fabric was on sale too, not the great price reduction that the other fabric was, but still a good price.
We bought enough to make her a round tablecloth and four small napkins.
We came home and she left right away.
I sat and had a cuppa tea with my mister, then went into my sewing room to work on the tablecloth.
Within a half hour, I called my sister and told her that it was done, too bad she didn't stay. 

That evening I started on the curtains for her.

Easy, peasy to measure and fold a straight line.  And to keep a straight line sewing.
It only took a few hours, far less than I expected, to complete her livingroom curtains.
Now I will work on some for her bedroom!
Merry Christmas Sis!

see...... I am sewing...just not doing a lot of quilting or blogging!

In June I brought home three quilts to work on over the summer.  Actually four ...I took a kit from my other guild.
The kit I made up immediately...2 days ..DONE! binding ..everything done.
The second I only had to quilt and bind.  That was done in a couple of days also.
The third was the same...I took longer because I wanted to think about the quilting.
So, maybe a week or two to get it all finished.  Plus I had a few issues with a lot of bias, but it turned out great! 
Both quilt guilds were glad to see them in September.
The fourth was a bigger quilt.  I layered it and started quilting.  Just stitch in the ditch, I had planned on a "scroll" type design for the edges (setting triangles) and borders.
I had my patterns planned and made up, pinned in place to sew.
And then I changed my mind and decided on lines of quilting instead.  I marked each triangle to keep everything straight and even.
I was really pleased with how it turned out.
I took it to guild and the lady who made the top and back, (the back is pieced also) made a comment about how much she liked how it turned out.
Dorothy makes and donates a lot of beautiful tops to our outreach program.
So we had our last meeting of the year and all the quilts that were to be donated to various charities were shown. 
The one Dorothy and I worked on was to be donated to Big Brothers and Sisters for their on-line auction! And it was to be in the next 2 weeks or so.
I decided that I would follow the auction and bid on the quilt.

I GOT IT!
The quilt is now MINE!  LOL!
I went and got it, and when I got it home I thought....It's been a while since I've seen it, so I would have a different perspective. 
I checked out my quilting job.
It looked pretty good, I thought!
But then, I noticed.....I had missed a couple of rows of quilting.
Well, I can do them now!
And make a new label giving Dorothy and I credit for the making of this quilt.

Yes, I have done some quilting....
I have been participating in our guild challenge.
I finally decided what I wanted to do, then I waited a bit before I chose fabrics, mulling it over, sleeping on it.  I had the fabrics that I had to use for the challenge.
I decided on a table runner.  A friend was saying she didn't really want another wall hanging , and when I said table runner, she thought table topper!
I settled on a braided table runner.
I was thinking and thinking how I was going  to make this.  I don't have a pattern, so it's all off the top of my head.
I laid my batting out on my cutting table and decided to start with a 12 inch square, cut a few 2 1/2 " strips and started figuring out where to place colours and how I would construct it.
It hit me that I could do this "quilt as you go" by sewing and flipping.
I marked my batting with a centre line, width and length.
Placed the square in the centre ...but before I sewed I thought about the backing.
Hmmm...I could actually do BOTH sides sew and flip and have a REVERSABLE table runner!
So...you know what I did! Sew and flip two side at once!  I have fall on one side and winter on the other.
I started by centring the 12" block in the centre, I used quilt spray to hold the square in place, then sewed a 1/4" seam around  to hold it in place.  Then flipped it over and centered the second 12" square exactly over the square on the front using the sewing lines from the front.
Then sewed my 2 1/2" strips in place both side at once.
 I still want to make a couple of placemats to go with the table runner.

So this is the "right side" of my table runner.  I sewed so far then trimmed down my batting to the size I wanted.  It was becoming a little cumbersome.
And this is the other "right side

 

I am not finished yet, still working on one border and I have another border to do after that.                                                                                                                                  

 I still want to make a couple of placemats to go with the table runner.

I went out to quilt guild the other night.
It was our December "Christmas" potluck.
 I love a potluck, all those different dishes to try.
  All the different desserts!
No one leaves hungry, there always is a lot of food.
  I waffled between making cookies or meatballs.  I really didn't know what I wanted to make...well I do ...really... I wanted to make and take some short bread.  But I would have eaten it too.
The mister and I discussed my dilemma and he suggested DEVILLED EGGS!
He had a very good suggestion!  He loves devilled eggs. 
So I made them! I had 2 dozen eggs and devilled them all!

I never got one at the pot luck!
 NOPE!  They were all gone by the time I got up to the appetizers.  Mind you I did have some...I left half of them here for the girls and the mister.
He really loves devilled eggs... He had enough to satisfy him..lol!
For our programme that night we had a "Chinese auction". 
 A Chinese Auction is much like a Tombola.
That is, we bring in gifts, not always of a quilting nature, but whatever you like to donate.  A ribbon is attached trailing off to a bag.  Then we buy a little baggie with numbered slips of paper tickets, our names are recorded beside the numbers on a master sheet.   You put your tickets in whatever bag you would like to win.
 At the end of dinner we start pulling numbers.
 I and a number of other ladies bought three baggies.  You could buy however many you liked....All the proceeds go to the foodbank.
 I think they said they raised over $400......not too shabby!
After dinner they started drawing numbers...
I won a box of thread samples...Wha??? I never win!
They kept drawing  and drawing.  Did I say I never win?
 I won another....then another  ....6 of the prizes came to me! 


Hand made pin cushion

PLUS
I won the table decoration made by the past president.  She makes lovely decorations... aaand.. It had 2 fat quarters in the boxes!
I was shocked!!!! I NEVER WIN!
I wasn't the big winner, though.  Another lady won about a dozen gifts! and 3 or 4 other ladies won multiple gifts.
There were lots of gifts to be won ....over 100 of them.
I won the samples of decorative threads, 10 fat quarters, 2 tree ornaments, some embroidery cards (if they don't fit my machine they will fit my sister's machine), some Lindt chocolates (I hid those, otherwise I will gobble them all up!) a cute little dish, a wonderful hand made pincushion!, a hand made scarf, and a hand made journal cover!
I didn't open stuff there, I waited until I got home, so some of the stuff was a surprise; it was like Christmas!!!
The mister was getting a really good chuckle out of me!

scarf

It's been a while since I posted.
I was told the other day by a friend that I was missed.  So I thought I would make an effort to get back into it.
The mister and I are staying up far too late and sleeping late, so I am not sewing as much or blogging.  For some reason I still feel like we are on vacation.   (Gee, I don't know why??)  lol!
I have been doing some sewing.  And not just quilting either.
I bought some fabric and made myself a new pair of  dress pants.  They turned out great!  Look real nice...BUT!!!....they don't fit!  Too small!  The mister likes them!  He thinks the fit is great!  LOL!  But they are too tight..for me! in my opinion.  How did my pattern shrink inside the envelope?
So I adjusted my pattern, cut more fabric, and sewed another pair.  MUCH BETTER!!.
I've also purchased some fabric for T-shirts and some sweater material.   Don't know when I'll get that all done.
Then my daughter went to a wool store near her and bought a bunch of wool (yes, wool!) and a pattern book of the hats the girls wanted.
I ended up knitting 6 hats ... 4 slouch hats, a toque and another hat for my son-in-law.
The girls love the hats...I need to make me something warm just for my ears.  Not a hat, but a bandeau.  I am too hot for a hat, but I will get earaches from the cold wind. I have seen a couple that I like, now I need to make it.

Today was the mister's birthday...67 years young!

Happy Birthday Sweetie!

And...
 He has now been retired for 6 whole months!
He had a very pleasant day today...went golfing with his friends.
 It was a little cold on the course he said.
I asked him the night before if there was anything special he wanted  for dinner. " No" he said.  Hmmm...what can I make that is one of his favs?  He has had pasta for the last two days,  one dinner was seafood pasta and the other was delicious lasagna that our daughter made, so that is out of the question.  (for me anyway!)
Then, I thought!
 FAJITAS! 
He loves fajitas! 
I took out all the ingredients, all set to make fajitas.
He came home from golf and said..."hmmm....I'd like schnitzel."...
Too late to defrost the pork for pork schnitzel.
Well, we could go out for dinner! One of our favourite restaurants makes awesome schnitzel.   But, no, he didn't feel like going out.
So, fajitas it is (or was)!
 I promised, Thursday or Friday we will have schnitzel.
  I just have to remember to take out the meat!

Quilt Guild was the other night, so I returned the last 2 quilts that I've been quilting for Outreach.  Rosemary was pleased to see them back so soon.
I didn't take any more quilts to quilt.  I need to get some of my stuff done.
Well, at the end of the meeting, I asked one of the older ladies, Trudy,

Trudy's blocks

 who helps co-ordinate Outreach, if she had all her kits taken.  "No" she said.  There were originally 4 kits and she still had 3.  
I took them.  All.
I did them in one evening....all done!  Less than an evening!
I will return them to her next week when we see each other at the other guild meeting.
She (and I) can't understand why no one will do these blocks.
There are 10 blocks in a kit (actually 9, one is done to show how to do it), all you have to do is applique the motif to the block...any way you prefer.
I machine sew them...3 kits done in one evening!
Next, I worked on my B.O.M. for guild.
I had my block chosen, all I needed to do was make it up and print out 35 copies of the  instructions.
All done!  I'll give it to Mindy next week also.

B.O.M. for Mindy

NOW, on to my projects!                                                                                                

I decided last Thursday to go out to the local quilt store and  pick out my 3 free fat quarters that quilt guild is supplying for our 20th anniversary to each member.
I knew that I would NOT be taking home 3 fat quarters....nope ...not me!
I picked out 5 fabrics.
And I had them cut 2 metres each.  (a metre is 39 inches)

 I picked out this purple batik just because I loved it, but it will go with the others in a fall creation

 These two batiks are stunning in person...I had to have them.
Could you imagine settling for just a fat quarter of these three batiks?

 

I bought these also, but they are prints.  They look much brighter in the picture, but they go nicely with the batiks.

I was a little surprised to see the store busy...really busy!
Oh!  There was a shop hop going on!
I hadn't heard!
I got a little 6 inch ruler by Creative grids as a gift.
I like their new non slip rulers...
The next day, I went to the quilt store here in my town.
I was the only customer!  Mind you, they did have a class going on.
But, I wonder why it wasn't busy?  They were part of the shop hop.
Well, they didn't have what I was looking for, a book or pattern. So I left without making a purchase.
Maybe everyone was out at the various quilt shows that are on at this time of year!
Any whoo...I have been looking on-line, on Pinterest, and in my own patterns for ideas on what to make for our anniversary challenge.
I have a few ideas kicking around in the old melon.....the challenge is so wide open...but I must get at it!
But first.....I must get this other quilt that I am quilting for outreach off my worktable.

Happy Thanksgiving !

We've had "Culture Days" in the last weekend.
Both guilds that I belong to were asked to participate.
I volunteered to demonstrate machine quilting.
I took one of our Out Reach cuddle quilts with me to quilt at the cultural centre.
Boy, it doesn't take long for me to remember WHY I don't like sewing or quilting away from home.
The table that I work on at home is low, very low.  My chair is set so that I can reach the machine comfortably.  My foot control is raised at least 2 inches off the ground.   Even then, I sometimes find myself over stretching.
When I was quilting at the culture centre I was really uncomfortable and my quilting showed it.  The table with my machine on top of it was far too high for me.  I brought my own chair, that helped a bit but I could barely reach my foot peddle. I raised it, but I had to chase it around. 
I muddled on....
Some little kids came into the room with their parents, they watched for a few seconds, then I asked them if they wanted to try sewing.   I ran the foot control and let the kids guide the quilt in the machine.
It was a BIG hit!   Even the boys tried the machine...What fun!
I  finished quilting and binding that quilt at home and started on the third quilt I took home last summer to quilt.
This third quilt has the older type batt in it.  You know fluffy poly type thing that was the only thing we could get more than twenty years ago.
I now realize how lucky we are now to be able to find the better quilt batts available now.  This one is real crap.  I actually hate to use it.
But, I guess I will just muddle on with this one too.

Boy oh boy!
We have just had the longest stretch of nice weather!
It has been sunny and warm (sort of coolish), perfect for fall walks and leaf peeping.
That's what my sister says people who sight see the fall colours are called down in New Hampshire..."leaf peepers"!
The birds, squirrels and chipmunks are cleaning out the feeders faster than I can fill them.  We must be in for a long winter.
I still have lots of tomatoes in the garden...I still have some blossoms on the pepper plants, but no more peppers.  I don't usually get a lot of peppers and now it might be too cold to produce more peppers.
One of my neighbours squash plants has invaded my garden..it has taken over!
hehehe...AND producing squash!   I love squash!....I an watching those carefully.
The other day I made a large pot of chicken soup....then decided I didn't feel like just chicken soup, so I put a bunch of tomatoes from the garden in it.
Oh my,  was it ever good.
Now I am considering just making tomato soup.
The mister will eat soup anytime, summer or winter.  When ever we go out to dinner, he starts with soup....
When we were first married and I would make soup, he would complain it was too thick, more like stew.  He didn't really like stew.  He doesn't complain about that anymore.  Now he likes stew.   
Now the weather has gotten cooler still, and we have had a bit of rain.
Soon we will have to pull out the tomato and pepper plants and the neighbours squash plant.  The trees out the front are getting hit with frost, it won't be long and the plants out back will be nipped too.