A long absence

Wow, I just realized that my last blog post was my 100th entry. Apparently I was so overwhelmed with that milestone that it took weeks to recover!  Well, here's to a new century of blogging (a centiblog?) and a renewed commitment to keep up with my journal writing.

So, let's catch up on September and October. Looking back at my canning journal, still handwritten and updated regularly, I recall that Labor Day weekend we picked grapes. We had the first quantity of any kind on our grape vines this year and were able to pick one 5-gallon bucket full. I say vines, but it's just one plant. We started three several years ago, but only the one survived. We hope to get it trellised over the winter, because that would sure make picking easier. Plus I'm sure it is better for the grapes. We also picked 3 5-gallon buckets of grapes at Brian's parents. That didn't even put a dent in their grape crop, but it was all we wanted. As it was, we were up very late picking the grapes off the stems, heating them, and juicing them. I put the strained juice in the fridge overnight and spent all of Labor Day canning. But all that work paid off in a big way with 35 quarts of delicious juice. Considering we are still drinking our way through the 2008 grape juice (all 50 quarts of it) and still eating jelly and drinking wine from that year, I figured 35 quarts was plenty!

We also got our first ever lima bean crop in September. It wasn't much, but it was better than any other year. Again, trellises are our friend. Trellises are our friend. If I repeat it a lot, do you think it will sink in?

Next up was butchering chickens, which went very well except for the discovery that there were fewer than expected. It was really hot when we started this batch, and I am not sure if that was the cause, but we lost more than I'd like during that first two weeks. The ones that survived did turn out quite well, dressing out right at 5 pounds. There's nothing better than home grown food, I'm not sure what exactly it is, but there's a difference in the flavor and there's definitely a satisfaction that comes from caring for a plant or an animal from its beginning to its end.

Honestly I don't remember what else we did in September. Surely there was more, but I have lost it. Wasn't that the whole reason for starting this blog? Oh, we did work on the basement kitchen a bit. We straightened up the cabinets and painted them with a fresh coat of clean white. I cleaned all the drawer and door pulls, what a transformation! And we replaced the sink with a deeper one. The cabinets are still sitting where we left them, but we'll get back to them as the weather turns colder. Speaking of the weather, one word can sum up September 2011: rain. We had our share and then some. This kept us from tilling up the garden, so no fall crops have been planted yet. We are still hoping to put out garlic, lettuce, and spinach.

Beautiful caprese towers with home grown tomatoes and basil and home made mozzarella. De-licious! All of the tomatoes are gone now; I just cleaned up the garden this week, but we sure did enjoy them.

 Random photo of a cool white spider. I love the contrast of the white against this purple ruffles basil.

Those peaches lined up on the table in my last post? Converted to many jars of sweet, sticky goodness. And a cobbler or two...We put up a total of 31 quarts of peaches plus this interesting juice called 'golden nectar' that had peach, pineapple, and cantaloupe in it.

The grapes mentioned above (these are the ones in our back yard).

The chickens at 5 weeks. They packed on a lot of weight in the last two weeks, but you can see how huge the breasts are in this top photo, and one of the reasons for the weight gain (all they do is eat!) in the photo below.

A garden tour on September 30 found some of the following blooms:

 I think this is Wild Horses reblooming daylily; it didn't bloom this spring, but it is sure putting on a show this fall. I planted this last fall in Luke's corner of the garden. That bed has been so beautiful this year.

 One of my fall favorites, Autumn Joy sedum. It had very rich color this year and inspired me to get some more plants. I put out two Autumn Fire sedum, so there will be even more to enjoy next September.

 Possibly my favorite dahlia, but they are all so beautiful it is hard to choose! This one is Maki.

 This beautiful yellow dinner plate type is called Kelvin Floodlight. Even in the shadows, it lights up the garden.

 And this perfectly symmetrical white dinner plate is Fleurel. I love the creamy white center and it looks so nice with these mums in the background.

 I do not know the variety of this one, but it is also a favorite because it was my mom's. She entrusted me and my sister with all of her dahlias when it became too hard for her to dig them every spring and fall. Some how I ended up with only purple and white varieties, and they are never the same from one year to the next. This one came out with a beautiful purple tint this year.

 Mums from Char and Matt's wedding last September. They overwintered very well! I think Char and Matt overwintered well too...congratulations on your first anniversary!

 Does anyone know what kind of salamander this is? I am assuming it is a salamander. I see them pretty frequently in the fall, but I haven't taken time to look them up. One thing is certain, he's very well camouflaged.

And I leave you with another random insect photo. The same day I took all these flower shots and some of the salamander shots (there were nearly 20 different ones, I winnowed them down for this post!) when I walked back to the house there was the white spider on one side of the steps and this katydid on the railing at the other side. A fascinating break from work that day!

That is the September update. October will have to wait for another day. At least I now have all the pictures downloaded from my camera. Yesterday when I put the memory card into the computer I discovered I had 186 pictures to sort through. I have been diligent at capturing interesting scenes, but there's a lack of follow through in getting them to the blog.