BOP Autumn Weather.

During the day BOP Autumn weather continues to be warm. Night temps have dropped but we  expect that in May. 

 Chrysanthemums are Autumn flowers. I picked these for a vase on the kitchen bench. I like their smell and they keep so well picked. They came from a plant, now in the garden I call Cherry #2, which I have just re weeded. The Chrysanthemum was originally a potted plant but has transferred to life in the garden very happily.

I have planted some white mini cyclamen here as it is mostly a shaded garden and white flowers show up best.

 Yesterday I re weeded the asparagus bed and the blueberries and applied a full bag of seaweed and manuka mulch. I hope both crops will thrive behind their netted cages.

 In the old poly house which I also weeded I am still picking some tomatoes and I salvaged some small aubergine when I pulled out the deteriorating plant.

 This pathetic offering made a delicious savoury bake for dinner.

I cooked some pasta then  R  sliced and baked the little aubergines. In an oiled  baking dish I layer slices of eggplant; tomatoes; pasta; grated  cheese and  yeast flakes and poured over tomato puree ( from the freezer ) and sauce and sprinkled oregano and lastly chopped bacon (as R likes that ). It was surprisingly tasty.

 To not waste the produce we have R has been dehydrating apples.

These are Splendour apples and now he is working on Granny Smith which are less sweet but also a yummy snack. Everyone, young and old who has tried the dried apples loves them. They are a way of keeping fruit without any added sugar and they transport well in lunch boxes, even pockets. 

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 When not in the garden I have done about half of a knitted navy vest for elder Grandson and I am making covered padded coat hangers for the sales table at our Exhibition in September.

 ( This shows it partly done ) 

 At P and Q we have all been encouraged to start making items for sale NOW as time has a way of disappearing fast. These hangers which are kind to shoulders of clothes especially knitteds require some machine stitching and some hand finishing.( I have plenty of batting and fabric scraps )  As I was winging it to some extent I have refined my pattern to waste less fabric and have written myself notes on" how to,"  for another time. I am also beginning some felt needle cases. 

Hanging on the double doors is my wall hanging .......I need to finish that too. It  has to happen before September.

 Maybe I'll stay in and sew more when the weather gets colder.

 At the weekend my neighbour took me around another walking track nearby we are allowed to use. That will give me more variety when I walk. 

( We have been here 10 months now and I didn't get to hear about this till now! )

Sewing in the Sunshine.

As soon as I have posted this I am off outside to my red seat for some sewing in the sunshine. The day started cold and damp but now is nice in the right spot outside. I need to handsew a black cat onto a ball; my eyes wouldn't see it last night. Black is now hopeless for me unless I sit in natural light.

 Look at this; the scones this morning turned out fluffy and yummy. I used a recipe that freezes well apparently, using cream and lemonade. I also sat and finished the book I was reading this morning. ( not going to recommend it - probably might offend some people. )
At the moment R is off trying out his new mower. He traded the old one in which was similar but a bit smaller and older but the same type. It had done hours of work mowing parts of the orchard and surrounds.

Even after all that rain the Lucullia is bright and attracting bees.

 

Some Sewing.

Trying to solve my problem I went into Settings and I have changed back to the old way I used to set out photos. That seems a big step backwards.

Is everyone else out there using Picasa except me? Should I change?

For today I will stick with this . Here is a photo of the border fabric cut ready for the Butterfly quilt. I have added the corner posts to the top of the 2 long borders but as the quilt is still in 5 large pieces, this was just preparation. I have it in 5 pieces still as I am doing hand work putting on feelers, eyes ,designs on wings.
Thanks everyone who left amusing comments on the last couple of posts. - the hedgehog is not Mrs Tiggy Winkle as it was not wearing a white apron and mob cap. So Thimbleanna you could name it.
( Thanks Laurie and Meggie that is how I WAS doing it till it changed )
I would really appreciate more advice on what has happened when I try to upload photos. Why is Blogger not letting me go to my own computer and only giving Picasa or URL as an option.
Next silly question - can I have 2 photo editing programmes on my computer - if I install Picasa will it cancel my other photo programme out or will it give me the choice of both?