Our porch from the street -- the black & white cat on the railing is real -- Clyde is ready to scare some kiddies.
Here's our scarecrow -- he looks spookier by the day as his pumpkin head ages.
The giant webs and spiders. I can barely stand this, and can't wait to take it down on Nov. 1.
Here's a close-up of Clyde and his friend the plastic rat.
Hey kids! We've got candddyyyyyy!
A few weeks ago I spotted a tree dropping pinecones on our street, so I started collecting them as they fell on my way home from work each day. Finally I had a full box, so I headed to Michaels for a wire form, floral wire and a spool of ribbon.
I didn't start with a plan, I just started wiring, and this is how it looked after the first row. (Unfortunetly I forgot to take a photo of the second row.)
I finished it outside on the grass because the sap was out of control. The third inner row was pretty tricky -- I went through almost a whole spool of wire.
And here it is on our front door -- I was really happy with the way it turned out. All I have to do is switch up the ribbon and I'll be ready for Christmas!
This is what I started with -- 12 pounds of apples.
Peeling, coring and slicing seemed to take forever. They're soaking in a lemon juice and water mixture to keep them from browning.
The cooking process is really quite easy -- I just added a little water and boiled until the apples were fork-tender. I had to use two pots because they didn't all fit in one.
Here's what the apples look like while cooking.
After they're cooked, I processed half of the apples in my Cuisinart, and mashed half by hand (because I wanted a chunky sauce). Then I added sugar & spices.
Voila! A big pot of yummy spiced chunky applesauce, ready for canning.
And here's the final result. Of course I didn't can it all so that my official taster could enjoy fresh hot applesauce. I believe his official quote was something like "Damn, that's good!".
The colors are just starting to pop.
Taken on my walk home from the bus stop -- love to walk in the dry leaves.
It's really quite simple -- all you need is fresh pumpkin seeds (rinsed of all the pumpkin goo), olive oil and salt.
Combine the seeds, oil, and salt on a cookie sheet. Go ahead and get messsy.
After combing the ingredients, spread the seeds evenly on the pan, and put them in a 350 degree oven for 10 to "whenever-they-smell-done" minutes. Keep an eye on them, because they can burn quickly. I recommend popping them in your mouth every few minutes to taste.
I like my seeds roasted until their golden brown, and until they sound hollow on the tray. Store them in a tupperware-esque container, and keep them out on your coffee table. They'll be gone in no time.
Jen on the hayride with our pumpkins.
The pumpkin patch is huge, with lots of different squash growing everywhere.
Ricardo and his pumpkin, as inspired by the Dada movement.
Our hiking boots in the hay. Finally, it's cold enough to wear flannel shirts and boots!
My impatiens did great this summer, but they're starting to look a little tired. Time for a change!
I planted gourds in my garden this year, and this is what I got. Have you ever seen anything like them? I know I haven't. Anyway, I couldn't resist using them in my planters.
All my supples spread out on the porch: indian corn, gourds, mini pumpkins, birds, mice, creepy crawlers, spanish moss, ribbon, rafia and wire.
I added some ribbon and rafia to my indian corn.
Using the spanish moss and rafia as a bed, I placed the gourds and pumkins, and wired on a bird and a mouse. Voila!
This is my wall of beans. The thing I've learned about beans, is that they're really hard to find. You have to pull back the leaves and shake the plant to see them.
And here they are --- they're the same color and size of the vines making them tricky to spot.
Here's my one day harvest -- I've harvested this many beans (enough for a dinner for 2) for the past 3 days.
After washing them, I cut the stems off.
Then I cooked them in boiling water, blanching them for 3 minutes,
and plunged them in an ice bath for 1-2 minutes to stop the cooking process.
The beans are bright green and I let them dry off a bit,
then I double-bagged them, and labeled them. Looks like I aready got one of Thanksgiving sides finished!
I forgot to take a "before" shot, but here's what it looked like earlier in the year.
We pulled up all the old grass, and then I cut back all the bushes and put down a new border.
The next day Ricardo put down top soil and planted the seed. Thank gawd this project is over.
This is the ugliest tree ever. It's covered in thorns and berries that make a mess -- and worst of all, it's grown to be about 20 feet tall.
Wearing leather gloves to protect him from the nasty thorns, Ricardo starts sawing.
A short time later, the beast is down, and in pieces. Now for the fun part -- cutting it up and bagging it.
We both worked all afternoon, and many expletives, cuts & scratches later, it's finally bagged and tagged.
And me, being wife of the year, whipped a roast beef dinner for her woodsman.
