Snow and yarn!

We got some snow last night. I mean, nothing accumulated...but i saw spits of flakes falling from the sky so i'm officially calling it the first 'snow' of the season. Not quite the first "snowfall" but the first sighting of flakes is my criteria. This weekend we may have actual snowfall, a couple inches possible over Saturday night.  Yeah, i'm excited. Gardening season is over so the snow isn't getting in my way.... spring snow is what i don't like, lol

So,  what will i be doing this winter? Well, i forgot to mention this in my last post....but this is what hubby found for me a couple weeks ago

Yes, its all yarn!  We have a little shed off to the side at the town Transfer Station (town dump) where people can put what they don't want but isn't trash. Hubby happened to be there at just the right time to find me this huge stash. We assume the original owner must have passed on and her family does not have a fiber hobbyist.  There was some unfinished work in there in knit, so i assume she was mainly a knitter.  About a month before this my hubby brought home a ton of knitting books for me. We wondered if its from the same family.
I sorted it all out the next day.  Lots of acrylic, some wool, cotton, orlon etc. Plenty of Red Heart, some Bernat a little Patton's, a couple Caron and a large amount of unknown brands and labelless skeins. There were a number of bags of many skeins of all one color. There are also a bunch of variegated yarns in bright and earthy colors.
Well i don't have enough totes to hold it all, so i had to use new trash bags-- not the best method i'm told.  But it was all in plastic when i got it anyway. I counted 9 bags of yarn when i was done.
So i guess we know what i'll be doing this winter!
My first project is a granny square blanket. I'm using the variegated yarns to make the squares and i'll attach them with a dark colored yarn when i'm done. I have about 12 done so far.

I'm very grateful for all this yarn. Its easily $300.00 worth or more. Hubby says i'm not allowed to buy any yarn until its all gone.  I agree!


We are now officially under a winter storm watch for Saturday night into Sunday. Six to 8 inches possible.

Slacking!

There have been things going on,  but being busy with other things makes the fun time i spent writing take a backseat.

A quick grape gripe:

My Reliance grapes did fantastic this year. i allowed about 3 bunches to grow and they were looking great as they ripened.  Around Aug 28, when hurricane Irene was coming into my area,  they were just a hair away from perfect ripeness.  Around Aug 30th,  when i ventured out to pick them,  they were gone.  Completely gone.
I suspected squirrels. Or birds....  Anyway,  so all i got out of  Reliance was the few taster grapes that were yummy.

I suppose i should have expected to be raided, but i didn't expect 3 bunches to attract any attention...  now i know!

Marechal Foch also had 3 bunches that ripened. Nothing stole those. They were also delicious and i was able to pick a few at a time as i puttered around the yard. Now the rest of what is left are overripe and the wasps have found them.

Now i know i have 2 varieties of grapes that are delicious and i'll expect to defend them from raids next year.

First frost:

Our first frost was Oct 5 this year. Then a mild day and then another heavy one on the 7th.  Its really too bad,  we have had such mild weather since then,  the tomatoes would probably still be growing.  I would have tried covering them but the temps were expected to be so severe, covering would have only added a few degrees of protection- and would have come short.


I picked a nice basket of apples from the tree, plan is to make pie or apple sauce with them.  They aren't all wormy, but some are and the skins are speckled with something originating from bugs.  I stopped my spraying routine too early not knowing when the fruit would be ripening.  I probably could have done 2-3 more doses.

I also harvested my Oaxacan and Hopi Blue corn.  I peeled back the husks and saw beautifully colored kernels of green, blue, purple and speckled yellow.  I set it out on the porch of the screenhouse to dry.  By the next afternoon, the squirrels had found and danced off with the lot.  About 20 ears.....  oh well. *sigh*
I decided earlier this year that i won't be growing corn next year. It never produces much and something always happens to it anyway.

Oh, what else?

Well i got a pretty good harvest from the early butternut squash, despite the raging plague of squash bugs. The squash is smallish, but just the right size for a 4 person side veggie.

Did i mention the potatoes?

I dug up the rest the other day. I didn't really get much, but its ok.  They are smallish, maybe i'll go for a bigger variety next year.

Its almost time to dig up the Jerusalem artichokes.  The plants are huge and they flowered nicely this fall.  I should get a decent crop.

I'm hoping next year is more weed free.  The weeds really got away from me this summer. Much of my garden was wasted because of it.
I think gardening with my little one will be possible next summer.  While i was out pulling up the tomato cages, she stayed with me and didn't wander off too much.  She'll be 3 this winter and a few more months of maturity on her will help her be a better listener- i hope.  I'm also hoping she will be cooperative enough to allow me time to preserve some things.


Well the weather is definitely cooling off, its been in the 50-60 range for the last week.  We did have warmer days until then, it was a fairly mild stretch going for a while.  The week ahead forecast is calling for a little snow late Thursday night, no accumulation expected-- but it will be nice to see snow again.

Well, this entry took about a week to cobble together a little at a time.  I think i got everything covered for now!