The Sedum Autumn Joy is in full bloom.
And, the frost comes almost every morning, sprinkling glittering diamonds everywhere, and making fallen leaves look like something very special.
This is certainly a miracle. This planter sits in the corner by our front door. Amazingly enough, after many nights of upper 20's temperatures, these plants keep on giving. They are certainly not cold-hardy. We appreciate the extra days of beauty, knowing that soon they'll succumb to the cold nights.
I laughed when I pulled this huge carrot. Perhaps it grew for Harvey? Last year in my square foot garden boxes, which were only one box high, my carrots formed 45 degree angles, as the root hit the bottom and then grew sideways. This year, Ron increased the height of my box, and I had the greatest carrot harvest yet. But this big root was amazing. I laid the foot-long ruler by it so that you can see the size of this thing. One carrot alone would make carrot pudding. Victory!
After an early frost this fall, we have enjoyed beautiful weather - chilly nights, bright days with blue skies and lots of sunshine until this last week. As I was planting some spring bulbs this past week, I found this iris speciman. Evidently this plant, which I had not cut back, got tricked by the warm October days into thinking that it was spring again! The strange shape of the stem gives it away - the poor plant is mixed up. But there is a blossom at the end, and that is all we need to appreciate the plant's perserverance.
Of course, the other plant we appreciate in the fall is the burning bush. As it slowly turns a bright red in the fall, it lights up our home's landscape. Mother Nature gives us many gifts at this time of the year.
This quilt won Judge's Best of Show. It was so perfectly sewn, and the machine quilting was appropriate. I loved the colors.
This quilt was made by a lady from Paris, ID. She is one of the few hand quilters left in our show. The old-fashioned fabric and pattern appealed to lots of people. This quilt was also hand quilted.
However, this quilt, made by a member of our guild, didn't place any ribbons in competition, but one of the judges chose this as her favorite, and it won Viewer's Choice, which means that in voting for a favorite quilt, this one got the most votes.
This is another look at one of my favorites in our show - the hand-sewn Grandmother's Flower Garden.
And my neighbor made this quilt - it is a Buggy Barn pattern - the cats were hilarious. I love quilt shows because of the variety of ideas that people have as they create their quilts.
The completed quilt - be sure to click on each of these pictures so that you can see the details.
The quilting on this quilt was fun, but tedious. I learned a lot about quilting on my home sewing machine. (When in doubt, buy another book on the subject.) I began this quilt on April 10th, and finished it in the first week of October of this year. I worked on other things in between, but finishing this quilt has been a main focus. I am showing these pictures with the permission of the designer, McKenna Ryan.
Three-dimensional clothes, including a little quilt, are on the clothesline.
Holstein cows were a part of our childhood on the farm.
We didn't have a scarecrow - I think this one is classy.
Ann, This quilt was done all in rectangles with blanket-stitched hearts - this lady was using up her quilt pieces and scraps.
I especially liked this Grandmother's Garden quilt. The woman who made this quilt had never made a quilt before. It took her five years to completely hand-piece the quilt. It was quilted by a long-arm quilter - so appropriate.
I liked the embroidery in this quilt -
This Dresden Plate with folded rays was a favorite of mine. I've made a smaller version of this quilt, and it's difficult to make everything work just right.
Gardening is such an "iffy" avocation. Multiply the problems and uncertainty of success, and you have the life of a farmer - the life that my parents lived for so many years. Did we plant at the right time? Did we have the correct fertilization, watering, weeding, etc. regime? The farmer is the supreme gambler. Gardening is farming on a smaller scale. Who knows when the last frost of spring will come? Or when the first frost of fall descends? We lived through a dark, dismal, cold June this year, so most plants were unhappy, and growth was slow. It frosted around the 9th of June, nipping many of the plants and retarding their growth. After that frost, I planted three more watermelon plants and hoped. In the past, we have planted Sugar Babies, which grow to the size of a soccer ball, and usually sweet and delicious; perhaps each plant giving us three melons. This spring's plants were the real thing, though, and promised to produce larger melons. Ron took over the chore of mulching, watering, and fertilizing these plants which grew and grew and grew. We looked in vain for melons under the lush foliage, and then one day, Ron came in so excited because he counted 15 melons - and they were growing. As I commented before, all seven neighborhood kids (6 boys and 1 girl, ranging in age from 3 to 7), who consider Ron their close friend, kept watch with him, and were appropriately impressed with his watermelon growing skills. Each child had his watermelon picked out. The first one was picked too soon, and wasn't ripe enough, but then things got better. The last one left with the 4-year-old neighbor boy bringing his own wheelbarrow to get his melon (sorry I missed that picture). Now, there are five left in the garden, and Ron has gifted most of the neighbors. No frost yet! We lucked out, and experienced a gardening triumph. Thank you!
I finally grew blue morning glories. Once summer in Penrose, when there was still a small pole gate at the far side of the front yard, Mother planted some blue morning glories, and they were tough enough to grow up and over the poles. I loved the pretty blue, but have never tried to grow them again. I hate the bindweed with the white flowers that grows in the field, but this is really a plant of a different habit - I hope.
When oldest son, Brig, went on his mission to England in June of 1976, it took six weeks for his first letter to reach us in Wyoming. Now, with the miracle of the internet and computers, Seth can send letters and pictures instantaneously. We use dearelder to write to him, and he gets his mail within a week. Sending a package is a different story - we are told it will take six weeks to two months to get a package through. This is a picture of Seth and his companion, and new converts.
Seth said that this is one of the better streets in the area he is in. People do not have street addresses. Mail is addressed to the green house on the corner, or a similar description. This very tropical climate is difficult to adjust to - Seth will spend a vastly different winter this year than he spent at Laramie last year. 
Sometimes the evening eastern sky is more beautiful than the sunset in the western sky. This was what happened a couple of weeks ago. Strangely enough, there was very little color in the sky in the west. We are often treated to an evening show as the reflection of the sunset hits the clouds and the mountains to the east of us.
Today was canning day for pears. We usually hoard these canned jewels to last through the winter. Nothing is more satisfying than seeing the jars of fruit on the storage room shelf. 
Frost has been here, if only briefly, and the rain is drizzling down this morning. The whole world seems wet, and our precious summer is fading fast. We comforted ourselves when summer was so long in coming, that it would last longer into the fall months. Not so! Unless we are granted some Indian Summer, we are plunged headlong into cold mornings, garden clean-up, and preparations for winter. Too soon! Our neighbor's orchard is preparing for harvest. The crab apple tree is full, and ready for cider in about a month.
ROAD TRIP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My mom and Rylee playing the Piano.
