Flowers

This year we are studying biology. For the two youngest, we did the experiment where you put the white carnations in colored water and watch them turn colors. As soon as we started to put in the food coloring, Aaron cried out, "Quick Mom, go get the camera and take some pictures for Uncle Mike!"

So Uncle Mike, these are for you...

For the rest of us, this is what the flowers looked like after a couple of hours.

I took two of the flowers and split their stems and put them in two different glasses.

The Last of the Fall Pictures

These are the last of the fall pictures... I promise. We had so many good ones this year.

We went on a walk with my mother and made nature art. Art made out of things found in nature and left there. So we gathered lots of red leaves and arranged them.

First we arranged them by size in a line...

... and then in a wavy line...

... then we finally left them in a circle for some other person in the park to find. Very Andy Goldsworthy of us.

Official End of the Garden season

Yesterday was the official end of the gardening season. Last Saturday, we moved the giant pumpkin from the front porch before it could rot and put it in the garden. We're watching to see how long it takes for the animals to eat it.

Yesterday I finished up the dehydrating (the last of the hot peppers) and the canning (blackberry jelly, cherry jelly and the jelly below). Can you guess what it is?

It is rosemary jelly. Rosemary is one of my favorite herbs. Rosemary jelly is supposed to be wonderful on lamb. We'll let you know. By the way, the color is due to a couple of drops of green food coloring. The rosemary water was kind of a sickly looking pale yellow. This definitely looks much nicer.

With all the work of the garden finished up, the children have a lot more time to play. So while I was canning, they were getting out the board games and having a great day.

Fun Garden pics

Nathan picked this a little while ago. He calls it the 'snake' carrot. I have to agree with him.

My mother was photographing birds on the pumpkin underneath the bird feeder. After she left, another critter took interest in the pumpkin.

What a greedy pig!

More fall chickens

The new flock is doing well. None of them are flyers which makes doing the chicken chore a lot easier these days. Now that the garden is essentially finished, we've let them out so they can scratch around in among the stalks and dead tomato plants. Hopefully it won't give them a taste for escaping their fenced yard.

Pumpkins

We carved some pumpkins early in October while Mom and Dad were visiting. Only two children wanted to carve pumpkins. I'm afraid it is a sign that the children are getting older!

Since I'm not getting older, I carved one of our white pumpkins with a spider web pattern.

Deb carved the shape of our state.

Aaron made an owl based on a pumpkin we saw in a magazine.

Ta - Da! The pumpkins in all their glory.

Fall Pictures

This fall has been just gorgeous. Before the big windstorm that came through last week, the trees were so colorful. And though it is futile to try and capture the beauty of the trees, I can't help trying to take the perfect fall picture. Enjoy!