Here we are in autumn again. The nights are getting nippier and the ponies are getting fluffier. Summer grows a coat that is plush like a teddy bear. Bonnie just goes all Hairy Maclary on us.
Teddy Bear pony…
and the Hairy One. She was too hungry to pose nicely
In the garden our summer veggie and fruit crops are winding down. Because it was so dry neither the strawberries nor the tomatoes took off until March. It’s a lovely compensation having a few fruits still ripening up.
One of my most important jobs over winter and spring will be building the soil in that veggie garden. The more horse poo and compost I can pile in there now, the more drought-resistant it will be next summer.
The last of the strawberries
Sweet 100 cherry tomatoes. You can see how sad the poor plant looks, but it’s still fruiting
As the warm weather goodies disappear, here come some ingredients we’ll be using in the winter kitchen. Pretty soon I need to get onto planting out the vampire harvest.
Self sown rocket kale seedlings. My mistake, the brassicas all look so similar as babies.
This year’s oranges starting to ripen
More garden news; when we left our old house I took some rose cuttings. Not all of them sprouted, but ‘Duchess de Brabant’ did me proud. I planted her out last month and she is enthusiastically producing a few late-season blooms.
Duchess de Brabant
Finally, I know you are all just itching to hear what I’ll be wearing with my cowboy boots this winter. So far my favorite outfit is a pair of tan coloured Workshop cords which I picked up for 50c (I know! Calm down!), a cerulean blue merino, and this orange scarf — all from the Whangarei Hospice Shop. The denim jacket, like my boots, is an old classic that just keeps on giving.
Tangerine scarf, Whangarei Hospice Shop $1.
What autumn things are happening around your place? Are you hairier than usual? Have you found any exciting additions to your cold weather wardrobe at the op shop? The comment box is open.
Definitely hairier. Although that may be more connected to my boredom with shaving than the season. S is also quite hairy. He was subjected to a semi transparent black paper g-string but thankfully left unshaved for his recent procedure.
Golly! The things you have to endure for a butt lift (it’s not true everyone, poor S actually had to have an operation on his leg). I hope he saved the g-string as a memento. Could come in handy for ‘The Calendar’.
toasty warm fires!
youbetcha!
long guns!
Long guns? Surely you mean long johns. I’ve never seen so much as a short gun at the op shop.
Cerulean blue merino with orange scarf what’s not to love. I was complimented on my floral pants at linedancing – from the famous GoJos via Indulgent Fashion Adviser daughter. Hairy Maclary and Cuddly Bear look lovely. Xx
Floral pants sound perfect for brightening up the winter wardrobe. New Lynn is definitely the bargain place to clothes shop, what with SaveMart and Go Jo both there, not to mention a couple of decent op shops. Advice from the Indulgent Family Fashion Advisor; priceless. x
Yeh and yr veggies are commendable given the poor season. Yet again I’ve managed to have ripe tamarillos this year albeit only half size from the giddy years😉 So much rain here a linedancer friend Joce got trapped in because road impassable – that’s getting serious😜 Hope your land less soggy? And Old Dog comfy in front of that fire – possibly wearing long johns😀 xxxx
That’s gardening for you. It’s really just a form of gambling, no wonder we are so addicted.
Hope you are staying dry with all that rain. Not too much here, just a few decent showers to wash down the roof. We needed that after the most recent application of paint. Both dogs and the kitty-pop cosy by the fire, as are us two legs. x
Well I am overdue for a haircut …
Next Op Shop purchase is a glass jar with a glass lid to store the marshmallows we keep by the fire for cooking in Winter [only most get eaten raw by me :)]. I think that will look pretty on the heath.
Lovely idea. I’ll let you know if I see something fabulous and marshmallow capable in the Whangarei op shops. X
Autumn? Beautiful coloured leaves on our liquidamber and through Cornwall Park, making soup, and feijoa jam to prolong the season (OK, I had to BUY them first but you use even the skins).
Oh good grief, we have bushels of feijoas. Don’t buy any more, I’ll bring some down.
My vege garden gamble seemed to pay off this year, hooking me in again when I was nearly ready to quit. I used mesh tunnels over the plants which I think helped a lot. My lettuce, kale & silverbeet have done well but my Cherry Tomato 100 was more like Cherry Tomato 20! I can’t compete with your 50c & $1 bargains either (well done!) but I did recently get a mandarin-style padded velvet jacket with a furry lining for $2 at the famous GoJo sale. It was a bit frayed round the edges & needed some repairs but don’t we all 😉
Well done on the veggies. The tomatoes are sounding quite ungrateful, although if they were also under the mesh maybe the bees couldn’t get in to pollinate them? The jacket sounds very cool, what a super bargain. Maybe I’ll see it at the next cuzzie catch-up?
Yes, always fun sharing our finds 🙂 definitely inadequate payback for my tlc on the tommies I thought but good point about pollination. Though they weren’t under mesh maybe they needed some flowery companions to help locate them, will try that next time.
What a great idea about flowers, I think I’ll try that next year too. I’m imagining borage with my tomatoes. The bees will love it and it will look so pretty.