Delightful October

September was a busy month for us as we installed a new fence and prepped the garden for the cardboard and compost method to reduce the weeds in our future years here. October finds me tidying up my garden for winter, and adding some decorative touches to my dining room. I had cheap white paraffin candles in the basement, so I put them in a dish of warm water and let the candles sit for 20 minutes. Then I bent them gently under warm running water, and used a black marker to draw the eyes and mouth.

Carved pumpkin beverage dispensers add a festive touch to Fall get togethers. The ladies from my family are gathering at our camp over the weekend, so I bought a boxed wine, removed the plastic bladder that holds the wine from the box and placed it inside the foam pumpkin that I got at Michael's. I measured where the dispenser spout should go on the pumpkin and made a hole with a drill (with a large drill bit). You want to be able to fit a wine glass under the spout.

Some more decorating, in the sun room.  

We are feeling the season change and soon we will have long, cozy evenings in the kitchen. Of course we will miss the plethora of good produce in the summer, but I also enjoy a six o’clock sunset, a glass of wine on the deck, and a kitchen full of good things to cook.

Every fall I pull  out this Radish pitcher that I was gifted from my neighbor Isabelle's daughter when she passed. The hydrangeas in my garden are putting on their last show of the year.  

I'm in love with flower frogs, and I've been picking a couple of blooms each week and placing them in my new Georgetown Pottery Ikebana vase with a built in flower frog.  

I had extra pie dough, and was inspired by a friend who recently ate a  vegetarian/vegan restaurant in NYC called Third Kingdom. If you're a foodie and like mushrooms, he said this is the place to go. Each dish on the menu features a different mushroom, and the place is cozy and has fungi decor which is very popular. It's NYC's only all-mushroom restaurant. Whereas I used pie crust, the restaurant makes a large ravioli filled with a mushroom ragu. I used a mushroom filling that I had on hand. Served on a bed of broccoli sauce and garnished with edible flowers. It was fun to play and imagine finding this on a forest walk. 

We have had very nice weather for Xavier's football games, and my physically fit sister Diane put Xavier's jersey on after the game. Fun times. 

xo

Deb