On October 25, we woke up to snow. We had experienced an atmospheric river event the day before and as the temperatures dropped, the rain turned to the white stuff.
The morning’s walk looked like this.
We hope you are having adventurous weather too (but not too adventurous!).
Rock on,
The WB
The second Monday of October has been designated (since 1957) as the day Canada officially celebrates and gives thanks for the annual harvest. Although it has been recognized as an annual holiday since 1879, there wasn’t an official date to celebrate before then and sometimes it was celebrated in November instead of October. I don’t know if we ever shared the same date as American Thanksgiving however we did adopt their customs of making the meal centre around turkey, pumpkin pie, and squash!
This year’s Thanksgiving was even more special to me because it included some food that I had grown or harvested myself (which I am truly thankful for!) AND because it included a special cranberry relish made by my challenge co-host, Donna. Donna and Richard were able to join us at my daughter’s house for this special meal (another in the long list of things I am thankful for!)
Kabocha squash (aka buttercup; aka Japanese pumpkin) is hands-down my favourite squash. This was my first year attempting to grow it and for some reason I had it in my mind that it was difficult to grow, or maybe that it couldn’t be grown in my climate. I’d only even seen imported kabochas in the grocery store and never seen it at farmers’ markets either so I had incorrectly surmised this. Thankfully I found some seed and took a chance, anyways! The plants ended up almost taking over my garden, like some kind of alien life force 🤣.
Another item featured in our harvest celebration was the blackberry! We had as a family gone blackberry picking on several occasions in August, and some of this hard-earned bounty ended up being featured in a trifle.
And here are some shots of the harvest feast:
Bonus content: Last month there was some fun discussion in the Comments about my drawer of shame. I thought I would include a photo, so you have a visual…
That’s it for me for this month. As always, please join in the fun in the Comments section and/or join the Link Party.
And please check out Donna’s blog, where she “goes bananas”!
Feeling thankful for all my readers and contributors to this challenge…💕🙏💕
Rock on,
The WB
Nature has a more limited colour palette here in the west, than it does in the eastern part of Canada. But Bowser and I are appreciating every day, just the same.
We hope you are having a great and colourful weekend! This is my post for Change is Hard’s Walktober Challenge.
Rock on,
The WB
I’ve come across so many Amanita mushrooms this fall. Never encountered these before. Now I am obsessed.
Rock on,
The WB
Meet Poppy:
Bowser has been spending even more time at my house this past week, to give each dog a break from the other. I can’t say that I am mad about that 😉.
It’s been an interesting week! Who knew Bowser could appear to be practically zen-like, in comparison? 🤣
Rock on,
The WB
Read about Part 1, here.
Funny story about my fireplace…I can’t have a wood-burning or gas fireplace where I live so that leaves me with electric as the only other option. I’ve had an electric fireplace before, and it was…OK. Pretty, but noisy to run and very obviously fake flames. So last winter I researched electric fireplaces and decided that the Dimplex Revillusion fireplace was the realest fake on the market and the one I was most interested in. However, it is not to be found IRL (in real life) anywhere near where I live. I didn’t want to buy one sight-unseen as they are not cheap. So I shelved the idea and went on to other projects (of which you might rightfully guess I have many! 😉).
Then I went back to Ontario in June to attend a special event for a friend’s daughter and while I was there I visited my good friends Kenn and Jonathan (who now live in my old apartment, above their museum). They show me all the changes they have wrought in my old place (all magnificent!) and lo and behold they had built an electric fireplace into a wall of bookshelves and IT. IS. THE. DIMPLEX. REVILLUSION. I practically screamed when I saw it. (Another funny story: they had also bought the exact same washer/dryer unit as I did. Can you believe it? What are the chances???).
Anywho, I got to see it in action and was convinced it was the unit for me. So I ordered one in late August.
Now I had to find a mantle to fit around the firebox. I went to good ol’ Facebook Marketplace and searched and searched. Nothing would fit it exactly. Then I found one that almost fit…and it was FREE. What did I have to lose? I could try to fix it and if I failed… well, it was FREE! I picked it up.
I had to remove the shelf in order to fit the firebox so that means I needed a new front piece. I went to Home Depot to buy a piece of wood and the helpful guy in the lumber area suggested a piece from the “FREE pile” (did you know they had one???) and he cut the perimeter to fit. So far so good! My expensive firebox is getting enclosed in a free mantle with a free front piece. Whee!!!
And here’s where it started getting expensive…Home Depot couldn’t cut out the inner piece to make it snugly accommodate the firebox so I ended up buying a jigsaw so I could do it myself ($75). And then I bought some peel and stick stone tile to decorate the front (2 x $60).
And then I stupidly bought way too much paint for this project ($85). But I was able to use it for the long overdue painting of my 2nd hand drop leaf dining table, and I will also use it to paint some other 2nd hand cabinets I have (yet another future project…sigh).
I am so pleased at how this turned out. The DIY gods were certainly smiling down at me for this project. Or maybe it was Beginner’s Luck. I hope I am this lucky with my next project: The Cloffice. Stay tuned!
Rock on,
The WB
p.s. for those wanting to know without doing the actual math:
My FREE mantle ended up costing:
Grand total: $280
I’ve been in my little cottage just over a year now. During that time I’ve had the kitchen renovated,
and new flooring laid,
painted walls, and created a new laundry room and a backyard oasis. Also on my to-do list for my home this year was finishing off the unfinished entryway and getting myself a fireplace before winter.
Here is the entry way, before:
And here it is after engaging the services of a talented family friend to finish the space, and painting the walls myself:
I’m super pleased with how this turned out. And how much more spacious my entire place feels with this area finished and providing extra storage for me. My entryway is now so much cooler in the summer and I anticipate will be warmer in the winter, thanks to insulating and finishing off the ceiling and walls.
Stay tuned for Part 2, and my fireplace dream come to life!
Rock on,
The WB
Bowser’s Mommy is taking over ye olde blogge this week! Last weekend, Bowser went with Mommy and Daddy for an overnight camping trip to Ucluelet and to visit the beaches of Tofino. All pictures and captions courtesy of Mommy Bowser.
I hope you find something that tastes great this weekend!
Rock on,
The Bowz 🐾 (and Mommy!)
After being in extreme drought conditions since July, the island is once again experiencing the rainy weather it is known for. And we couldn’t be happier.
We hope you are enjoying whatever the weather brings you. Happy Thanksgiving weekend to my fellow Canadians!
Rock on,
The WB
Well! This month came and went in a flash as evidenced by the lack of journal entries AND lack of progress on my To-Do list for September:
In my defense, my TV died suddenly at the beginning of the month and that got me to thinking all sorts of thoughts…like:
Also, I received much-anticipated guests at my place part-way through the month (and we had a blast whilst together, so much so that I don’t have any pictures of what was on my plate during this time).
All of this to say: I was relying on past favourite recipes – my tried and trues – to feed myself and my houseguests.
Such as Greek potatoes and Air Fried Chicken. Both were received very well. I also made a killer beef roast in the slow cooker…no recipe, really. Just brown the meat (blade roast or cross-cut rib is best), then throw it in the slow cooker with beef broth, fresh ground pepper, lots of garlic, generous lashings of Worcestershire sauce, and let cook on low for at least 8 hours.
That’s it for me for this time! Pardon me as I have a free fireplace mantle to paint (more on that coming up on the blog if it turns out OK).
I would love to read what you’ve been eating, in the Comments. And please join my co-host Donna as she managed to put together a delicious dish in her challenging month as well!
Here is the Link Up party link, should you care to visit there:
Rock on,
The WB
