Sunday, September 28, 2014

This & that

I cannot reconcile the fact that it's almost October; autumn in Texas is toastier than in WA, and so I forget. Last weekend I shoved all of my tank tops into the back of the closet and pulled out my cardigan collection, but I don't think this is going to spur the weather on quite like I'd wish.

I've gussied up the inside of the house for fall, though - orange candles & fake leaves everywhere; you know the drill :) - and have been drinking pumpkin spice coffee since the end of August. Our mantle here is much fancier than our old one, and I think I'll have fun bedazzling it for each season.

On Tuesday I'll dig out our Halloween decorations, but this has been hanging on the pantry door for the past month:
The Pinterest projects I choose seem to turn out only half the time, but this wreath was a smashing success, and I plan to make one for every single holiday I can think of. This is about two packages of cupcake liners (covered in tiny skulls which are SO CUTE, can you tell?!), all with the centers cut out, and pinned around a foam wreath. It's cheap & fairly mindless & turned out just exactly like the picture I pinned in the first place, so two thumbs up! 


As far as kitchen adventures are concerned, I've been baking our bread for a few weeks now. I read a horrifying article recently about ice cream sandwiches that wouldn't melt, even after hours in the sun, because of whatever awful thing they're made with, and for a few minutes I washed my hands of messing with anything store-bought ever again. Then I calmed down and decided bread was at least a good place to start. We had a very near disaster with the last batch when I overloaded the poor mixer and it kneaded itself right off the counter and crashed loudly to the floor:
I thought it was lost and gone forever, which would have been a terrible & expensive loss, but Jan Michael tinkered around and, ta da!, it works! 

On Friday I made applesauce with about 5 lbs worth of ginger golds.
I tossed in a can of pumpkin, which ensured that I would be the only one in this house interested in it, and then... I ate it. All 5 lbs worth. It took me a day and a half. I suppose it's better than 10 caramel apples in one fell swoop, but still. But..yum! I will do it again, maybe this week :)

The sunsets continue to be a balm to my heart, and since it's cooling off a little now, I've been in the middle of a few these last couple of weeks. Jeannie, we share these especially for you :) 
Oops, this last one is a sunrise - still lovely, and besides, I like the bird in middle of the pond :)