A Natural Fall Centerpiece

My hubby brought home various kinds of pumpkins and gourds and I made this little Fall arrangement from them.. The runner is one I made a couple of years ago.

 

The pumpkins and gourds are real, but the leaves are not!

I hope you are enjoying the Fall.  Its always my favorite time of year. 

Have a great Fall day!

Small Batch Freezing - Okra

We have about 4 okra plants in our raised bed garden.  They were planted late, but have gotten huge.  My hubby picks them about once a week and I freeze a very small bag of them.  These will be used in vegetable soup this winter.

I really enjoy putting up bits and pieces of things to be used when the weather gets colder.

The okra blossoms are beautiful and look a lot like hibiscus and cotton, since they are related to each other.

Its good that we don't have too many okra, because you don't need too many in a pot of soup anyway.  If we were getting large harvests, I would be too tempted to make lots of fried okra and we are trying to eat more healthy.  We LOVE fried okra!

Mumm's the Word

Time is definitely marching on. Look at the progression of the opening of the buds on the huge mums my hubby brought home to me.

Week One

Week Two

Week Three

Week Four

These pictures do not do justice to these mums!  There are hundreds, maybe even thousands, of blooms on them.  I have carefully watered them every day. 

Thanks Honey for the beautiful Fall flowers!

Remembering a Sunny Day

What cloudy, drizzly, misty, rainy days we've had this week! The weather forecast doesn't show much sun for the next 7 days either. Well, I'll just have to look at these pictures of the beautiful sunny day it was last Saturday.



Papa J had names put on pumpkins for our grandboys. 

The yard work equipment all lined up.

A plain pumpkin.



We are starting a new lasagna/compost bed.

An okra blossom with bugs.

Indian Summer work clothes drying on the line.

A few pumpkins were left to sell.

We'll be putting kitchen and yard waste on here this fall and winter.



A soft glow at day's end.

May all your days be cozy.

Psalms and Pictures

I edited some ordinary pictures taken in our yard on PicMonkey and thought they looked like they should have Bible verses for their captions.   I hope you enjoy them.  I posted the original pictures at the bottom of the post so you can see what our back yard really looks like.

Psalm 89:5-6 The heavens praise your wonders, O Lord, your faithfulness too, in the assembly of the holy ones. For who in the skies above can compare with the Lord? Who is like the Lord among the heavenly beings?

Psalm 91:5-6  You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.

Psalms 104: 1-3 Praise the Lord, O my soul.  Oh Lord my God, you are very great; you are clothed with splendor and majesty.  He wraps himself in light as with a garment; he stretches out the heavens like a tent and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters.

Psalm 113:5-6  Who is like the Lord our God, the One who sits enthroned on high, who stoops down to look at the heavens and the earth?

Psalm 89: 15  Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, O Lord.

More Fall Shoes

I typically wear two basic pairs of shoes during each season. A brown pair and a black pair. For the past two summers I have worn the same two black and brown pairs of sandals, depending on what clothes I was wearing.  Next spring I think I'll be due a couple of new pairs!

Here are a couple of pairs of shoes I'll wear this fall and winter.

From Target

Gold  jewelry will look best with the gold trim on these shoes.

I can wear these with black or brown!

 

Update on the fashion question I asked last week about wearing shoes without socks or hose.  I wore these shoes without hose or socks to work and got along just fine.  They were comfortable and once I got used to the way my feet looked, I liked it.  When the weather is colder, I will wear trouser socks with them, though.

From Walmart
 

Thanks for your input!

Indian Summer

We've had a taste of Fall, but not too much this week! Here are some pictures from around our yard showing signs of summer still hanging on.

A farmer left his tractor in the field beside our house over night.  He parked it in such a way that it looked like it was on display.  The farmers often leave their equipment parked near our house, I think for safety reasons.

Several watermelon vines came up in our compost/lasagna bed.  There is no way the watermelons will ripen before frost.  During the last few days the vines have started dying.  Its just not the right time of year for watermelons to thrive.

This baby watermelon is resting on a coffee filter.  I have been putting household waste such as potato peelings, banana peels, used coffee grinds with the filter, used tea bags, etc. on the bed.  Next spring I plan to plant vegetables in it.

Close up of some mum buds.

Morning Glories are blooming on my clothesline trellis.  They are also growing everywhere around here, especially on ditch banks and on corn that hasn't been harvested yet.

Go Wolfpack!

Fall is such a beautiful time of year around here, but the really cool weather doesn't usually show up until November.  The temperature tomorrow is supposed to hit 90!  Even so, the humidity is low, so its not too uncomfortable.

In the Kitchen With Debbie - More Saturday Morning Cooking

My new "go to" recipe for pot roast can be found HERE on the Pioneer Woman's Website.

These carrots and onions were browned before going into the pot.  I don't usually like carrots, but I  do like these after they completely cook with the roast.

Here I am searing all sides of the roast.

Here is our lovely roast right before putting it in the oven early Saturday morning.  I love to have time to really slow cook foods such as this roast.   Cooking on the weekend when I have more time, yields food that can be eaten all weekend and during the following work week.

Hints:  If you don't normally buy beef stock, you can use beef bullion cubes. 

Mashed potatoes or rice are a great side dish with this roast because of the wonderful juices that can be ladled over them.

I didn't use the fresh rosemary and thyme sprigs and it turned out just fine.