#WeekendCoffeeShare: Fall Fun and Projects!

Good Morning! I think we are in for another beautiful Fall day!  We are supposed to get up to 80 degrees here in Metro Detroit! It’s supposed to rain tonight and tomorrow, so I’ll do my best at getting all my outdoor activities in. Today there is another Halloween/witchy themed vendor market in a neighboring town that I’ll be going to.  Later I hope to do some hiking with a friend.  Sunday I have an outing planned with my work family to a local cider mill.  I hope it doesn’t get rained out.

I started a project in the backyard this past week where I’m removing some pavers that had sunk into the ground.  These small bricks had sunken so far and grass grew in between that you would not have known they were there.

I’m just going to go with grass for now and repurpose the bricks for another project I haven’t thought of yet.

I needed lots of fill dirt, so I edged my sidewalk, which was long overdue! Always a great source of fill dirt, especially if your plan is to have grass.  Lots of dirt and roots to fill in the holes.  We have a corner house so we have close to 500 feet of sidewalk to edge (counting both sides).  I’ll have more than enough fill.  I did it manually with one of those flat shovel type tools. It was nice to get out in the sunshine after work and do something that lets your mind relax for a few hours.

I’m happy with how it’s coming along. I watered it with the rain water from my barrel and will continue until it freezes. It will be a while before it resembles a normal solid patch of grass, but there were two layers of pavers in this spot, so it will take a bit to get it level again.

Speaking of my rain barrel, I’m happy to say that the ONLY time the garden was watered with city water was when we were on vacay for two weeks and my beloved neighbor turned on my faucet timer when necessary, watering the garden through soaker hoses. Otherwise I manually filled a watering can from the 55 gallon rain barrel and did it myself.  Yay since our water rates have doubled.  Now it’s just the pool and hot tub, but at least that’s once during the season.

It’s time to winterize the garden as well. I picked what is likely the last harvest yesterday, a bowlful of tomatoes and Hungarian Wax peppers. I look forward to making lecso with Polish sausage on Halloween night.  Most of the tomatoes and peppers are diced and in the freezer.  I did buy some canning equipment but haven’t used it too often. Just once, actually, went I made cowboy candy and sent some to my brother in Phoenix. But it seems like a good thing to know how to do.  I did make a blackberry cordial of sorts, in which I filled a jar with blackberries from my bush and filled it with Skyy Vodka. We’ll see how that turns out. I might have a nip on Halloween.

If it turns out well, I’ll try it with mulberries. We planted a tree in the front yard from a stray sapling and it’s really taken off. The berries are still small but I expect them to get bigger as the tree gets established.

I’m getting low on firewood also, so I’ll have to make a trip for that.. And hoping to get in one last camping trip before we winterize the trailer!  Sunday’s rain may be a welcome chance to get some indoor things done as well.  I need to work on a project management course I’m studying and I also need to study up on Toastmasters. I forced myself to join a club at work and now have a speech to work on. (gulp)

How was your week? Would you like another cup?

Thank you Natalie, for hosting the Weekend Coffee Share!  I’ll be by shortly!