What I've Been Up To

 I've been watching a lot of fluffy puppy butt!

 This is always such a super busy time of the year for me.  Between running to festivals and trips to the countryside, I am actually trying to get some stuff done around here.  I've started whipping the Stonehouse into shape for the holidays.

 We've been cleaning up the patio and getting the fireplace ready for Fall parties.

 Everything is a mess after not spending much time down here this Summer.  The porch is huge and is taking quite a while to decorate and clean but it's getting there.

 I've pulled out most of my vegetables and am starting to winterize the garden.  We have yet to have a hard freeze so things are still blooming.  You can see that the leaves haven't changed much.  I still have New Dawn roses blooming out front.

 The witches are flying.

 The Maples are only changing color a bit at the top.  So very weird!

 The Geraniums are healthy and starting to bloom again.

 The very first color is appearing on the Oakleaf Hydrangeas.

 My potting table is looking very Autumnal.

I'm squeezing in some cooking for everyone too. I whipped up some chili the other day.

 And the kids took some home to eat for a couple days.

 I made a Dutch Butter Cake.

 A new recipe and everyone enjoyed it.

 Pecan chewy bars.

 And roasted Brussel Sprouts with pancetta.
.

 Very roasted and very good.

 More pumpkin bread.

 A spanakopita.

 A gazillion meatballs.  Maybe it was just 80 but it felt like a gazillion when I was making them.

 They became Swedish meatballs...

 ...served over ramp butter noodles.

 My daughter finished all of the Halloween treat bags for me.  I started slowly and she came in and whipped them out in no time...actually, several hours.  These will be gone in a  flash on Halloween.

 And I made a candy viper's pit for The Blog Tech to take to his kids.

 Those are giant gummy snakes hanging from the handle.  The kids should have a lot of fun with it.  We are off to the mountains this morning.  I need more pumpkins and mums....shhhh!