Squash casserole

It's a rainy, cold fall day.

It's the kind of day I like to cook.

I had a few squash I'd been needing to use up - 2 of these were actually from LAST years garden! I honestly had no idea that squash lasted this long!

In the end, the small acorn squash that turned orange was going bad from the inside out so I didn't use it in this recipe.

I peeled and sliced thinly the other 2 squash and sliced a large onion. I then sauteed it in about 2 tbsp of butter until it was soft and the onions were translucent - about 15 minutes.

In another bowl, I grated about 2 cups of cheddar cheese,  added a half cup of sour cream, some salt and pepper, cayenne pepper, and a bunch of Ritz craker crumbs (finally a use for all those broken crackers no one wants to eat!!)

I then stirred the squash and onion into this mixture and put it all into a greased casserole dish.  I topped it with more cheddar cheese, some Parmesan, and some more cracker crumbs. 

Popped it into a 350° oven for about 20 minutes.

This was to be served with pork chops and steamed broccoli for dinner tonight.

I couldn't wait!

Yum!!

What is lurking in YOUR neighborhood?

 With summer gone, and gardening season over, it's once again time to walk and explore the fields and forest around my house. You may remember one of my other posts in which my friend, Gary, and I went exploring and found a few interesting things on one of our walks. On a walk 2 weeks back, we found a few fresh bones and that got us to wondering what was lurking the fields. I know there are coyote there, as I have seen them and heard them howling - quite frequently they howl at passing trains. There has also been wolf, bear and cougar sightings in the area

We set off across the fields and it wasn't long before we found the first bone. And then another.

They looked fresh and we decided that they belonged to a young deer.

We stumbled across the feeding site...fur and bones spread out over a small area. No photos of that though...kind of creepy really and I didn't think to snap a photo.

The animals seem to have a beaten path to the watering hole, so we decided this was a good place to put up a trail cam.

Gary is a hunter and has all the gadgets. Here is his trail cam in position in the tree.

This infrared camera takes photos of anything that moves within 40 feet, day or night, and tells you the time the photo was taken and the temperature.

Our first trip out to check this camera left us with one good photo

We set the camera up again, this time a little further back, and trimmed the branches so we would have a better view. We will be going out to check for new photos on Wednesday.

I can't wait to see what lurks this week!

New boots...finally!

Anyone who knows me knows that I am hard on boots.

In the past 3 years I have gone through 6 pairs of boots.

Some lasted 2 weeks and some lasted as long as a year.

Am I the only one out there who has trouble finding good, affordable boots?

A surprise bloom!

The Oleander's were carried into the house over a month ago.

I try to get them into a state of semi-dormancy while they are inside for the winter.

Much to my surprise, my pink Oleander's were blooming!

And a few of the blooms were almost white!

Thanks, for blooming and putting a smile on my face!

:)

Snow!

First snowfall.

A reminder of what is ahead.

A reminder that I don't have a winter coat.

A reminder that my daughter doesn't have winter boots.

A reminder to stock up on birdseed.

I put out the last scoop of seed this morning and this little guy barely let me finish and he was eating.

The snow will be gone before the day is done, but I have been reminded.

Looks like I'm going shopping today!

:)

Netty versus the Manure Pile

This is the view from my window. A barn with a HUGE manure pile.

I have watching this pile for a few years now, steaming on the cool fall and winter days.

Last week I noticed a tractor out there turning the pile and I asked the farmer if I could have some.

"Help yourself! Take as much as you want!"

That was this gardeners dream!

So I loaded up the cart and trailer and set off

It was good looking stuff. Exactly what I needed for my veggie garden.

In all, I filled the cart and trailer 8 times. It was a lot of hard work. You see, we had a lot of rain last month. The pile was surrounded by puddles like this one

Yup, big wet manure puddles. The kind you get your boots stuck in.

These kind of puddles suck you right in.

This is what happens to brand new socks after getting stuck in a manure puddle

Manure pile-1 , Netty -0

But I was pleased with the end result.

We'll see who's laughing next spring!

Blooms in November??

I never would have imagined that after the snow, hail, wind and freezing temperatures that I would have blooms to share in November for Fertilizer Friday !

The Feverfew and Branched Coneflowers are looking battered, but still blooming!

This Monkshood is still going strong!

Garden Mums are so hardy!

Would you believe there are Roses blooming too?

Yarrow still very bright

The Burning Bush is in it's prime by the step

There it is!

My November blooms  :)