Fertilizer Friday - Flaunt your Flowers Sept 29

Time once again for Fertilizer Friday with Tootsie!!

I'm not going to deny it folks, it's getting harder and harder to find good blooms!

Here's the best I could do today

A late blooming Phlox

A couple of Roses after the rain

Another one of my Mother's Dahlia's 

And finally, the fruit from one of my compost vines that I didn't plant

Happy Birthday Boots!

Boots, our cat, turned 7 today.

She has been a part of our family since she was a kitten.

She's quite a social cat and likes to play with the kids

She's very curious

She gets herself into all kinds of predicaments

It's a tough life!

Happy Birthday Boots!

Apple Picking - Apples today - pie tomorrow!

 Autumn is here, and so it is apple picking time!

We have 3 very old apple trees in the back yard. I'm not too sure what kind they are but I think they are comparable to MacIntosh apples. 

They seem to bear in 3 year cycles - we have a great year, followed by a terrible year, and then a good year. Last year was a great year so I wasn't expecting too many apples this year.

I went out today hoping to get enough apples to make a pie, so I was pleasantly surprised when I easily picked a basket full!

The gadget in front of the basket is my apple picker.

It saves me from having to drag the ladder out every time I want to pick a few apples.

.You simply attach it to a pole, raise it up underneath the apple, and then use the hooks on the edge to pull the apple off the stem. The apple then falls into the cloth sack - preventing it from bruising.

The sack holds quite a few apples so you don't have to bring the pole down each time.

It's quite a handy little gadget and available from Lee Valley Tools

So tomorrow I will sort, peel, and cut apples for a pie-or, with any luck a FEW pies.

I know someone who will be more than happy to take the apple leftovers