this is Oscar.

i received this fun postcard from Mandy aka Farstarr (on flickr). http://www.flickr.com/photos/farstarr/

Mandy writes: "Oscar wished he had a regular old map when his GPS (Guppy Positioning System) wanted him to take a sharp left into the vortex!! or The GPS isn't always right!"
so you see, this isn't just a problem for us humans~!~



love the card Mandy~!~ Thank You~!!~



although this card is a lot of fun, i have to tell you that it's also really well done. i love the colors and she's got some great texture worked into it. my very favorite thing about it is the torn tissue paper waves at the bottom. i'm not sure how Mandy did it but there is a beautiful embossed seaweed type texture within this wave area . . . clicking on the photos should enable you to see them larger.





i've been working on getting some of the ripening tomatoes and zucchini into canning jars. so far we have jars of pickled zucchini, salsa and crushed tomatoes stacking up in the pantry. it's been lots of work but i love the satisfied feeling that i get when i see those jars waiting to be used during the cold winter months~!~this, in part, helps explain why i've been unable to blog as much as i would like to just lately.

and winter may be closer than we think . . .

today is the first day of Autumn and last night we had our first hard frost. luckily the cold frame has been raised back up around the maturing tomato's and we should be able to keep them from freezing for at least a few more weeks while we continue to harvest them and get them processesed into even more jars~!~

as you can see by the following photos we still have quite a lot more ripening up. in fact we have a lot more ripening then we have already picked so far. there are three early girl plants that are bearing prolifically.
and one cherry tomato plant that continues to produce heavily too. despite having only one of these plants we have been eating these small gems by the handfuls, like grapes.

i have one heirloom variety tomato plant and the fruit that it bears is just gorgeous~!!~! and very tasty. i think the inner flesh of these looks very similar to the inside of a peach . . . with a red marbleing throughout . . .
they are quite meaty and not as acidic as the early girls. i had this one for lunch today with some cottage cheese. yummy~!!~


there are also a lot of these heirlooms still on the vine ripening up.

despite the frost i was able to get a few shots earlier today of some flowers that were spared.

i have hops growing up a fence behind my pond area and although the leaves are looking a bit tattered, their little cones are a sure sign of fall.

the nasturtiums are still throwing a few flowers.

and the hollyhocks are still standing tall.

the roses grow in a part of the garden that has it's own warmer micro climate due to a lot of pavers that absorb the daytime sun and then release it well into the night so they were not effected by the frost at all. so i have a few shots of the prettiest ones to share with you as well.

it's good to be back~!!~

:-)