apple harvest

Suzanne and I went to Kimmel Orchard in Nebraska City over the weekend. Cherry cider and spiced apple donuts - YUM! And getting 15 pounds of apples to make apple pie and applesauce seemed like such a good idea. Until I was peeling and slicing about 35 apples! Oh, well. The results are delicious. We picked our own apples and aren't entirely certain which variety we got - we're pretty sure we picked Gala apples - and I also got some Jonathan apples. The mix worked very well for both the pie and applesauce. We're planning on going back to the orchard again in October or November to get some Granny Smith apples ... and more cherry cider and donuts!

milo

Milo, our source of amusement and exasperation. Tonight, he was a crabby cat.

squash

We planted a garden in the back corner of our yard this year. It's definitely been a year of experimentation so I've learned a lot - but have also had some luck! I have so much zucchini I don't know what to do with it anymore. I've given it away to friends and co-workers (who are also sick of it by now, I'm sure), I've made four loaves of zucchini bread, 36 chocolate zucchini cupcakes, a zucchini lasagna, zucchini pasta salad, and have six bags of shredded zucchini in the freezer. I can't imagine wanting to eat zucchini anytime again soon, but I have it frozen for when that day comes! Anyway, just a warning to those ever planning on planting zucchini - plant just ONE plant. I planted two zucchini and two squash plants and ... well, you get the picture.

we're having a girl!

Jeff and I found out a few weeks ago that we're going to have a baby girl! Due date is December 3 and we're very much looking forward to when that day comes. Since I have a very busy September at work and Jeff travels quite a bit in October for work, we planned a trip to Chicago to do some shopping for the nursery. Now, we're as ready as we can be - for now, anyway. This is a picture of baby girl's garden-themed room.