The garlic this year was outstanding in size and flavour.   Once the garlic is peeled I use a mini chopper to coarsely chop up the cloves.   Then it is stored in jars wrapped in plastic bags in the fridge.   Garlic stored this way can last all winter, fresh and pungent.   You just have to scoop out a spoonful when you're cooking.

I've been juicing almost daily with fruits and veggies from the garden.  Today I'll use:  three apples, strawberries, raspberries, carrots, celery, cucumbers, kale and two limes.   I find that a lemon or lime really adds zing to the juice.   The only problem I have is that it's quite often gone by the time I look in the fridge.   My husband drinks his and then mine too if I'm not quick enough.

After severely pruning this rose last fall it came back blooming this summer.

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!"

The yew wood tree is bent right over with snow.

We have four large Christmas Cacti that we always put out on the deck in the spring through to summer.  About two weeks ago after bringing them indoors they began to bloom.  These two are gracing my living room with their radiant color. 

We decided to try something a bit different this year with the salmon that was caught this summer.  First the salmon was fileted, then it sat in a dry brine for 12 hours, the dry brine was carefully wiped off and the salmon sat in the cooler for another 12 hours.  Then it was smoked using dry and green alder doughnut mixed  for just two hours.  Once it was in the sterilized jars we added a teaspoon of olive oil and a teaspoon of maple syrup.  At that point we processed it in a pressure cooker for 90 minutes at 10 lbs pressure.  Yummy treats for the winter.

So many of our flower beds are overflowing with growth that the time has come  to eliminate some of the perennials that just don't have room to grow any more.  In this bed we took out a Mock Orange shrub, a lilac tree and a Twig Dogwood shrub.  Now there is breathing room for the ever growing rhododendrons.  I've been busy trimming the rhodos and clipping them to shape them a bit.  We moved two large orange leaf rhododendrons that were not getting enough water where they were.

These delicate little fall flowers were a gift from my friend, Lynne.  So happy to see them bloom.  

We are clearing out the tomato plants from our vegetable garden and hothouse so we can prepare our garden for the fall as well as to avoid getting blight, which ruins the tomatoes, on the remaining few plants. There are some tomatoes that are still not quite ripe enough so we placed them on paper in our basement.  Despite no sunshine, if they are covered with paper, they will ripen quite rapidly and can be used in sauces and salsas.