Today will be a quiet day, enjoying the cooler air and watching some of the local wildlife if they stop by again. This pretty doe and her fawn came by earlier in the week to munch on the plants and enjoy a late afternoon meal.
They do like to eat a few of the hosta seeds. I don’t really mind, I have a lot of hostas.
One morning, I took my coffee to the veranda to find this web had been put up overnight. As interesting as it is, with the sunlight on the dew clinging to the strands, it had to come down. I just don’t like walking through webs, and the spider has plenty of forest to build in. If you have ever tried to take a photo of a spider web, it is really hard. The camera just doesn’t see it and will focus beyond it to the trees. But, with a bit of dew on the strands, it shows up just enough.
George came by this week, and made his presence known by running around in front of the sliding glass door trying to get someone’s attention. He does look pretty cute sitting on the mat that says Wipe Your Paws.
Well, of course, he got a sandwich. He took it to the other side of the driveway to eat it.
The garden is winding down, and soon I’ll need to tear out all the remnants of the tomato plants. They have almost stopped producing with the cooler temperatures at night. This is probably the last of the tomato harvest for this year. I don’t know how I got one yellow cherry tomato, but there it is.
Luckily, the two spaghetti squash are ripening well. No critter has gotten to them yet, but it may be time to take them to the Carolina room to finish ripening. The problem with that is that room doesn’t get as many hours of sunlight. It is a hard decision, and if I wait too long, I may lose them to furry thieves or feathered marauders.
On the veranda, these impatiens and begonias continue to be gorgeous and full.
The superbelles are giving me one last floral show even though the plant itself is getting leggy and bedraggled.
I have one more pretty red dahlia. Soon those plants will begin to die back for winter.
Then there is this pot. These three plants are coming up nicely, but I could not remember what I planted here. I used a plant identifier online and discovered they are torenias. I remember now, planting some seeds some time ago, and giving up on them ever doing anything. The pot has just been sitting in the sun. Luckily it was neglected, or I might have destroyed the seedlings unknowingly. Again, though, it is so late in the year, I do not know if they will survive over the winter.
The toad lily seeds sprouted as well, finally! But I think it is too late for them for this year, too. Will see if they make it over the winter in the Carolina room. I will miss the beautiful cascades of flowers that usually come this month.
For the cooking competitions, the blueberry contest was a disappointment. I really thought I had a winner with my Almost Sugar Free Blueberry Lemon Pie. One of the criteria is that the recipe have no more than 3/4 cup of added sugar. When I found this Splenda Sweetened Condensed Milk (Amazon link), I thought it was a great idea. I could make a wonderful pie, with almost no sugar added! I ordered two of the product, so I could test it, and was absolutely delighted with it. If you did not know it was Splenda, you’d never guess it was nearly sugar free. Seriously! It tastes and performs just like the regular version of sweetened condensed milk we have all used before.
I found a zero sugar cool whip, and made a lemon icebox pie with a graham cracker crust, so simple.
The blueberries were arranged on top.
Then garnished with lemon peel. This was so good!! But the judges did not choose it. Instead a blueberry salsa won, yuk. Oh well, I now have a new item to keep in the pantry to help me lower the sugar content of some baked goodies. And after the judges portions, giving slices to the police officers at the entrance gate for contestants, and a piece for My Sweet Babboo, there wasn’t much left. We enjoyed the rest on Friday. Download the recipe – Almost Sugar Free Blueberry Lemon Pie. I will definitely make this again, and probably take it to potlucks.
I decided to sit out of the Dairy competition, as it was a rainy day and I was just tired. I had had enough of hurried dinners of leftovers or snack food, and getting home after dark. Saturday was supposed to be thunderstorms, but it was nice, so I entered the Apple competition on Saturday morning. I made a Honey Apple Galette with Honey Crisp apples and local honey. It was judged 4th place with an Honorable Mention ribbon. Essentially it is my Spiced Apple Galette recipe with 1/4 cup of honey added to the apples before baking, and leaving off the caramel sauce.
It was funny to realize that this year, I won one of every color ribbon in cooking, LOL! This was a very good fair for me.
So, time to transition from the Apple Festival and Mountain State Fair into Autumn. I put my Welcome pumpkin on the hook near the door. Looking forward to the changing season.
I put a previous Autumn Jubilee table topper on my treadle machine.
I have given away or sold almost everything Halloween that I had. It isn’t a thing for us or our friends, so all I have left are these three small pieces. I kept them because they were my mother’s. She loved the little cat and the happy face pumpkin. The other little piece is a music box that plays “ding, dong, the witch is dead.” The mini quilt is an Autumn Jubilee project from 2016. The embroidered wall hanging is an AJ project from 2020.
It may not be a full blown Autumn Jubilee, but we will have some fun for fall this year. I have an idea for a small project, a new recipe, some cards and maybe a few other things.
Announcing Fall Fortnight – two weeks of fall projects with giveaways!!
Are you ready for fall?
From My Carolina Home 
Sometimes I invert a wire basket over squash etc. for protection. Even a nylon net covering staked in place helps. I’m continually battling rabbits so I have a “stash of equipment”.
Congratulations on all your state fair success! I agree that blueberry salsa sounds ewww.
I am so ready for fall. We have been having 80 degree weather here in MN and I am over it. Looking forward to some cooler weather and being able to sleep with the windows open.
I’m also looking forward to Fall Fortnight. 🙂
Three cheers on the fair and I’m glad you finally get a break! The garden is looking good, despite the end of season for the veg. THe flowers are still terrific. Your pie looks awesome — I haven’t seen that splenda condensed milk. That’s brilliant. And your autumn decor is so pretty. I don’t think I’ll get a smidge of autumn up before we leave. Well, there’s still November! Cheers — enjoy your Sunday!
Congrats on all those colorful fun ribbons, Carole!!!
Congratulations, Carole, on all your ribbon winnings!! I have to ask do you have a place to display these new ribbons and all past ribbons you’ve won! I’m thinking you need a special room for all those!!
Very excited about Autumn Forthnight! Thank you! Thank you!!
I showed my ribbon racks in a post from the fair last year, see it HERE.
I hope we can have some fall fun, even if the event is not as long.
I didn’t remember seeing the racks, I must have missed your post. It is a wonderful idea. I just saw my typo in my comment! Fortnight not Forthnight, fat fingers! Enjoy another football Sunday!
Congratulations on all of your ribbons. The blueberry pie looks delicious.
I enjoy seeing wildlife, especially the spotted fawns. We had a doe with twin spotted fawns in our pasture yesterday. Happy Sunday, Carole!
One of every color!! Congratulations! The blueberry pie looks delish, I imagine the judges wanted to see more done with the blueberries? I am definitely looking forward to cooler weather here in SD. We had 90’s again last week. Granted they were low 90’s, but still! This week is looking better with 3 days of high 80’s and then 70’s. Fall May finally be here. The Fall Fortnight sounds fun and a nice change.
I don’t like to see the end of summer, only because it means that winter won’t be far behind. I do love Fall, though, and it is one of my favorite seasons. Being from the northeast where I had a few acres of woods behind my home, I didn’t have to go far to enjoy the fall foliage. The colors of fall are amazing, and when the sun would shine on the leaves, they gave a golden hue. There were many picture-perfect moments, especially when the deer would be in the yard nibbling away. Sadly, I’m not a photographer. You are always an inspiration, Carole, and maybe today I’ll get out some of my fall decorations and start preparing for the upcoming busy seasons.
Congratulations on all your ribbons!
Congratulations on all your wins. That was certainly much hard work, especially the cooking. Here in Florida, I feel fall in my heart, but the weather man continues with rainy and hot. I have pulled out a few fall decorations and am waiting for October for the mantle. Finished a fall table runner and the cutest pillow cover for my daughter. Looking forward to the Fall fortnight. Two weeks sounds good. Sometimes smaller is better. I know I’ve set large quilt patterns aside for now and am concentrating on small projects.
You have been very busy as usual Carole. Fall is a beautiful season, but for me it is the lead into winter, snd while there is beauty in winter, it is also the time of high stress for many. In our area, the cold requires heat in our homes and that strains the security of home with such high prices experienced for food and heat. I’ll be looking forward to looking in on Fall fortnight. I’m also looking forward to Hallowe’en. I love to celebrate this time with my friends. Costuming is for senior ladies like me. Congratulations on your great success at the fair, and thanks for sharing your garden with us
I so enjoy and look forward to each of your posts! I don’t sew, but I do garden and cook. Congrats on your prizes at the fair! Please keep up this happy, meaningful sight. Think I’ll make the apple gallete today.
That was one VERY industrious spider!
Congratulations on all of your ribbons at the fair. I would much prefer your pie to blueberry salsa and sm looking forward to using your recipe.
Also I am looking forward to Fall Fortnight. Thanks for planning so fun Fall activities!
Hi, Carole—Congratulations
your posts are always so much fun! I love reading them and now I’m going to get busy and put out my fall decorations. The pie looks delicious but actually blueberry salsa sounds kind of fun! Thank you for brightening my day so often. Rita
Thank you so much!!
I’m looking forward to your posts for Fall Fortnight.Carol
Ha! Maybe they thought your blueberry lemon pie had real sugar in it! It looks great, and you did an outstanding job this year. Your fall fortnight is a great idea to satisfy the jubilee wishers!
Happy Fall, Carole.
It was time for a quieter day after all the fair rushing. Your ribbon rack is turning into a wall. Fall Fortnight sounds like fun. I’m always up for anything autumnal – for me, Halloween is secondary to the season.