The drawing for the raffle quilt benefiting Steps to Hope was held this week. I am happy to report that the charity made almost $800 from its efforts. Thanks to Pam B in Delaware who graciously allowed her stunning quilt to be the raffle prize. The money raised will help residents of the shelter take care of their basic needs. I was gratified to learn that over half of the donors purchasing tickets were blog readers. Thank you all so much! The drawing was held last night, and I do not know who won yet. But it is very possible it was one of you!

I had a great opportunity to meet and have lunch with the awesome Edy J recently. She was on her way to South Carolina, and was able to stop here as she was coming through our area. Edy and her husband were just a delight, and we spent a nice hour at lunch discussing history and books, and even a bit of philosophy. She brought some case sets for the Safelight project, and a fabulous fabric gift of this stunning black with gold ginko leaves, along with a coordinating Japanese floral. Oh, my, these are just gorgeous, thank you, Edy! I’ll show you these close up in the next Stashbusters report.

Other feathered visitors this week were a flock of wild turkeys.

The early morning hours often have fog in the valleys these days.

The begonias continue to thrive and bloom where I had tomatoes last year. For some reason I just never got the bug to plant this year. I think some of that may have been our decision to look for a smaller home on less land. However, months of searching have yielded nothing that I was excited about. So, for the foreseeable future, we are staying put. Maybe next year I’ll plant a garden again.

I am watching this torenia closely, so I can harvest seeds from it when they finally appear. Right now it is just happy to keep blooming profusely.

Out back the wild common vetch has appeared with its delicate purple flowers.

It will cover the mountainside around the other bramble back there.

I’ve noticed more poison ivy that we need to spray to kill before it comes into the back yard. It is easy to spot this time of year as it turns red before anything else does. Over the years, I’ve been training the English ivy to grow through the chain link fence to create a wall of green. Every year, we have to catch the poison ivy trying to gain a foothold, and eradicate what we can. Living on the edge of the wild forest, we’ll never get rid of it completely, but we do what we can to keep it out of our living spaces.

Football season is underway, and Sunday’s are made for finger food. I made my Panko Parmesan Chicken Wings to munch on during the games. These are easy, just put chicken wing sections in a baking dish, and season as you like (I use garlic salt and lemon pepper). Then mix panko bread crumbs with a little olive oil. Mix in some grated parmesan cheese and pat onto the top side of the chicken. Bake one hour until nicely browned and wings are fully cooked.

They are crunchy like fried, but a bit healthier. The fried ones from Publix are the best around, but these will do.

As the weather cools, and evenings have a slight chill, it is pumpkin bread that means fall is here, filling the air with the aroma of cloves and cinnamon. Two loaves baked last week have been enjoyed for both breakfast and occasionally dessert this week. Try my original recipe – Pumpkin Orange Bread.

The past few days we have been off on an adventure with the car club, so I haven’t had time to post. I’ll bring you more about that next time. It will involve some great scenery, fun roads and marvelous food.

So, I’ll leave you with another barn and meadow from a previous trip.

What did you do for fun this week?

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