The leaves are starting to change and the days seem shorter as well as the temperatures are cooler. It means lots of little things to get ready for winter, while enjoying the fall. 

We haven't broken down and turned on the heat...yet...but we are wearing sweaters and jackets more. DH is hoping that he's mowed for the last time for the season. I pulled up the last of the garden, both vegetables and flowers. It's kind of sad to see the bare ground, but it needs to rest.

We have two different farmers who farm around us. They usually wait until the very last to pick whatever it is they planted. Last year it was soybeans. This year it is corn. Just a word of advice if you are not familiar with harvests, do not leave your windows open when they pick because it is very, very dusty when they pick. I put out little cheese cloth bags of herbs and spices around the door and the garage doors to hopefully keep mice from entering. I did that before they harvested because when they start picking those machines scare the mice and other critters. We also put some of the herb bags in the pole barn. Mickey Mouse might look cute, but mice can be very destructive, including eating wires on vehicles. I also spray a peppermint spray around the door frames because mice apparently don't like the scent. 

We will soon be in the last quarter of 2026. I'm not sure financially, if it was a good year or not. I've worked hard at trying to save money, but we did have some big expenses. I was going over my spreadsheet on coupons...as of today we've saved over $836 in coupons. DH was amazed. I have been writing companies and asking them for coupons and some have been very generous. Plus, I use the digital coupons that come with the loyalty cards. I'm not buying anything that I wouldn't normally buy, but trying to time coupons and sales. I use grocery apps to take photos of our receipts and so far have cashed in $175 in gift cards that I earned. I know this takes time and fortunately I'm retired and can do it. 

Our church is going to have a Christmas bazaar and one lady asked to be a vendor. I explained that it is $20 for an 8 foot table that we provide and 8% of whatever they sell. She agreed to it, then informed me she really needed to sell a lot because they need money. I recommended that her crafts not be costly because the people who shop have not, in the past, been big spenders on expensive stuff. She said she understood and she was going to have lots of stuff made up. I sort of wonder if she thinks just because she is showing up with stuff if she's going to make a bunch of money. I hope she does not only for her own sake, but also because our ladies' guild gets a percentage of her overall sales. 

No big bonfires or weiner roasts for us, just enjoying the fall before winter is upon us. I'm hoping that we end the year financially stable and when I saw we, I'm not just referring to DH and me, but to all of us on SA.

Every day there is a lot to do. I'm glad in many ways because it keeps life interesting and also that I'm blessed to be healthy to do it.

Fall has arrived which means lots of little jobs to finish up before the first frost. One is picking Basil. I did that and washed it and dried it, then put it on low in the toaster oven. I then blended with salt to make Basil salt. I like to use it for some flavoring. Plus, I love the smell of Basil. I have made enough to give small containers for gifts. 

Yesterday I picked the last of the tomatoes. I will be pulling up the final two plants that have produced up until now. The tomatoes are getting smaller, but I figure whatever we get is more than what we have. 

Sadly I'm going to be pulling up some of the flowers out of the flower pots. I'd rather do away with them now than wait until they get slimy from the frost. I've been sharing starts with a friend and also picking starts for myself. Last year I kept some Coleus alive all winter and had enough to plant some. My Zinnias have produced well so I need to cut some of the heads to dry for seeds to plant next year. That's what I did this year. I'm working to try and save money on seeds.

I've been working on some Christmas gifts. I will shamefully admit that I have been sort of a craft hoarder. Granted, I can sort of make an excuse, but... Anyway, a few years ago at a thrift store I saw these small towels with aida cloth for counted cross stitch that still had the tags on them. I was going through some of my stuff and saw them and told myself I need to either make something with them or donate them. So, I've been working on counted cross stitch designs to make towel with a person's name on it. I feel better about using what I have. I have a lot of floss that I also bought at thrift stores, so I'm using what I have and making do to a certain extent. 

A friend at church was cleaning out her storage area and had some like new quart jars with lids and rings that hadn't been used. I am using them to make "mixes" like a muffin mix and a cookie mix to give for gifts. I know these "gifts in a jar" are interesting, but they aren't really cheap to make. Granted, I almost always have flour and sugar on hand, but for four jars of muffin mix it took two bags of mini chocolate chips. At over $4 a bag, that's $8 for just 4 jars, not including all the other ingredients. I was originally entertaining the notion of making up some of these to sell at the bazaar (I would donate them), but realized I don't think it would be cost effective and not sure if people would feel comfortable buying them from someone they may or may not know. So, I don't think that will happen. I am thinking of making a snack mix to put in some of the other jars  to gift since the jars didn't cost me a thing. 

A few months ago I ran across this juice that is black cherry plum at Aldi. My husband loves anything cherry and this was a big hit. We've bought it a few times. I was thinking this might make a good jelly so yesterday I used half of a bottle and realized 7 half pints from it. It's pretty. Most will be for us, but I will gift a few as well. 

A few months ago I made a comment at ladies' Bible study that I wished I could get some used candles to melt down to make new candles to sell at the Christmas bazaar. We are always looking for very reasonably priced items to sell besides the cookies we sell by the pound. Well, a couple of ladies must have cleaned out their homes. I wound up with a box of candles, many used and some are not. Then another lady asked if I could use those glass jars from Oui yogurt. I said yes, that would be great. So, between the jars, the candles, and the wax and wicks I bought, I've made quite a few candles. We have a Christmas tea a few days after the bazaar so I made enough candles for each lady to take a candle home. I bought these little charms that are a tea cup and saucer to attach to each candle and bought temporary tattoos to put on each glass. I found some cups and saucers at the thrift store to make a candle out of each one for the center of the tables. So, I have all my candles made for church. Here is a photo of the tea cup candles and then the candles for the tea along the window sill:

 DH is looking forward to when our local electrical coop offers fiber internet. We live in the country and although we do have Internet, there are many days it doesn't work. We are hoping the fiber will be a big improvement and it will eventually save us money as we get rid of Dish and can depend on streaming. I'm married to a retired electrical engineer so it means he did a lot of the preliminary wiring and stuff to get ready. He had to buy this special cord to "pull wire" and after we finished, I rewound all the cord first on a bigger plastic tub that we had from some food we bought, then reused a bigger plastic spool DH for when he had bought the plastic to do 3D printing. He laughed and said he was pleased I reuse things we have instead of buying new. I showed him that I brought in a geranium from the porch that I hope to save over the winter and planted it in a similar plastic tub. 

I originally wrote about crafting, I did break down and buy some yarn, but there was a reason. We hired a church secretary a few months ago. She's a nice gal and a college student. I wanted to make her a hat and scarf. From what I gather she has nothing to do with her family, so I wanted to give her something in her favorite color. I figure she probably has a coat, but who doesn't like a new hat and a scarf.

I saw a video on Facebook about Christmas decorations from the 50s and 60s. Some I remember and others, I had a vague idea. One was making a tree out of magazine. Well, we had a Reader's Digest so of course I had to try. I can't decide if I want to leave it like it is or spray paint it. What do you think?

We are actually getting a little rain. It's been especially dry here in Central Illinois which the farmers are probably glad to harvest, but we are getting behind as far as precipitation. DH was laughing at me as I moved our pots of mums (bought and left by the bride) and my Coleus plant and my fern to get watered by nature. It's been a long time since we've had any rain to do this. I put out the watering can and a jar to hopefully gather some of the rain water too in case I need to water anything or fill the bird bath. 

A lot of the things I've been working on are for gifts. What do you think about homemade gifts? I was telling a friend about making some of these things and she said I should just go out and buy stuff and not go to so much trouble. That sort of hurt my feelings. 

Guess I should close and get busy on some other things. I promised DH a pork roast with potatoes and carrots for our late lunch today. Hope you all are having a fine day. 

Last Saturday was the big day...DH's daughter's wedding. At 10 p.m. Saturday night after all had left we looked at each other and said, "Glad that's over."

Fortunately the weather was nice and the farmers around us didn't chose that day to harvest the corn. The ceremony was meaningful and the bride was lovely. The party went well, but I don't think it went as was expected. I think the bridge and groom discovered a couple of things that marrying in one's 50s and having previous marriages, it's not the big romantic fairy tale...people in your age group don't have the energy to stay up late and party and although there was music, no one danced because they would rather sit and visit and then go home because they have things to do the next day, including some who had to report to work at normal time. 

The next day as we cleaned up, the groom informed me that he felt it was a rip off that the wedding dress was a wear once and it's over. I said, well, usually. I commented that the wedding industry and the funeral industry really know how to mkW people spend money. 

Although we didn't pay for the food and some of the other items, we did pay for a variety of things to get the place ready. DH lasered coasters with the wedding couple's name and the date. He also lasered glasses with the same. He lasered a board with a nice poem about we know you'd be here if you could, but heaven is too far away for the late father of the groom and the bride's late mother. We also bought a large cutting board and lasered a picture and their names and date on it. We bought other things as well and then all the clean up and getting the property ready. I called it "grunt work" because it was a lot of stuff we had to do beforehand. But it looked nice and I think the couple enjoyed their day. 

The bride claimed this would be a small wedding, but I think she's shocked at how much she wound up spending before it was all said and done. I just can't imagine spending as much as she did, but she did get her big party, so I guess that's what matters.

We are now about rested up after all the celebrations. Thank goodness!