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.