Apple Harvest Time

 We hadn't visited an apple orchard for the past few years as the harvest had been terrible for one reason or another. This year was different though, and the trees were full of perfect apples-it almost makes you wonder if  they're using a new fertiliser, or planted more blight resistant trees or if they just resorted to luring a Scottish policeman to the orchard  had some good luck this year. Er...whatever they're doing, it seems to be working!

I guess I could ask one of the people that work here, though they're all dressed as woodland animals today for some odd reason.

We made it out alive home with about twenty pounds of apples, so we'll be enjoying a number of interesting dishes over the next couple weeks. I made a red onion and apple relish to go with black bean tacos tonight.

I have my glow-in-the-dark Halloween sign up. I adore Halloween. Dressing up and eating candy-what's not to like?! I know it is more than a month away, so I'm going slow with the decorations. I need to locate a few pumpkins for the front garden. This is my first wear of this beautiful Autumn cardigan. The skirt is new (to me) as well. More plaid-ah well, I'm a creature of habit.

I do like a novelty cardigan, but rarely find one in my size. This is from Talbots, and is a cotton/silk blend. It is quite warm-perhaps a bit too warm for outdoor wear at the moment, though indoors where air conditioning units are still going at full blast it is just about right. I don't remember buying the pheasant brooch, but it went well with the overall autumn vibe of the outfit. 

 This was also a first wear for these vintage Selby shoes I bought at Thrift World. They're not in the best shape, and it would tough to fix them, so I'm going to wear them until they fall apart and get my $1.98 out of them. If nothing else, they're large so they don't hurt my injured toe.

 These earrings have a matching brooch shaped like a tree.

Outfit Particulars:

Skirt-Goodwill

Vintage blouse-Goodwill

Cardigan-Hand-Me-Ups

Shoes-Thrift World

Socks-K Mart

Vintage handbag-New Life Thrift

Brooch-can't remember

Belt-Von Maur

Fragrance-vintage Shulton Friendship Garden

We also visited Heron Haven last weekend.

We went for the butterfly release.

It was somewhat anti-climactic as the butterflies didn't seem interested in flying out of the tent. Eventually, they just took the tent apart. I think the butterflies are tagged with chips so their migration patterns can be tracked. 

The pond was infested full of frogs. I mean, hundreds of them. Everywhere. I don't think I've ever seen that many frogs in one place. It was like a biblical plague or something (and there were locusts too)!  For those of you keeping track that's, frogs, locusts, fire, hail, darkness (remember that eclipse we were all ooohing and ahhing over a few weeks back?).  If I were the religious sort I'd be getting my spiritual shit in order. 

 Somebunny has been eating the flowers.

I don't know what the purple flowers are, but the yellow and black are Black Eyed Susans and the frilly yellow stuff is Goldenrod (the Nebraska state flower). It grows like mad and blooms late in the season adding interest to gardens and fields where most everything else has finished blooming. If you decide to grow it, be warned-it takes over. I had it on the farm, but I don't dare plant it in the city. The flowers can be soaked to make a beautiful yellow die. 

 As long as the weather stays nice, I'm willing to get outdoors and enjoy it-we can do our schoolwork outdoors as easily as in. Winters can be endless in Nebraska, so it makes sense to enjoy every nice day we get.

This wasn't a photo-op sign...it was a bean-bag toss game! They're just lucky no one lobbed one at their mugs.

Hope your week is off to a great start.

Late Spring in Omaha

I spotted this Great Blue Heron at where else...Heron Haven. Strangely enough, this was the first time I've seen a heron there! It was such a beautiful evening, we decided to take a detour on the way to the market to have a short walk along the trails. I love this time of year when there's more hours of sunlight, but the evenings are still cool enough to enjoy a walk.

The garden is doing well. We had fresh strawberries for breakfast last weekend and it was a true delight. The first borage flowers bloomed and the bees are spending their days gathering pollen. Over the past few years the borage has blown through the neighbourhood re-seeding itself, and I was pleased to see people leaving it. The dianthus are happy as well.

 The summer wardrobe is getting worn. This Marimekko set isn't a playsuit, but rather shorts and a matching top I bought at Target last year during their designer collaboration. The pattern is supposed to look like orange slices. Very, very underripe orange slices! The macrame shoulderbag was made in Iowa in the 70's. I have several of these bags, and they've become indispensable summer bags for me. As a bonus, they're washable which makes them the perfect tote for days at the park.

 I've been busy perfecting my pie baking skills in time for the State Fair. Today, I baked a peach and nectarine pie, though in hindsight, a few raspberries would have been welcome. I'm keeping tasting notes from everyone I'm forcing pie on-so far no one is complaining they're sick of pie. The fair isn't until September, so I have plenty of time to practise.

I spotted this over Mr. ETB's shoulder. He was supposed to be checking the local library website for a few Canadian titles I want to use for class next year-but he was obviously sidetracked. The internet didn't have an opinion, but cultural generalisations don't occur in a vacuum so yeah, they probably are polite. You can be characterised as worse things than polite-take it from an American 😁

 Okie dokie,. moving along then..,.

 This top had an inaugural wear. I can't decide if I like it. The shoulders make my posture look worse than it already is, and the open lacework makes it challenging to find just the right bra. Maybe I'm lazy, but that just seems like more complicated than a summer blouse ought to be. I'll move it to the, "Maybe" pile and give it another wear before deciding, but I'm leaning towards, "Discard."

I'm keeping the celluloid necklace though-that was a lucky find.

Thrifting is hard work! It was nice of the Goodwill to put these headless mannequins out to lean on. Prudish American that I am, I was tempted to put some clothes on it.  You can't just leave an undressed mannequin in the window-that's positively scandalous. We had a housekeeper that was very religious and would get upset if my dolls were unclothed. She didn't like posters where the eyes followed her around either, but she might have just been suspicious of Jimi Hendrix. Anyway, Goodwill, put some damn clothes on your mannequins before they catch their death from cold!

 This is my, "Holly Hobbie" dress. I haven't worn it in nearly three years! The barkcloth fabric gets uncomfortably hot, so most years by the time I can wear a summer dress, it is already too warm. This year, the weather behaved and I hurried to unpack and wear the dress before it gets too hot. It will get too hot-Friday is expected to be 90 degrees F. The pool opened today though, so I know where I'll be!

I'm off to replace my pastry cutter as you can't make a lattice crust without a fluted edge. I don't know where they keep disappearing to. Probably ran off with the odd socks.

Get Your Own Litterbox!

It was a beautiful, windy, unseasonably warm January day in Nebraska, so we headed out to make the most of it. We did a bit of thrift shopping, and then made our way to Heron Haven to see what wildlife might be around.

While we were in the bird blind with some other people, this muskrat swam over for a photo. Danny said he spotted another, and I announced if I saw a second muskrat, I'd have to sing. That got snickering from the older people. Thankfully for everyone the second never showed up!

Muskrat muskrat....

Luckily, I don't know any songs about mallards. 

Or Canada Geese!

Outfit Particulars:

1970's polyester maxi dress-Thrift World (years ago)

1970's polyester jacket(came with a dress)-Salvation Army (I think)

High heeled sneakers-Goodwill

Handbag-Long gone shop in the abandoned mall

Vintage necklace-Garage sale

Earrings-Garage sale

Lucite bangle-Hand-Me-Ups

Fragrance-Amouge Gold (I could barely smell it-must be the jasmine anosmia kicking in)

Before I leave you, I must show you something we saw for sale at Goodwill.

WTF?!

Look, I like cats, but I wouldn't want to share a toilet with them. I can't get the boys to wipe up the seat, how neat do you think a cat would be?  Is changing the kitty litter that big of a deal? Has anyone with cats used this thing? I'm trying to be open minded but I don't think I could share a toilet with a pet no matter how much I liked it. Just imagine how outraged a cat would be if  I sat my fat ass down in the litter box to drop a turd. There's some things you just don't share. Or, I don't anyway. I'm kinda judgmental that way.

Hope you're having a lovely weekend.

Cosmic Blues

 I haven't had my heart in thrifting lately, so when Mr. ETB all but dragged me to New Life Thrift (partly because he wanted an egg roll from the Chinese takeaway next door) I didn't expect to find much as I wasn't really looking. Well! Each rail yielded more vintage than I'd seen in months and at bargain prices as well. The task now is finding somewhere to wear it all. I thought Heron Haven was a perfect place to start as the Butterfly Garden is coming into full bloom after all the rain. Let's have a look about.

I try to spend as much time as possible at Heron Haven as it is close to home, and a peaceful place to just take in nature. The mushroom garden is going crazy after all the rain we've had, and of course there are plenty of birds to be seen. 

Outfit Particulars:

1990's polyester dress-New Life Thrift

1960's capelet (part of another dress)-New Life Thrift

1970's straw purse-New Life Thrift

1950's green crystal clip earrings-Hand-Me-Ups

Hair flowers-Tiff and Tam

Plastic bracelets-Target about 15 years ago

Ring-Goodwill

Fragrance-CB I Hate Perfume's Mr. Hulot's Holiday (It really does smell like wet rocks at the seaside)

The long holiday weekend also saw a visit to DeSoto Wildlife Refuge. The photo is blurry, but they have a giant eagle's nest and masks where you can take photos. I believe it is intended for children. Right. Someday, Danny will bring home a date and we'll show them this photo. 

"Hey, he shat the nest again!"

We looked better with the masks on. 

Outfit Particulars:

Peacock print cotton caftan-Thrift World

Shell earrings-World Market about 10 years ago

Cazal frames-Mum's

Fragrance-Chanel No.22

Eagles aren't the only birds nesting at the refuge. These cliff swallows are set up in a colony.

The turtles were making the most of the weather, napping in the sunshine-which sounds like a great idea. I'm off for a snooze on the patio.