Busy fall season around the farmette

It's a sunny, cool morning at the farmette. Perfect fall day, really, and the temperature's going to 22C.

We took a wee break on Friday after a busy few days, which I'll get into in a moment. A road trip in the Miata south of town, where I had delivered Meals on Wheels a number of times and saw glimpses of a lake as I whizzed by on my mission.

I suggested we check it out. Which we did, and later, I found out that it is Wilder Lake, an 87-acre expanse that is shallow, apparently full of fish and very serene. The shores are dotted with cottages, and the Homestead Golf Club and Winter Resort is nearby.

Before that, we were occupied with building, harvesting and canning.

First, the building. A couple of weeks ago, we finally tackled the greenhouse that had been sitting in a box in the garage for the past four years (!)

It was a huge undertaking that rivalled the hardest IKEA project for fiddliness. Plus I'm about as handy with construction as a duck with a hammer. Still, perseverance, sweat and a lot of swearing got it done. Almost. We still have to tackle the door. Besides the actual building, I got a heck of a late summer tan out of it. So there's that.

We also did some canning. We didn't have a huge tomato crop, so I made salsa. Even then we only got five pints. That's okay. It'll be nice over the winter, and for some ahem, gifts, to friends and family.

We also did down some pickled beets. Again, the crop wasn't great, given that the first flush of green tops were munched by rodents.

The plants did bounce back after I put netting over top of everything, but the beet roots themselves were pretty puny. Too much heat and not enough moisture over the growing season, I think. How about that climate change?

I also had a spurt of creativity and put together this fall bouquet from the grasses, burning bush and chrysanthemums that are just arriving in the front bed.

Not bad, for an amateur. I just love the oat grass, partly because it adds a fluttery bit to the mix and partly because it reminds me of Pat, who gave me the plant in the first place.

In the middle of all this, our Calvin somehow contracted an upper respiratory virus. Sneezing and snorfing so much that he blew out his nose! Dr. Emily, a vet we just met in Hanover, diagnosed him and prescribed Forti Flora, a probiotic to boost his gut health and help him heal.

An interesting sidebar is that I wrote a brochure for the Ontario Veterinarians Association way back in my freelancing days to encourage vets not to over-prescribe antibiotics. Which prompted a whole conversation about anti-microbial resistance and the dangers thereof.

Anyways, here's the gratuitous cat photo. Calvin from last Wednesday's vet visit. His nose is much better now and he's happily on the mend.

Until next week.