We are into the final days of autumn here in NW Ohio.  Actually, our season has lasted longer than normal, I think.  It's beginning to get chilly overnight, but the days are rather warm and very breezy.  Towards evening we often get short, fast-moving showers.  Then the sun tries to peek back under the clouds just before sunset and makes beautiful rainbows. Last week we had rainbows two evenings in a row!



In the kitchen we're working on putting up apples.  We have over 30 quarts of apple pie filling, a multitude of applesauce, and a fair amount of apple butter.  After three days of cranking the apple peeler/slicer/corer and processing jar after jar of produce, I have had my fill of the smell of apples and cinnamon!  

This year's crop of alpaca fiber is back from the mill.  This year I have skeins and skeins of yarn in different natural colors and weights.  I also have rovings to spin, great heavy bumps for large-needle knitting, and felted sheets for sewing.  By special request I've dyed some fiber...my first foray into professional dyes.  I used my trusty old crockpot and dyed three or four skeins at a time.  The yarn came out of the pot bright and variegated.  Happy dyer, happy customer!

I've been working on my knitting over the last year or so.  I now consider myself to be a confident advanced beginner!  I've just finished this watermelon-colored shawl.  Making the triangles was a slight challenge, but I'm very pleased with the results!  Next I will try to conquer cables!

And last, but certainly not least...reading material!  When I can find a quiet moment, I've been working my way through the Murdoch Mysteries by Maureen Jennings.  I started reading them after I finished the Murdoch Mysteries tv series.  I would say that the programs are loosely based on the books.  The William Murdoch in the books is now a completely different character in my head.  But I love the historical nature of the novels and will be very disappointed when these are finished as well. 

Enjoy!