Ticking Along Nicely

Today brought some wonderful news. Mom is leaving the hospital this week. She has worked very hard at recovering from the knee infection and surgery, and looks healthy and happy.

Here at Mist Cottage we are enjoying our day.

Attila met with the dental office this morning, the proposal for care has been submitted for approval, and now he waits. Hopefully just a few weeks. We are hoping there are no further complications and delays with this dental coverage.

Attila is also working hard to see the garden through the autumn. Many plants have been removed and composted, such a the basil. Other plants are plugging along giving us fresh produce, such as the green beans. Things like the green beans will be put under tarps tonight, as the temperature is falling close to freezing and a hard frost is a real possibility. Other plants will be left to naturally perish in the cold. Still others will not be affected by frost, or even a freeze, such as the beets.

This morning for breakfast I enjoyed raw green peppers, strawberries, and ground cherries. I don’t think that will last much longer though.

Today I canned pickled cayenne peppers, with Attila assisting by dicing the peppers. I do not eat pickled peppers, they are all for Attila, so I appreciate that he dices them just the way he wants them.

Since Attila was away at his dental appointment this morning, I headed out on the daily walk by myself. I met a neighbour just as I began and we walked together. The sky to the north was very dark, it looked like it would rain, we decided to keep going anyway. About a quarter mile along it started to spit rain, then drizzle, then a mild rain fell. We decided to keep going, got a little wet, and by the time my street came into view the rain had abated for the day, and the sun came out. I do enjoy walking in the rain when the temperature is warm enough for it.

Yesterday I decided to dust the bedroom. My oh my how the dust accumulates in this little house. Luckily the vacuum cleaner has a HEPA filter, so the dust was not overwhelming as the vacuum brush made short work of the job. The real challenge with dusting here is that objects are everywhere, collecting dust, so there is a tremendous amount of finicky dusting going on.

Ginger has been enjoying the open windows, and eyeing the open door, as we move in and out, between the garden and the kitchen. Yesterday as I was working in the kitchen he wandered in and demanded my attention, putting his paws on my knees and telling me… what? I dried my hands and told him to lead on, so he did. He led me straight to his food bowl. Aha, a tissue had been blown by the wind and landed over his food bowl. Feline emergency!! Easily fixed. As soon as the offending tissue was removed, all interest in me evaporated, and the now available food bowl became the centre of the feline universe.

Today the open windows are not only letting in the breeze, bringing the radon down to safe levels, but also allowing construction noise to overtake the interior of the house. Three doors down a construction crew is installing a second driveway in front of that neighbour’s house. The noise is similar to road construction, and has been going on all day long.

With housing costs what they are, more and more people are living in the little bungalows on our street, they are changing from single family dwellings to multi-family dwellings. More people, more cars, bigger driveways. Front yards are beginning to disappear under pavement.

Not at our house though, not yet, and probably not while we live at Mist Cottage.

The garden is still ticking along. All of the produce that will be killed by frost is harvested. Lots of green tomatoes to ripen in the basement. Green peppers, jalapeno and cayenne peppers, and green beans. I am canning every day right now, today it was pickled cayenne peppers, yesterday it Cowboy Candy (sweet pickled jalapeno peppers), the day before that it was Salsa Verde.

There will be a few more weeks of almost daily canning. And some dehydrating and freezing. By the beginning of November the gardening and preserving will be over for the 2026 season.

I am sitting here writing, the construction noise has halted. Ginger is snoring on the couch. Attila is out in the garden placing his tarps over the plants he wants to protect from tonight’s frost. All is well in my world, and I hope it is in yours too.

Worldly

Weather

12°C
Yellow Advisory: Frost
Date: 6:00 PM EDT Monday 5 October 2026
Condition: Mostly Cloudy
Pressure: 101.8 kPa
Tendency: Rising
Temperature: 11.8°C
Dew point: 0.6°C
Humidity: 46%
Wind: WNW 27 gusts 41 km/h
Visibility: 24 km

Quote

“Real joy comes not from ease or riches or from the praise of men, but from doing something worthwhile.”
Sir Wilfred Grenfell
1865 – 1940