October Daily 13:

 

This morning I wished for gloves on my hands when I walked. I tucked them up as far as I could into my coat sleeves. When I got home a mug of hot chocolate seemed like just the thing. Roses continue to bloom, although these Secret roses are paler than earlier in the season, and looking a little tattered around the edges. They still smell heavenly. 

I'm keeping a close watch on the weather reports, to ensure that I bring in all the tomatoes before it freezes. We've been down to 5 or 6 thus far (Celsius), so there is a bit of time yet. The little grape and cherry tomatoes get eaten up quickly. For my solitary lunches I like to cut a handful in half, along with cucumber and red bell pepper chunks and eat them with cottage cheese, all drizzled with a bit of balsamic vinegar. 

This afternoon I picked a few apples and made an Apple Cake. It's a favourite recipe around here, given to me many years ago by a friend in Ecuador. It's equally good with whipped cream, ice cream, or caramel sauce, but I prefer my cakes plain. 

Our apples have quite a few worms in them this year, in spite of spraying them early on, before the apples formed. But there is plenty of good flesh on them, too. I hope to make more applesauce soon.