All the leaves are brown...

All the leaves are brown,

And the sky is grey

I've been for a walk

On a winter's day.

I'd be safe and warm

If I was in LA

California dreamin'

On such a Winter's day

It seemed appropriate that mum left on a grey, drizzly, miserable sort of day. I wandered around and took some bad artistic photos of the dreariness, then went home and fed the baby. We're on our own now!

Squirrel Nests

I believe the bundle of leaves in the centre of this photo is a squirrel nest - a drey. It will be lined with finer things like moss and pineneedles. They're used to keep warm and to presumably have babies (in June, apparently in January it is preferable to have a hollow in a tree). Lots are becoming obvious now the leaves are falling.

Traffic light jelly

This isn't a tradition from my side of the family, but Nana had a go with the boys, and the outcome was very tasty!

Thanksgiving Gingerbread

This was at our place on the thanksgiving table. There is a lot to be said for a festive family get together once a year where no-one has to stress about buying presents (given a choice, I'd prefer it!).

This year's fruit mince pies

Hubby got going so we could gift some fruit mince pies at a Thanksgiving dinner. They're looking very professional now!

The end of the leaves

A bit of wind went through, and we're officially obviously past peak foliage...

Nurturing our dolly!

Some other activities to amuse oneself while mum is nursing: Jousting, playing with  cars and reading books with mum.

Organising the baby drawers

This wasn't my original aim, I just wanted to organise the drawers a bit more... But rolling everything works rather well with the little suits.

Digging work

Work is progressing. We are inspecting it every day we can. The workers are amused.

Baby's Quilt /Playrug

Forget what pattern this is. But it has a waterproof backing for picnicking and vomiting!

Iceskating

The seasons turn, the sport changes...

More Foliage

 

Morning tea at Pauls

Still had the baby, of course, who wanted second breakfast in the middle of it all, but did manage to go out for a walk, to a cafe, and talk to each other for a bit. Great croissants, and hubby also managed to end up with a piece of rasberry tart!

Knight in shining armour

 

Having unexpectedly (but correctly) remembered that after Halloween he was allowed to wear his brothers costume, Little Brother has embarked on an orgy of knight hood. This includes going to the park, and the supermarket, kicking leaves in the gutter, playing soccer out back, sleeping and eating in the costume. Lengthy jousts are held (thanks, Renn Fest) back and forth along the length of our living area, while I sit on the couch and nurse, and commentate (to the point of exhaustion...). Big brother is a bit put out, having rather less opportunity to wear costumes owing to school attendance, but we are surviving. Together they worked out a rather exciting game with nana and the hockey sticks where nana holds a shield for them to hit. I nixed nayed the other game where they were jousting against each other with the hockey sticks (only one boy had a shield?!). If it all lasts much longer, we will be purchasing extra knight paraphernalia for Christmas. The pros are that balls aren't being kicked in the house, the cons are that people are running around waving hockey sticks in the air.

Baking pumpkin seeds

I feel there are a lot of cultural habits here that seem to have sort of grown out of the homesteading tradition. One of these is, baking the seeds out of the pumpkin that you hollow out to make a Jack O Lantern.
Friends shared their seeds with us last year, as a snack, and I decided to try it this year, with lovely results! I made two flavours - salt and garlic, and salt and oregano. My seeds are a touch chewy, I wonder if I should have left them to dry a bit more. Inspite of this, they're very enjoyable!
It is another thing that I didn't know existed, but if you look "baking pumpkin seeds" up on the internet, there are 50 different recipes, and a variety of opinions about the best way to do them.

PS - mum has since tried butternut pumpkin seeds, and they're ok too, so it isn't just limited to the big orange pumpkins