Happy Holidays.

Matt, proclaimed best dressed at a recent Holiday Sweater Party, wishes you and yours a very Happy Holidays.

First snow!

Not exactly ready for it (um, mums and snapdragons were still out)... but it was really pretty.

Goodnight, Garden.

CatMatt put the garden to sleep after another season. As in previous years, they learned a lot about bugs and dirt, and ate a lot of ratatouille.

This year's tally:
12 cucumbers, 34 eggplant, 40 green beans, 15 pints of grape tomatoes, 5 yellow squash, 56 Roma tomatoes, 8 Champion (big) tomatoes, 16 golden bell peppers, 61 poblano peppers, and 11 (mixed) gourds.

Next year's goal:
Destroy squash beetles ... and early.

Halloween.

CatMatt carved pumpkins, made gauze ghosts, and served candy and PlayDoh to at least 80 trick-or-treaters this Halloween.

To the woods!

Cat turned 29 last week, and (wonderful) Matt surprised her with a weekend escape in the woods. They spent a few days and a couple nights in a remote log cabin halfway up Brown's Hill, between Bloomington and Nashville, Indiana, and had a truly falltastic weekend. If interested, Picasa album's here.

Laura Lou turns 24.

Cat's sister Laura (Lou) visited CatMatt for her bday weekend, which means all celebrated for three days straight. Spectacular.

First, Cat and Laura had some girl time in Indy ... at local favorites Shapiro's and Iaria's.


Back in Lafayette, the celebration continued with grilling, game-playing, and sitting around a fire in the backyard.


The weekend included a visit to The Checkerboard (any doubt?), which was in particularly true form that evening, according to CatMatt.


Post-Checkerboard.


Come back, Laura Lou!

Adventures in canning, pt 2: Jam

Prepping. First, there's a *bit of sugar in homemade strawberry jam. Second, also needed: pectin and strawberries.


Mashing strawberries with a potato masher is pretty fun. Then,there's cooking and a lot of stirring.


After canning and resting, and finally, gussied up.

*see: massive amount.

Adventures in canning.

What's one to do with 30 plus Roma tomatoes? CatMatt decided: salsa. And, time to figure out how to use this canner thing.
Step 1. Call Mary Kay for much-needed advice and insight.

Step 2. Get out and prepare a whole mess of equipment.

Step 3. Cook.

Step 4. Can.

Step 5. Salsa! In jars!

Step 6. Eat salsa.

This year's first summer harvests.

Cat's cooked a lot of eggplant so far this season. A lot. Ratatouille, anyone?

Progress. (for the plant-obsessed)

The stuff's blooming and growing, and CatMatt are beginning to enjoy the fruits (and blooms) of their spring labor. They've planted more even since these photos were taken about two weeks ago, however, so the beautification/obsession (?) happily continues.



Peppers, eggplant, and tomatoes soon, they hope. And first tomatoes of the season.

Done.

Matt totally built this trellis:


New paths on both sides of the garden:

Complete with awesome new garden art. Thanks, Laura Lou!