My First Squash Soup

I enjoy eating squash soup - but I had never made it. Time to try!

I read a few recipes, to get the general idea.

I washed - then sliced - a butternut squash in three-quarter inch slices, brushing both sides with olive oil. Removing the seeds from the fatter part, I sliced that in half and lightly brushed that with oil too.

I baked the squash for 40 minutes at 425 degrees F, then set it aside to cool.

In the meantime, I chopped up and fried a large onion and several cloves of garlic, added 3 cups of vegetable broth, letting the mixture simmer for 10 minutes. 

I mashed the baked squash with a fork, removing the skin, which was actually very soft at this point. After blending the onion and broth with an immersion blender, I combined it with the mashed squash and heated the two together.

I added a bit of pepper, but no other spices.

The soup was naturally sweet. Next time I might try adding some other spices, but I wouldn't want to detract from the delicate squash flavour. I enjoyed it both hot and cold.

Now I'd like to try it again with a different type of squash. 

Little Boy's Influence!

This autumn pumpkin display has a little boy's influence all over it!

The truck...

The decision to bring one pumpkin indoors for the night... (He didn't say why!)

The little face he drew on the baby pumpkin... 

Just like he cared for the potted herbs this past summer, he's now looking after the pumpkin display!

Oh no! Didn't Get It...

In our family, we often shares stories, photos, Wordle scores and jokes with one another during the day. That's one of the positive aspects of the internet (emails and messaging). We never really feel that we are far away from one another.

(So different from my weekly letters home to my parents when I moved away!) 

But recently my daughter shared TWO internet jokes ... and I DIDN'T GET THEM!! (At least, not without a hint from her...)

Here's one...

And here's the other... She actually had to explain it to me! I didn't notice that the "restaurant" was a baby's high chair...

But (on the positive side), I did remember which jokes I didn't "get".., and the helplessness I felt missing why each one was funny.

(Hopefully, it's just a generational "gap"!)

If I Were a Farmer...

When my parents met, my father was renting a farm near New Serepta, Alberta and my mother was a teacher in a one-room country school nearby.

My father enjoyed farming, and may well have remained a farmer - but my mother vetoed the idea, knowing how hard farmers have to work - no days off! 

So, at her insistence, they moved into town. 

But I sometimes wonder how different my life would have been - what knowledge and skills would I have gained - had I grown up on a farm?

That was the thought that crossed my mind recently when I saw smoke blowing across a farmer's field.

(Or was it steam?!)

Both my parents could look out on any field they were passing - and know exactly what the crop was that was growing there...

What was the farmer doing? I have no idea... They would probably have known - but I see nothing recognizable ... (though I do notice a yellow sky!)

Sometimes I grieve that earthy farming knowledge lost to me.

Curling Season Begins Again

Curling lessons have begun for kids in Almonte. My granddaughter wanted to take lessons again...

Her father sent me the picture above...

Is Jericho old enough to join her this year? I asked...

No, but while he waits for her in the change room, he keeps busy making friends.

He then sent me the second picture.

Hmmm. In my day, they would have been playing "train ride"... 

Is this "plane ride" or "school" or "sledding" or "on the bus"? Whatever it is, a girl is in front ("driving"?).

Maybe things have changed!

YELLOW Sky?!

I've never thought of YELLOW as a sky colour...

But sometimes it apparently is!

Looking through my "sky" photos... Definitely bits of yellow here and there...

... though none as strong as the top photo.

According to "Wilki-How," yellow-looking skies can be caused  by storm clouds, dust, pollen or smoke.

I'll definitely be looking for yellow now, too, when I photograph "pink and blue" skies!

Another Beautiful Month

October 2025 was a beautiful month here in Ottawa!

Moderate in temperature...

Beautiful to behold - with amazing leaf  - and sky - colours, day after day!

How to convey that on a nature calendar? It's impossible!

But every day I noted the temperature, the weather - and a few activities.

I didn't colour it in until the end of the month.

Five  unusual animal sightings this month, though I just heard about them - I didn't  personally see any. Some made it onto the calendar.

One morning, our neighbour's dog was sprayed by a skunk in their backyard. A day or two later, this same neighbour found an owl in his garage workshop. The owl had been chased there by 3 angry crows. The owl eventually left voluntarily, crows still in chase! Terry saw the owl; I just heard the crows!

My son who lives in the country also had two animal interactions. Driving home in the dark, he hit a raccoon, damaging his bumper. A week later, he heard a scratching sound in his basement and discovered a squirrel in his furnace room. An hour later, when the exterminator arrived, they couldn't hear or see the animal. They blocked up several possible entry spots and set several traps in the room. Not sure if any animal has yet been caught.

Terry also spotted a beaver in the country as we were driving along - but I was looking in a different direction and so I missed it!

An eventful month, as we tried to get out a lot and enjoy the weather!