More Battening

Our preparations for winter continue. After already making the garage mostly ready to receive the car two weekends ago, last week we had the furnace inspected to make sure it was also ready for the the abuse that it's about to receive.

We've already had one light frost, and since there's another in the forecast for tomorrow night, it was also time to put the garden to bed on the weekend. We cut down the remains of many plants and emptied the hanging baskets. A few plants remain in flower — some mums and some geraniums — so we've let them be for now at least.

The grass has been cut and edged for the final time. If it needs to be done again, it will have to wait until spring because the lawnmower has been put out of the way on a high shelf. Otherwise, we could barely get around the the car when we need to park it in the garage. Amazingly, my back survived the lifting.

In other news, I was inspired to cook a new dish yesterday — a zucchini toss with penne, red peppers and asiago cheese. I shouldn't have. Really, I shouldn't have. It tasted awful and the semi melted cheese, which was required to be mixed with the rest of the ingredients, was a horror to clean up. The recipe should have come with a warning: "Tastes awful and makes a mess." How such a recipe could have escaped the kitchens of Canadian Living to be published in one of their cookbooks is beyond me.

I guess we're ready for Old Man Winter and Jack Frost to come a'callin, but we await with empty stomachs thanks to that horrid dish.