A random assortment of pictures from the last month of so. Nothing from the last week so you can’t see all the snow we’ve got now. Maisie started to really get the hang of balancing on her kick bike and asked for a peddle bike. We probably would have put it off until the spring but we had such a mild fall here that she got to do quite a bit of riding before the snow came. She insists on not having the training wheels so riding involves quite a bit of help from us but she has to do all the peddling to make it move and she is so proud of herself. She picked out some pink streamers and a purple horn for her bike. She tells everyone about them.

I’ve been thoroughly enjoying the antics of our friend squirrels. Their behaviour changes as we move through the year. Near the end of August they start coming to the feeder, grabbing food and running away to hide it. Sometimes it goes into the plant pots on the deck, sometimes into the garden, sometimes further away. The squirrels are pretty comfortable with us by this point and if we’re reasonably still on the deck they’ll come to the feeder or the pots while we’re there. We’ve taken in the last of the garden now. Maisie’s dark purple dahlia opened up beautifully and even managed a second bloom. The smaller, light purple one was only starting to open when it looked like we were going to get a hard frost so I brought the pot inside to finish opening up. When Maisie talks about flowers right now they are nearly always dahlias.

Hallowe’en is coming up next week. I think Maisie is more excited about handing out candy than collecting any but she’s also pretty excited about dressing up and showing off whatever sparkly dress she finally decides on. Last year she stayed up pretty late helping me hand out candy and was very disappointed when we finally ran out and had to stop.

A few project notes:
- the cat was designed by Maisie with some minimal direction from me. I asked her to draw shapes and then I cut them out, sewed them together and stuffed them. She drew the face and gave directions for the beaded nose.
- The sweater in progress is a Kids Canvas Cardigan from Making No. 3 in TFA Purewash DK in the colour Milkyway. More details on my Raverly page.
- The orange skirt was a quick make for Orange Shirt Day at school when we realized Maisie had not a single piece of orange clothing to wear and I didn't have anything I could make a shirt from (not one she'd wear anyway).
- The birthday cake is this recipe from Smitten Kitchen. Quite possibly my new go-to because it is just the right amount of cake and so quick to make.
- The bird family  were all made from the Blue Birds of Happiness pattern from The Paper Shed on Etsy which Maisie spotted over my shoulder one Saturday morning. Maisie chose all the felt colours: and gave directions on who was who: the daddy is peach with a white tummy and the mummy is blue with a green tummy and the babies are light pink and dark pink. I chose the floss colours and substituted french knots for beads for the eyes. They were a very quick sew and very satisfying to make.