I never really understood Anne Shirley’s feelings on October until I moved here. It is so beautiful right now, I can barely stand it. The colours are gorgeous, and every day is a little bit different. I’m becoming slightly unhinged, talking about leaves to my family every day.
I mean, I am stopping perfect strangers on the street to talk to them about fall colours, which isn’t TOTALLY out of line for me, but I am starting to become a tiny bit concerned about my sanity. Also I’m starting to worry that people are going to recognize and avoid me from here on in.
For the first time ever, I will not be celebrating Halloween in the traditional sense, and so I’m a little early this month, talking about my Favourite Things! Some of these things are tricks, some are treats, and some are both.
Gourds, Decorative and Otherwise, Motherfuckers
You guys, I grew my own pumpkins!
Cute, right? Have you ever seen a more perfect pumpkin? There’s more where that came from, in addition to my massive haul of butternut squash.
And, of course, more zucchini.
I could not resist the siren call of the motherfucking decorative gourds. It’s the season, motherfuckers!
Fruit Is Nature’s Candy
As I mentioned a few weeks ago, grape harvesting is done, and so I have thoroughly enjoyed my own backyard Concords.
There is so much incredible fresh fruit right now, and my favourites are pears and apples. A neighbourhood girl was selling plums from her own backyard trees to raise money for the Terry Fox Foundation, so of course I had to buy some.
But the apples, my god, the apples. I cannot get enough of those delicious, tree-ripened McIntosh apples. I’m eating two or three a day right now. I may turn into an apple. HOW DO YOU LIKE THEM APPLES.
These apples are delicious! As a matter of fact they are, she said.
The Other Kind of Grape
We live at the bottom of a vineyard; we own, along with my mother-in-law, two acres of it, but the rest is owned by the founder of Tantalus Vineyards. What you may not know is that those vineyards were owned by my husband’s family until my late father-in-law sold them to Tantalus twenty years ago. They still have a block named after him, and they still have the Old Vines, planted by him – and my then-teenaged husband – in 1978. The winery is, therefore, a place I like to visit, particularly when we have out-of-town guests, and so I took my parents there for a wine tasting.
I love their homegrown Riesling, but I REALLY love their Syrah. The Syrah grapes are not grown on the adjacent property; instead they come from just south of here, and sadly they, along with 95% of Okanagan grapes, were decimated by the cold snap we had here in January. Yes, you read that right: 95% of ALL wine grape crops in the Okanagan were destroyed, which means that there will be little to no 2024 vintage. People, if you love Okanagan wines, get them now while you can.
I was disheartened to hear that of 110 Syrah grape plants, from which this wine is made, 108 are gone. You can bet I’m going to savour these wines that my dad bought for me, because it will be many years before they are available again.
Just An Ordinary Girl In An Ordinary World
On a less-apocalyptic note, let’s talk about Ordinary products. I have been using this line for a few years, ever since my wrinkle-less friend Denise (HI DENISE) told me about them. I have loved their caffeine undereye serum, but I branched out and bought the multi-peptide one, and I really think it’s made a difference.
I also bought Matrixyl for my forehead wrinkles, and while I don’t think these are miraculous, dermatologist office substitutes, I think they work pretty well. Things don’t seem to be getting worse, and sometimes the status quo is the best we can hope for.
Ghosting the Blessed Life
Whenever someone visits my house for the first time, there is a guarantee that they will comment on the volume of bananas on my countertop. I don’t blame them; as a family we go through a vast amount. I personally go through fourteen bananas a week, entirely in smoothie form.
My breakfast smoothie is made up of cashew milk, nut butter, a frozen banana, and a ton of spinach. I always feel great after consuming it; it’s a nutrition bomb full of vitamins, fibre, calcium, and iron.
The one thing it’s not super high in is protein. I mean, yes, there is protein involved, but I don’t feel it’s enough to adequately fuel my very active, plant-based lifestyle. This means that every lunch I make myself a smoothie with protein powder, cashew milk, and yet another frozen banana. It feels like a milkshakey treat, and I look forward to it. I used to buy the Protein Works vegan line, but it was a) expensive, and b) only available in the US or UK, and so I was always paying exchange rates and shipping. I decided to branch out and I’m so glad I did.
Ghost vegan protein powder tastes exactly like a delicious chocolate milkshake, not too sweet or cloying, and it has a perfect, non-gritty texture.
I’ve tried a few of the Blessed flavours, to much disappointment. The chocolate, usually a safe flavour for me, is frankly disgusting, and the strawberry isn’t much better. The chocolate coconut is okay, but this! This vanilla chai, which sounds like a risky choice, is really, really good. Once in a while I’ll even use it instead of nut butter in my spinach smoothie and it works great.
Outfit of the Month
It’s my Fall Uniform!
Suzanne (HI SUZANNE) recently was talking about buying multiples of the same clothing item, which is a very relatable topic. I have bought three pair of the Infinite Fit Silver jeans that I spoke about last month – they are stretchy and comfortable and, amazingly, don’t lose their shape. They fit like a more-structured yoga pant. These ones are the straight cut, which I like to wear cuffed with booties. The sweater is just a light old one from the Gap, and the tank top underneath is from Lululemon, both about six years old. I wear some combination of jeans, boots, and a black – or, if I’m feeling saucy, grey – sweater, often with a tank underneath, basically every day. Why mess with the uniform?
As previously mentioned, I won’t be celebrating Halloween in the traditional sense, and that is because I’m going on a big adventure! To that end, I will be taking a blog break. I can’t wait to tell you all about it, sometime in November, but until then, take care of yourselves, friends. Treat yourselves tenderly, and maybe treat yourself to a few treats as well. Or tricks! I don’t judge. xo
Oh, Nicole!!!!! Have a wonderful adventure and I can’t wait to hear all about it (and how your backpacks held up)! I don’t think I’ve ever been out of touch for so long since meeting you…
Your neighbor with the plums seems adorable–the way they decorated the bags is so charming and they have the best name ;). I will be on the lookout for Tantalus wines from now on now that I know of your connection to it. And I’m so impressed by your pumpkins and squash because those mean you’re kind of set for the winter months. THAT’S
some serious homesteading!
Please give Rex lots of pets from me, please? I so love his dear face. XOXO
I hope you can get Tantalus where you are! If you see it definitely try it!
I thought you might like the plums 🙂
So much fall fruit and veggies! I love it!!!
I recently ordered apples and pears from Davidson Farm located in Kelowna. Every year, my friend’s daughter, has to raise money for the swim club she belongs to. To support her, we bought a box many years ago and because they were delicious, we now buy a few boxes every year and a few of my friends buy them too. I wish the farm would also sell plums. 😋
Because I eat animal products, I don’t usually add protein powder in my smoothies. But I totally know what you mean about having tried many protein powders before you found a favourite. A lot of them taste like chemicals or chalky. I do love to add nut butter and hemp seeds to smoothies – so much nutrition! And protein too.
Farm fresh apples are just so great! I think plums are maybe harder to transport – also this year wasn’t great for stone fruit because of the cold snap last winter. Still, what we had was yummy!
Our leaves are still mostly green, but we have touches of color popping up here and there. I am glad you are getting to enjoy some fall color. I wish I could eat that much fruit, but I’m limited to 1/2 an apple or pear at a time (1/4 if it’s at breakfast). I am eating apple or pear every day, too, though. I had pear in my chia pudding this morning.
We grew pumpkins one year and one was big enough to use as a jack-o-lantern, but I picked it too soon and the rind was very hard and difficult to cut. Live and learn.
Have fun on your trip! Can’t wait to hear all about it.
Oh Steph, I didn’t know that about the apples and pears and I had to just stare into space for a moment.
These pumpkins are apparently “jack o lantern” variety but unless J carves one while we are gone (unlikely) I won’t know if they are good for it or not.
Wow, that really is a perfect pumpkin! I love all the gourds. And how fun that you GREW THEM YOURSELF.
I’ll come up to take care of Rex while you’re gone! Oh wait- I’m probably needed here (darn.) Or maybe you’re taking him with you- but for some reason I’m under the impression that you’re flying. Anyway- have a great trip! I can’t wait to hear all about it.
Not to worry, Jenny, Rexie will be living his second best life (his first best is with me!) while we are gone!
Your pumpkins are pure perfection! You had an impressive harvest of everything, and I’m so jealous of all the fruits & veggies you have access to right out your front door! I can totally see why you talk about the fall foliage so much – it’s gorgeous. I go on about it here, and ours isn’t nearly as colorful as yours. We have a lot of golds, but not as many reds, purples, and oranges. When I see a red tree, I’m screaming, “Ooooh! Look at that!” I hope you have a wonderful trip, Gnicole, but WAAAAAAA. I’m going to miss you!!
THE RED TREES!!! There are some near the lake that are a brilliant red and I’m always internally screaming/ dancing like Maria in the Sound of Music.
I’ll still be around the IG world! But I’ll miss you too (will be catching up on the gnome party in November! Then it will be Christmas Gnome Season!)
Concord grapes are mom’s favorite. Macs are my fave apple. Right now I’m chomping a lot of apples from the farm and damn they are delicious. Enjoy your adventure!
There is nothing so delicious as fresh-from-the-farm fruit! Love it.
I am pretty lame in the face care department but my daughter is loving The Ordinary products and they seem quite inexpensive? Can you get them other places than Sephora? She ordered some from there with a birthday gift card, but I haven’t actually looked to source them closer to home.
LOOK AT THAT HAUL OF PRODUCE. I am so, so jealous. I have zero desire to garden myself, but I really wish I lived next to you and could piggyback on the bounty.
I have friends who have a counter overflowing with bananas – they eat A LOT of smoothies!
Have the best time on your adventure. Can’t wait to catch up when you get home <3
The Ordinary products are very inexpensive! And they last for quite a while, so really great value. Allegedly they are also available at The Bay, but I can’t confirm that personally – I’ve always got them from Sephora.
If you lived beside me you would be INUNDATED with produce!
I always enjoy your posts. And your produce is astounding, and yes, I worry when I don’t catch a glimpse of bananas on your counter because I think something must be wrong! As for the colours of fall, I can’t get enough of them. I remember when I first arrived in Canada (many many years ago) and had never seen fall before. And I couldn’t understand why everyone around wasn’t just gasping at it and instead had their heads down in a book or their eyes closed on the bus on my morning commute.
Aww thank you Pearl! I agree with you – how is everyone not walking around amazed all the time at the gorgeous colours?
That really is the perfect pumpkin. I’m struggling with the colder temps, so haven’t been outdoors much to enjoy the fall colors. We did go apple picking a few weeks ago, so I’ve made a caramel apple pie, cinnamon apple waffles, ginger apple bars, and many salad combinations that include apples. There’s still a big bowl of them looking at me. Have a wonderful adventure!
That’s lovely, Bijoux! Not the cold, but the apples. I haven’t made a thing with them, we are just eating them straight up!
What are you going to do with all that squash? Enquiring minds and all that!
Rex! Such a happy face. I can hardly stand his adorableness.
As you know, my husband is allergic to bananas and I sort of hate them, so…no bananas here!
Have a GREAT trip!
I gave away a lot of the squash, but I still have a ton. I plan to use it for soups and to roast.
You know what, I don’t think I DID know that about bananas! No bananas for you!
I love plums and totally would buy Maya’s plums…even if it weren’t to raise funds.
Love your fall uniform and thank you for turning me onto The Ordinary products, I love them. Just got a fresh order of them from Target this week.
Can’t wait to hear about your big adventure! Have fun.
Aren’t those products so great? And so affordable too! Thanks Gigi!
Enjoy your adventure! I can’t wait to hear about it.
Dem pumpkins! Dem apples!
Ghost is a great name for a protein powder because that’s exactly the right taste – nothing. We go through bananas like no one’s business, so you’d feel right at home here.
It IS a good name now that you mention it. I actually was thinking it was a strange name but that makes sense!
I love your home-grown pumpkin! I love that Tantalus wine label, although I’m sad about the grapes. My parents have a plum tree and I had many, many plums from it, but Maya’s bag art is awesome. I got a bag of Macs from the pumpkin patch on Wednesday and they are next-level delicious.
I think I need to get a better smoothie maker, because I think spinach would be really good for me to eat more of, and my immersion blender will not cut it for spinach.
Isn’t that art gorgeous? The wine shop has a lot of carvings from that artist, and it’s really beautiful. MAYBE YOU SHOULD COME HERE, I HAVE A GUEST ROOM FULL OF BOOKS.
Allison, I think you do need a non-immersion blender to really get the spinach to be drinkable. Little pieces of spinach…ugh. I have a vitamix but I hear that kitchen ninjas are great too for the purpose.
I also am so blown away by fall colors. This is one of the perks of having small children. I can comment about the beauty of the leaves over and over and they never get sick of me talking about them because they are amazed by the colors, too! Fall is gorgeous in Mn but probably not quite as nice as where you live since your weather is more moderate/warm than ours tends to be.
That is so sad about the loss of the grapes. How horrible! Mother Nature can really do a number on crops.
Enjoy your time away! I think I know where you are going from a previous comment? I hope you have the best time. I can’t wait to hear all about it!!!
Hi Lisa! Fall colours are amazing and now that I’m back, even more trees are changing. It’s gorgeous here!
I was in Italy for just shy of three weeks and it was amazing, once I’m all caught up on life I’ll tell you everything!
That pumpkin is perfect! And I laughed out loud at your wheelbarrow full of squash. I have a recipe for a roasted butternut squash & leek pasta that is amazing. Send me a couple haha. Have fun on your adventure. Can’t wait to hear all about it!
Ooooh would you be able to share the recipe with me? I’d be happy to share squash, if only you were closer!
Hi Nicole!!!! I hope you have already embarked on your adventure and that it is So Much Fun! I will be all ready for an old fashioned slide show when you return.
Like you, I am a Leaves Person. I will talk to anyone about how gorgeous the fall foliage is. A good portion of every drive to/from school these days — along the exact same route, mind you — is me and my kid exclaiming about the beauty of the trees. So much splendor! All around us! How fun that you are now in a place that has true fall. Yay, fall!!!
Your pumpkin is perfection. I am hopeful that your garden is less prolific pumpkinly than it is zucchinious.
Lol, a slide show. I’ll get the popcorn ready and prepare a blank white wall!
I bet your trees are gorgeous! I missssss youuuuuuu!
You would love taking a walk with Minnie. She examines every single leaf on the ground. The other day, we went to the geology museum on campus, and now she is remarking about leaf patterns and fossil patterns squatting on the ground with her little hands on her thighs– it is darling but also you cannot go anywhere in a hurry, you know?
OMG I know exactly. It’s so wonderful to see the world from their eyes, but also, sometimes we are on a timetable?
Hi Nicole, so nice to catch up with your favorite things again. I am jealous of your garden but in a good way. #lifegoals
Fall in New Jersey can also be so colorful. We’ve had sunny, crisp days that on weekends are spent outside or on the reservation. It hasn’t rained a lot either so I’ll take that any day. Although I do appreciate rain sometimes, too. Funny, before you mentioned something about bananas at the end of the post, I saw the picture of the grapes, at the beginning, and the bananas are in the background, and I was like “whoa, that’s a lot of bananas” LOL And then you pretty much read my mind!
Hahahah EVERYONE comments on the bananas! I just got home and our banana count is low (my son was here, and he is a moderate 5-banana-a-week guy). So it’s off to the grocery store for me!
Wow, I thought we went through a lot of bananas, but nothing like your haul. I sometimes consider getting protein powder and adding it to a smoothie, but I never do because the only ones I have tried have been horrible, so I really appreciate your recommendations. I love good apples, I’m going to have to get to the Farmers’ Market this weekend and get some. I hope you have an amazing trip, and don’t miss Rex TOO much.
J, I know exactly what you’re saying. I’ve tried some pretty vile protein powders. These are yum though, and are a good addition to a smoothie!
I VERY MUCH appreciate the deep cut Barenaked Ladies quote!!! Always nice to spot a fellow fan in the wild. I first saw them on the tour for that album as a matter of fact, and just saw them again a couple weeks ago (for the 24th time).
And that is such a perfect pumpkin!!
RACHAEL!!! I love BNL and my first concert of theirs was for Gordon. Have you heard of the Canadian version of “Decorative GORD Season?” It features the album cover of Gordon, plus pictures of Gordie Howe, Gord Downie, and Gordon Lightfoot. We Canadians love our GORDS.
TWENTY FOUR BNL CONCERTS!!! I love that so much.
I haven’t heard of those protein powders so I just might give them a go! Enjoy your adventures and your harvest. 🙂
Thanks so much Anna!
Yes to the Anne Shirley quote! Ella and I were just watching Anne a few weeks ago, and we both had that same feeling—just, yes. We’re both so grateful for it.
I go through two bags of grapes a week, sometimes even more, so I’m totally envious of your grape crop! I love that you’ve grown so many wonderful things this year.
Enjoy your adventure! I can’t wait to read all about it!
Thanks so much Kari! It feels weird to be back home and it’s November already. Time for Tiny Secret Festive Season. Yesterday I put away the pumpkin-themed dishtowels in favour of Snoopy.
The photos of your fruits and vegetables are perfection. What a fun way to make a garden work for you— and give you blog fodder at the same time. I’m sorry to learn that 95% of ALL Okanagan wine grape crops were destroyed in a cold snap. That is just sad. Looking forward to reading about your adventures. Enjoy!
Isn’t that so sad? It will be a long while before the grape growers recover.
But yes, the garden was so fun – and now it’s time to get ready for TINY SECRET FESTIVE SEASON!
FALL FOLIAGE. Ugh, it gets me every time because we have nothing like that here. I should start taking a trip every October to see some fall leaves.
I love The Ordinary products! Mostly I love how cheap they are. Do they work? IDK but I like paying less than $10 for a serum!
Enjoy your big adventure!
Oooh maybe you should take a trip to Canada!!! I guess I forgot, of course you wouldn’t have anything like that in Florida.
so much produce, especially pumpkin! among my top 3 favorite food of all time.
thanks for the vegan protein powder talk, I use organic protein powder daily to ensure 30g by breakfast time, glad to learn about other good brands. Will try those next time I go to the US.
I totally buy same cloth, especially athletic attire and shirt, I like James Pearce for t-shirt and have all colors, several pieces each. super soft and holds well over time.
Coco, I’m with you – if you find something you like it’s good to stick with it! Especially quality items that last.
I hope you are having fun on your break and can’t wait to hear more about it! I tried a bunch of different protein powders during the pandemic and most of them were gross. The one I ended up liking the best was called Isopure, which did not have that fake sugar taste that many of them have. However, it is whey, not plant based, so I don’t know how you feel about that. Speaking of whey, I also made my own yogurt, and I used the whey to make smoothies and those were actually the best smoothies I have ever had, and were packed with protein!
Hi Kyria, I don’t use whey powders but I’ve found these are really great tasting with good texture. I hate that cloying artificial sugar flavour as well, and neither of these are overly sweet in that way. I used to love Vegan Freak but they stopped making it, don’t you hate that!
You created the most perfect pumpkin. EVER. Oh, and the butternut squash. I just paid WHAT for one today and look at you with your vast assortment of them. 🙂
I love that you’re really enjoying fall in your new hood and that you are going on a big ass trip. 🙂 Woot woot.
Oh, I love The Ordinary products too…you look fantastic so keep up all of that.
Thanks so much Suz! If you were here I’d give you some produce!
Man, those colors are absolutely beautiful! And those pumpkins, don’t even get me started! It makes me want to get outside and explore a bit! We’ve got a few pumpkin patches and orchards around here that I’d like to take my kids to. Our cabinet refinishers should be done today, so as soon as they are, we’re going to pack up and drive to the mountains to see the fall colors! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks so much, Janet, hope you enjoyed your fall colour adventure!
Fall foliage really is the bomb. I don’t blame you for feeling the need to talk about it .And then look at all the butternut squash. I’ll be buying it with my hard-earned money to make more stews again this winter…
I am always here for your hair and skin recommendations and will have to look at The Ordinary again… I have used some of their products before and remember that I liked them.
Thanks San! Wish I could share some squash with you!