I like to project in my studio on the weekends, but that didn't happen. Chris and I spent practically the entire day prepping the house for the winter. Chris conditioned the fence with linseed oil (the smell reminded me of my painting studio in college). I spent the day attacking the weeds and pruning. It was so good to spend the day outside alongside Chris. I had one of those out-of-body experiences where I sat back and thought to myself, "Really? How did I arrive at this perfection?"  The weeds are nowhere close to being conquered, but seeing the progress is so satisfying. My parents bought a fixer-upper when I was 5. The best way to describe the state of the house as we moved in: it was the dumpiest house in a sweet neighborhood. The previous tennants had 4 large dogs that weren't house trained and they left about 2 cars worth of car parts in the backyard. It was that house. Mom and dad set us to work. Every free day (weekends and holidays) always started with a pile of yard work. I hated it. HATED IT. Now I'm beginning to appreciate the work my mom made us do. And I'm starting to enjoy it a little bit. I still hate dealing with the morning glory. I need to find a pretty ground cover that chokes out the noxious weed. We still have a couple of blooms left in our garden, they're so pretty. I can't take any credit for the beauty of the garden this year. It's all Nikki's doing. I feel lucky she left us with such a gorgeous starting point. Before we even thought about buying a house, I asked my mom to help me with a garden. While she was visiting from Charlotte, she and my dad helped me set things up. We weren't sure if we'd be moving, so she bought me a few felt grow pots. I've loved them and the veggies have, too. They did remarkably well in the move! We've had fresh tomatoes, peppers, basil, mint and a couple of armenian cucumbers this summer! It's been heavenly to have fresh produce. Next year I think I'll do 3-4 tomato plants and a few more cucumber plants. I can't get enough of those armenian cucumbers. They're my favorite. These peppers were supposed to be sweet yellow peppers, but they're a pretty purple instead. I'm not sure if they were somehow mixed up with something else, but I've enjoyed eating them. Did you do a garden this year? What are your favorite items to grow?