Fall Gardening Plus Bonus Finished Hat

A few weekends ago, some friends of the family gave us an oak tree that they had in their garden.  After all, they already had a mature oak in the yard, so they didn't really need another one space-wise.  We were looking for a shade tree, and particularly like oaks, so we were happy to transplant it.  I'm not sure what sort of oak it is, so if anyone has any guesses, I'm happy to hear them.  Since I took these photos, the leaves have all changed colour, though they are still hanging on, unlike those that belonged to the cotoneaster.

There was a fair bit of mulch left over (yay for more mulch!), so I added it to the southwest bed, and did a bit of transplanting, and adding a few tulip bulbs (Banja Luka, Van Eijk, and Giuseppe Verdi).  I'm also rather fond of buying a perennial or two at the end of the season when they go on sale, so I picked up some pinks (Dianthus 'Pixie Star'), and my eldest picked out an orange bearded iris called Maid of Orange.

We had a busy weekend again this weekend, heading out to the zoo one day, the library the next, while also getting winter preparations done for the garage and garden, and then to Prairie Gardens in Bon Accord for their Haunted Pumpkin Festival with Grandma and Grandpa.  We had a great time there, and took a wander in their corn maze, posed for pictures,

pet goats,
rode on a pig (statue, that is, and it used to reside at the zoo when I was a kid.  This farm apparently bought up the old statues and things from the storyland section, so hopefully when the other ones are taken out, they'll buy them too to reunite the collection),


and also, finished knitting a hat.

Specifically, the

Amelia Earhart Aviator Cap by Flor.

This was a really fun knit, but the jury's still out on whether it suits me or not.  It resembles a Tudor coif as much as anything (only textured).  I might follow the lead of others and add a lace hatband.





At any rate, I know black isn't my best colour, but I do have a black coat that I wear occasionally, and it will also be handy for my daughter's Halloween costume.  She's going as a butterfly, so we'll just put her antennae on top so she won't freeze out there (it often snows here around then).

Now, to actually finish making the costume...