<a href="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/bread-makingOct20.jpg"><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-6525" src="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/bread-makingOct20-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a>Having realised I had a breadmaker a friend suggested I should get it out of the cupboard. The first attempt using old yeast didn't work out so I had another go with recently purchased dried yeast. Who would have thought that dried yeast has a shelf life but it does. Even more surprising is that flour has a shelf life and if it's old, it loses its gluten content which means it won't make good bread. After two attempts there has been an improvement but it still isn't right. I need to buy new flour and try again - third time lucky.

<a href="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/leaf-collection2Oct20.jpg"><img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-6528 alignleft" src="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/leaf-collection2Oct20-150x200.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="200" /></a>Out in the garden the trees continue to lose their leaves at an alarming rate. I cope with this using a number of methods depending on how many, how lazy I feel and the weather. Sometimes I simply run the petrol mower over the grass (Piglet gets a bit disgruntled but she's learning to live with it especially when I tell her I'm putting her on furlough for the winter). At other times I attempt to use the blower to round up the leaves into piles but it's a bit like herding cats and whichever method I use I always have to pick them up. Usually the leaves go onto one of the various compost heaps and bins or occasionally I'll put them into the green recycling bin.

<a href="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/yellow-begoniaOct20.jpg"><img class="alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-6527" src="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/yellow-begoniaOct20-150x200.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="200" /></a>There are still a few flowers in bloom. This yellow begonia is a newcomer to a raised bed. I need to keep an eye on the forecasts and if there's a hint of frost then I need to lift all the begonia corms (or are they tubers?)

I also have to lift the geraniums before the frost. I lost all my geraniums last year because I missed the first frost. Always plenty to do in the garden.

<a href="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/sweet-pepperOct20.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-6526" src="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/sweet-pepperOct20-200x150.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="150" /></a>I spent a morning at the weekend cleaning the potting shed. I managed to get six sweet peppers to harvest. They won't last long unless I freeze them so I shall be batch cooking some meals and throwing these into the mix.

The potting shed structure is looking decidedly poorly with gaps appearing between the panels where the wood has warped. This may be down to the fact that I haven't treated it in the last six years or just a cheap shed or poorly constructed in the first place. In all likelihood it's a combination of all three. I think it will last another year and then in the autumn of 2021 I will replace it with a glazed greenhouse. This will give more light and the possibility of growing more flowers and vegetables. All the garden tools that are in there at the moment can easily be moved to the workshop behind the garage and I may even sell off some of the duplicated items. Who needs three hoes? Unless your Santa Claus ho, ho ho...