I'm a bit late harvesting the Orchard Mason Bee cocoons from my backyard colony (usually done late October). But it hasn't been cold this winter to date. So all good. I'm guesstimating close to 300+ cocoons: And I still have to retrieve the motherload from my friend's orchar.

Restoring my Dad's old ball peen hammer. I don't know exactly why he had a metalworking hammer, but it must have made sense back in the day. I'll varnish it later. The dark marks are CA (Krazy) glue I used to fill the small hairline cracks to make the handle strong.

On the off chance that I might find the manual online for my Dad's table saw from the 50s (mine for the past nearly 30 years), I checked and there it was in a pdf. Seems it was a popular saw. It works great with a few quirks. I've been using this saw or helping since childhood: On my own @ 12 yrs.

I've decided I do like marigolds. I'd gone off them because of the bi-colour maroon & yellow ones I saw as a child. But there are a lot of different varieties & colours now to pick from. These orange ones have been a nice splash against the more muted occupants of my garden this summer. 👍

Rhubarb did well this year as it always does. 👇 I must have snagged a really good variety when I rescued the original plant bits from an elderly neighbour's compost heap.

This year's basil crop produced well, but next year I'll plant fewer plants because it's time my kids started growing their own if they want endless pesto year round. 👇

Sometimes you come across a broken pallet at Rona, and you just know those ugly, rough boards will plane out into something quite nice and usable. 👍