Savour Stratford Perth County Culinary Festival, September 21 -23, 2012, is Ontario’s premier culinary event celebrating the creative partnerships between producers and local chefs, inviting celebrity chefs and renowned cookbook authors to present innovative and emerging culinary ideas at delicious tastings and learning events. Free music concerts, artisanal markets and street theatre all converge in Stratford’s heritage garden district for a flavourful weekend of fun!

In the spirit of Stratford's culinary festival, I'm posting some shots of my fruits and vegetable garden in full maturity. 

My plump and plentiful raspberries.

My Brandywine heirloom tomatoes are sweet, juicy and not at all acidic. Unlike last year, there will be so much to collect.

We can't keep up with the cucumbers, so our neighbours are enjoying them as well. 

My sun worshipper trellis is not very well dressed. The snow peas took a long time to get started and seem to be struggling, but we did get to eat several handfuls.
The carrots are still growing.

The Italian parsley...

the basil...

the sage, rosemary and lavender have simply been wonderful.

Compared to last year's mediocre results, the 2012 bounty is almost overwhelming for an amateur gardener like me. 
A great Labour Day weekend to all!

Victorian Wrap Around Veranda - Painting the Ceiling & Floor

The DV circa1940 with her two story wrap around porch. Click image to enlarge.

The Dusty Victorian no longer has her second storey porch and I don't exactly know when she lost it. 

This second storey would have been very convenient and safer when working on my upper windows. 

I can only deduce that it must have been quite rotten and prone to constant upkeep. A wooden second story porch without the protection of a roof must get relentless weather abuse. None the less, I think it's regrettable that The Dusty Victorian lost this amazing feature.

Note the door giving access to the second story porch above the main entrance. Now a window, but the stone at floor level is still apparent from the inside of the house.

In the shot below, near the ceiling you can see obvious discolourations on the brick which points to some major changes in the house's original design. 

Front porch ceiling

Summer has been very busy here, with guests, family and friends visiting us. August is not letting up. But we still manage to get some work done between visitors, such as painting the porch's ceiling and floor.

Side porch ceiling

My daughter Astrid's summer job is to help me with this task. You can see that it was pealing badly. I decided to use the same colour for the ceiling and floor, a shade found on the brick walls.

Work completed on the ceiling.

Now for the floor.

Going around the corner, you can see the unpainted portion on the side going towards the backyard. That area is my working station in the summer and I started to strip the kitchen door with a heat gun. The floor will be completed after I'm done with the door.

Little by little, section by section, things are getting done between guests. After Labour Day, I know that things will be slowing down considerably on the bed & breakfast front. I will be able to get back to my studio and catch up on what my blogging friends have been up to all summer.