If my Dear Husband were reading this post, he would look perplexed and say, “An apron for the Designated Hitter?” No, dear. Not even close.

I made him an apron today because his old one was pretty worn out. Here’s what his new apron looks like:

It’s a basic cobbler’s apron made from a Simplicity pattern dating back to the 1980s. I’ve probably made him a dozen aprons over the last 30 years using that same pattern. He wears one in the morning when he makes breakfast and in the evening when he cleans up the kitchen after I’ve made dinner. (You can see why I’m happy to keep making aprons for him.)

My DH is the gardener of the family so the veggie fabric, Metro Market by Pickens Design Studio for Robert Kaufman, was the perfect choice for him. I found it at cool cottons in SE Portland. It was the selvage that sold me. Look how the colors are printed on the selvage:

Speaking of veggies, we had a bountiful crop of tomatoes this year, including some that continued to ripen during our unusually warm and dry October. My husband harvested all of the remaining green ones and decided to preserve them. He started with five alternating layers of sliced green tomatoes and onions . . .

. . . and ended with six pints of green tomato pickles and six of green tomato relish: