My Egg Rocks!

I always do it.
Every year.
Every year I put my vehicle in the ditch.
Only happens once, but every year.

So this morning the only reason I was surprised is because THERE WAS NO SNOW AND THE ROAD WASN'T ICY!!

So why did I drive into the ditch, in the exact same spot that this happens every year?

Because I was gonna be late for work.
And I forgot to park my egg so that the windshield was facing the sun (such that it is).
And the windshield was icy
And I am out of washer fluid.
And I didn't take the time to clean off the window, I just turned on the defrosters (hey, this is huge, normally they don't work!), scraped the window a bit with my fingernails and went on my merry way.
Right into the ditch.
Where I drive every year.

This time, however, I didn't require a tow truck (thanks, Dave) to pull me out (refer back to the statement above about the lack of snow, usually there would be anywhere from 4-6 foot of snow in this particular ditch), I was able to do the reverse, forward, reverse, forward thing and drive out on my own.

And I was late for work.
But I bet I won't forget to park the egg where the sun (such that it is) hits the windshield again!

My egg rocks!!

Vacation Woes

So, I'm going on vacation. That's it. That's all there is to it. I'm going. Deal with it world. Deal with it family. Deal with it critters, well, ok, I'll deal with it there.

I'm going. Mark it down, a decision has been made.

Believe it or not this is not the hardest part of this whole thing. Next is to figure out the dates. I know when I want to go (mid Jan.), I know where (colorado) and I have a vague idea that flying will get me there faster than either driving or snow shoeing.

So, now we have 3 things figured out.
1. I'm going.
2. Mid Jan.
3. Flying.

Which airports?
Well, if I fly out of Flint it's cheaper than Saginaw. If I fly into Denver rather than The Springs, it's waaaaayyyyy cheaper. (sorry, li'l bro, you're gonna have to drive to Denver to get me).

So now to research flights.
This is like sticking your head in the dryer and putting it on spin.

So many options, well first off we can rule out the 6 hour layover in Atlanta!
Then there's the exact dates, + or - a day to see if I can get a better rate, + or - a few extra miles to another airport to save on rates.
Nope, the airports I've chosen and the dates chosen are still the cheapest.

Now, the hard part, to actually get out the credit card and book the flight. This is serious. It involves spending money. I don't do that well. I seriously don't do that well, especially since I don't have the money yet to spend. (expecting it later this week, I've been guaranteed by my son that it's on it's way.)

Side note.... have you ever been guaranteed money by one of your kids and then....
yeah, I know, but if I go ahead and book the flight, I will have to figure out how to pay for it, but I will be able to figure that out because I've already technically spent the money. If I wait for the money, I'll miss out on this great rate! (317.00 from mid Mich to somewhere in the Rockies).

What to do, what to do.

Augh!
I did it.
Now I have to go.
Now I can't back out.
I have no excuses.
Plus now I have to come up with money.
This is kinda fun - spending money I don't yet have.
I should do this more often.

On second thought.......

Oh yeah, there is one more detail.... I have 45 minutes in a major airport to change planes. This will be fun! Usually it takes me longer than that to get from my bathroom to my living room. hmmmmm, maybe I can flag down one of those cool karts.
maybe they'll let me drive....
maybe.....

Never mind...

Slippage and The Penguin Waddle

This time of year, as the slippage rate increases, we have to once again relearn the fine art of what I like to call the Penguin Waddle.

Take this morning. I went out on the deck to put out Bu-Dawgh, and what happened? Slippage. The deck was all frosty and icy and slippery.

As I looked around, I noticed that in the pale light, most everything else was frosty and icy too, and most likely slippery.

It's not really surprising, the People at the Weather Place are telling us it will snow today. Anywhere from 4-10 inches as the cold Canadian air makes its way over the "warmer than the land" lakes. This is called Lake Effect Snow. It's also cold. And there's usually a lot of it.

No matter how many times I said No, it's not time yet, it's still coming. I can feel it. My hands, elbows, wrists, hips, heck who am I kidding, my whole me can feel it. I hurt. Its "the old" thing. Remember how Grandpa used to say he could tell when it was gonna rain because his toe hurt? Well, now that's me.

Yesterday there was sleet-age, you know the rain mixed with snow, mixed with ice thing. That was fun. Of course there's not enough snow to make a snowman, or run the sleds, but it was there. Mixed with the rain and ice. And then this morning, slippage. This all leads to one thing - winter. Well, at least I have a store of firewood on the deck, at least it won't be slippery inside.

PS.... We're no longer under a snow watch, so say the People At The Weather Place, however the clouds and sky are telling me different.
We'll see!!

Aren't Weekends Supposed To Be For Relaxing?

Someone told me that once, I think they lied. "They" said that weekends are for relaxing. "They" said that weekends are for doing whatever you want to do. "They" also implied that the reason for having weekends in the first place were so one could unwind, put the feet up, and recharge for the upcoming week.

Again... "they" lied.

I think what was actually implied was that weekends weren't for the work you get paid for, they are for the work that you don't really get paid for, like laundry, cooking, mowing the lawn (well, not this time of year) and such.

All of this nonsense brings me to a point. I actually have points now and then.

This weekend was sheer work!
I did dishes, can't tell, but I did clean up before I messed it up again. I hung out laundry, I mopped floors, I cut, split and stacked firewood, I canned pumpkin, I put up some frozen dinners, and what do I have to show for it? Laundry that's still out on the line because it rained. Floors that got muddy again because it rained. A pile of firewood that actually looks pretty good all stacked nice like on my deck. REAL pumpkin that I can get at a moment's notice, to actually make a pumpkin pie. You know, a REAL one, with real eggs, real crust, real milk.....
And my kitchen is trashed again. Because inbetween all of this canning of pumpkins, sweeping of floors and basically taking steps backward, what did I do? Not dishes, nope, I spun lots and lots and lots of yarn. And washed it, and hung it to dry, and blocked out a sweater, and, and, and... then fun stuff that you're supposed to do on weekends.

I didn't got out to the barn at all this weekend, except to do chores - my bad. I didn't change the lightbulb in the hall (waiting for The Mouth's boyfriend to show up wanting food, he's about 7' tall, he can change it easily!), and I didn't wash windows.

Oh well, I got to spin, and I knitted a bit, and I got my pumpkin canned and I watched my Red Wings take Chicago by the throat and win 6-5.

Tonight, will have to be for the kitchen, putting away the mounds of yarn that I spun and washed, finishing up the last sweater, and of course. Dishes.

Never ends........

In Which Ter Quits

At any given day I have quite a bit of stress going on. I work full time at a job I love. I work part time at another job I love. I run my farm, home and on the off chance I have a few minutes to myself, I like to breathe. Keeps me going.

But, I quit! (not breathing, because that would really mess up the rest of my day).

Hey, hubby gets to quit and go up North fishing and hunting for the weekend, why can't I quit too?

Let's identify some stressors that I'm resigning from

There's always money, yeah, I'm not doing money anymore.
Taking care of the parents. Well, that one I can't really resign from.
Taking care of the kids. Come on, seriously, they're full grown people (sometimes they don't act like it, but then either do I). The oldest is successfully out on her own. Once in awhile I'll help her at her store, gives me something to do when I'm not breathing. The 2nd is successfully out on her own also, married with kids and the whole deal. The 3rd, Blondie, is not married, however she is out, pretty much on her own. Still requires a bit of help now and then but pretty much....
4th, The Mouth, see above, and the 5th is in Iraq. Now there's some stress I'd love to get rid of.

Let's see, what else. Probably not enough hay to last until June, water pump shouldn't be freezing already which means something just may be amiss (doncha love that word? AMISS!!), it's supposed to rain/snow for the next 6 months which means my laundry is going to get seriously piled up, there's not enough room in the garage for my bike.....

I could go on and on but I won't. The main thing right now? Not enough time. I just "got" spinning. I mean, I've been spinning my own yarn for awhile now, but just last night I got it. It worked. The hands and feet and wheel all seemed to be in sync, and nice, even, consistent yarn was produced. This is a good thing. Something I've been working toward now for awhile. Now I have to find the time to produce more, because, of course, I have the perfect project to knit with this perfect yarn. So, yeah. If you could just send me a bit of time, I'd be really grateful!

But before I start to spin more of the perfect yarn to knit the perfect project, I have to finish the last 2 that are still in my basket waiting for me.

And there's the pumpkin that STILL hasn't gotten canned. Spinning and canning, sounds like the perfect Sunday to me!

Sequences Revisited

So I got up yesterday morning, and did what I do every morning. Put the coffee on, and went out to say good morning to my furred and feathered friends. This is usually a 1 way deal. I say hello, good morning, get in some scratches, petting and hugs and kisses, but generally all they want is food. I'm good with it. I've accepted it.

Yesterday morning, there was a twist.

Yesterday morning, October happened.

Yesterday morning, the water was........ gasp....... FROZEN!!!

Now, I totally get the change of seasons thing, lived up here pretty much my whole life, so I know that come October, every year, this is gonna happen. The leaves all over the ground is kind of a clue.

And for some reason, every October, it kind of catches me off guard. I supposed it's directly related to my denial that summer is really over. And the fact that I'm always busy doing what I should have done yesterday. What did I do yesterday? I did what I should have been doing the day before that. I think sometime in July, I must have said, "Oh, my gosh! I have a whole day that nothing needs to be done. I'm gonna do all of that - nothing!" And that's where it starts.

So back to the frozen water. This is what has to happen. I have to pull up the handle on the pump and water has to flow through, and out, and into the hose that's connected, and into the various water troughs.

Yesterday, what happened is this. I pulled up on the handle and nothing happened. And since I was gonna be late for work I decided to let it ride until night, they did have enough water to last the day.

Yesterday I happened to have to go to the butcher and pick up our two pigs. I don't have room in the freezers for all of this, and they are christmas presents for the kids. So, we went to various surrounding towns delivering pork. By the time we got back home, it was late, the critters needed to be fed, they had enough water to last the night, and I put it off again.

To be dealt with this morning.

So, first I have to find the heat lamp to thaw out the water pump. Then I have to find the 100' extension cord. Then I have to drag out the winter hose. (the winter hose differs from the summer hose in that it is quite a bit shorter and is old, so I keep the good summer hose for, well, summer). Did I mention it's still dark out when all of this happens. So anyway, the reason the hose needs to be shorter, is so I can unscrew it when I'm done with it every day and drag it up the hill, so it will drain, and not freeze. Then I have to put this all together to produce enough water so my furred and feathered friends remain healthy and happy.

And so it is, another morning chore session, successful. And the pork is in the freezer, and the Christmas presents for the kids have been delivered and everyone is happy. Well, maybe the pigs aren't all that happy, but they knew going into this......

Never mind.

A Day Off

Well, kind of.

I took the day off to watch my 2 year old granddaughter. We had fun.

Apparantly Dora something or other is the new Sesame Street. I learned how to count to 7. I learned that Zebra starts with a Z, Elevator starts with an E and Bridge starts with a B. I could probably even draw a Z if I had to.

Yup, I good day!

I was going to can up some pumpkin for pies but I ended up on the floor playing "cow".

This is a complicated game. It involves, of course, a fairly large stuffed cow, and the life and times of it and it's buddies, which involve a zebra, more cows, and a chicken. These all live together in the toybox (well, ok, they live on the living room floor but we won't go into that). Oh, there's also a couple of fish and some duck decoys in the mix. They interact, they take naps, fight and play together, eat together, and have a fairly complex relationship. This I didn't realize. After this 15 minute game was done, we folded laundry. She's a very advanced 2 year old, but still with the attention span of such.

We had fun taking the high chair apart and discovering that it could be turned into a chair and table, and that she could then climb into and out of it by herself. And we ate "real people food", not this processed, packaged, cardboard crap they make for toddlers now. She ate and LOVED baked beans (have fun later with that one, Mom!), fried potatoes and onions were ok, but the fish I made. You'd have thought she had never eaten! She scarfed that down as fast as I could pull it apart and check for bones. Lots better than frozen mac and cheese!

This girl does not own a doll, but if it's furred, feathered, or finned, she's got a replica of it.

After her nap, she discovered my spinning wheel, which I was ironically, trying to use. She thought that was fun, and scattered all over trying to find things for me to feed into it to make pretty yarn. I was taking apart, strand by strand, a silvery piece of lame to spin in with the dark christmas green yarn I was making. This was fascinating, and soon she was on the floor pulling the fibers out and handing them to me. Made a pretty good assistant.

All in all it was a nice relaxing day, it was cold and rainy, so we were confined to the house, but I managed.

Still didn't get that pumpkin canned though, maybe tonight.....

It's Friday

This is a good thing, for various reasons. I can sleep in tomorrow. I won't, but I could if I wanted to. Well, that's not entirely true either. I do want to, really, but it won't happen. My happy little self will be awake and alive and vertical by 6:30, it's how I roll. Happy Little Self could try to go back to sleep, just so she could wake up at a more normal Saturday time, but she'd end up flopping around like a fish out of water and wake up hubby.

Hubby does not like to be woke (awoke? woken? awoken?...) out of bed on a Saturday morning. Not until he's good and ready. It wouldn't be good. He'd be grumpy.

Happy Little Self doesn't like a grumpy hubby.

Friday means I can do whatever I want to do tomorrow.

Well, that's not true either. I can't really hop on my bike and head off to Jamaica. I'd get wet, and again, hubby would be grumpy. We really don't like to go out of our way to make hubby grumpy.

I could go shopping, but that wouldn't happen either. All I really need is peanuts, and I can't justify going to the store just for peanuts. Although, while peanuts are a good thing, almonds are even better, and lets not even get started on cashews. Ok, add in some raisins, craisins and m&m's and we're good to go. Now I have a reason to go shopping.

If I wanted to.

Which I don't.

So, this being Friday, with a whole weekend full of Saturday and Sunday coming up and nothin' to do 'cept what I want to do (and laundry), I'll probably just putter around the house and yard and garden and barn. Puttering is an art form, and the best part? When someone asks what I did all day, I can say "nothing! deal with it!".

Hard To Be Optimistic...

When stuff around me keeps going downhill.

Take the aliens. They were supposed to show up on 10.14. I was kind of counting on it, actually planned for it, had the tailgate invites all sent out, potato salad was chilling.... I was ready. Apparently they weren't.

Aliens are inconsiderate like that. If they're going to announce their presence or upcoming presence, I really think they need to take some consideration into our space and time conundrums. I get that their space and time stuff is probably different than ours, but seriously, I was counting on it. And being of a lower race than them, it's really their responsibility. You know, ball in their court kind of thing that they make sure their presence, or upcoming presence is in a time frame that we lower beings can understand. Unless they want to get shot with our bb guns.

Just sayin'......

More leaves have vacated the upper levels of the ecosystem we like to call "the woods". I really can't believe that in all of these years they haven't gotten the clue that when they fall to the ground, it's gonna get cold.

leaves fall.... cold comes. It's an every year thing. Without fail. The leaves come down, then the snow comes down.

Hmmm. Maybe there's a connection to the aliens there. Maybe they're waiting for the leaves to fall. Maybe their engines, having come from a leaf-less world, are incapable of being bombarded by a falling leaf. Yeah, that's got to be it. It's the leafless world phenomenon.

The acai berry diet probably had them scared off also. I'd be scared if I weren't from this world and just on the skeptical side of such things. Being really thin, the aliens are really (I'm guessing here) trying to avoid any further weight loss. I mean, seriously, have you seen them? They're skinny! And green!

I'm going to recommend a more rabbit friendly diet when they do show up. After counseling them on the proper etiquette of showing up when they say they're coming that is.

Designer Lettuce!

Just a random smattering today of all the goodies running through my brain.

Pigs. Gotta call the pig guy and get 2 pigs ordered today. I love pigs. I love pork, but I don't raise them anymore. Found a great source to get them, all finished out, for cheaper than what I can raise them myself, plus this source is pretty much organic.
good deal!

Teenage Chickens. Hmmmm. Found 6 eggs the other day. Found 4 yesterday. I have 3 adult hens. This isn't adding up. The teenagers must have come of age. And since some of the ones I've broken open lately have been fertilized, again, the teenagers must have come of age. Good to know! (I guess, for whatever reason...)

Baby Bovines. Gotta get a new feeder built for them before winter (which will be here, like next week). The feeder they have doesn't hold enough hay, even filling it twice a day. They are eating 1/2 bale of hay each a day now. They are still soooo cute though.

Tomatoes. I have them hanging in the upside down containers in my living room. The Mouth laughs that when sitting and knitting I can just reach up and grab a tomato to munch on. If there were any that is. For some reason the light in the living room is receding. Tends to happen this time of year. Funny how I didn't see that coming. Might have to turn their little worlds upside down (or right side up) and actually plant them in pots to set near the windows so they get enough light. Even if they don't produce over the winter, they are pretty and smell good, plus I get the benefits of extra houseplants that produce good oxygen and stuff. Extra oxygen is needed up here in N. Mich.

Laundry. Someone seems to have forgotten where we keep the washer. That someone is me. When I took a long weekend off, for some reason the clothes kept getting dirty, but not clean again. It's gonna take all week of hanging laundry to catch up. And even that won't work, I can only hang 3 loads, and this time of year they don't exactly dry real quick.

Dishes. The upside to taking a week or so off is that dishes don't really pile up. I wasn't there to make them dirty, so I don't have to make them clean again. All's good in the dish department.

Designer lettuces. I thought it would be ultra cool to have pots of lettuces everywhere. Me being a rabbit food freak and all. It wasn't. Ultra cool that is. They were all on the counter. There wasn't enough window space for all of them. Funny how that escaped me also. So I condensed them into all one big pot and put it by the window. They kind of look really cool, maybe they'll be happy, looking all cool and everything. And probably the lack of light will cause them to turn yellow and shrivel up and not grow. You know, I've lived up here pretty much my whole life, you'd think by now...... never mind.

Garlic. It's coming up in my designer lettuce pots. Hmmmm. Guess when I planted it and it didn't grow so I planted other stuff in there it got it's garlicky nose out of joint and decided to step up. At any rate, now I will have garlicky tasting designer lettuce. Might have something there. At least I know the garlic will be ok over the winter.

Still in ga-ga over our bike ride this past weekend. Really. That was cool. Ultra cool even. And my cardigan/wrap in foresty, mossy colors is looking pretty also. There are parts I will probably redo, because I got crazy and put in colors that now I don't like. It's all good, it's a fast knit and the better I like it, the more chance I'll actually finish it.

At least that's what Murphy says.....

Leaves, Leaves, and More Leaves!

2 of my brothers visited up here this past weekend. It was great!
We laughed, drank some (funny, we used to drink a lot more, before we got, well, older than we were then), sat around, helped the folks get the place winterized and RODE BIKES!

The leaves were beautiful. Every color of red, salmon, pink, purple, yellows and golds, different shades of greens, if the color has been invented, we saw it in the leaves. As we traversed along back country roads, the temperatures approached 80. Typical Indian Summer. Stopped at various landmarks to drink in the crisp autumn air, hot sun and the scents, sounds and sights of middle October.

And then the wind came.

And now most of those pretty leaves live in the next county. But they'll be back. Every fall we experience what we call "Peak Season" where the colors of the leaves are at their "peak colors". This happens right around the middle of October. Normally I'd say the peak was still a week away, but with the wind last night, we pretty much saw what there was to see, and now there's nothing to do but finish getting ready for winter.

My current knitting project is a cardigan/wrap/shawl thing, reminiscent of the colors of the leaves this time of year. A lot of greens and browns, oranges, rusts and yellows, and even some blue and red thrown in. The back and one front is done, so it's safe to say I'm at the halfway point. The feature I really like about this project is that since I am changing yarns every other row, I can do my own color scheme, with pretty much my stash only to work from.

Yarn of the Month came, in typical fashion, toward the end of the first week of the month. Hmmmm. Autumn colors! I know where I'll use these!

There's nothing like a relaxing weekend to give me the attitude adjustment I need once in awhile. Next "reunion".... Colorado in January, where we'll meet to ski and snowshoe for a long weekend. Better buy some stock in Tylenol while the market's down! I think I'll probably need it!

I'm off! (again, no comment!)

I have the next 4 days off!

Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

If you count in the weekend, I have the next 6 days off!

That's almost a week.

On the downside, my CO brother insisted that we have nice weather while he was here and now it's raining.

uh huh! Who do you think is to blame for this one!

Oh yeah! You can bet he'll hear about it!

I fiddled with Excel for over an hour yesterday afternoon trying to get it to jump through the hoops I wanted it to jump through. I mean, come on. A bar graph. That's all I wanted. Surely a program as sophisticated as Excel could do that.

So I texted my AK brother, who is somewhat of an Excel Guru and he said no problem, he could make it do what I needed it to do, would probably take less than 15 mins.

Ok then, here's the file. Do your stuff!

I love passing the buck, kind of makes up for all the times I end up with it!

Did I mention I have Thursday, Friday, Monday and Tuesday off?

Life is good!

Rant!

I hate confrontation. Not good at it, stresses me out, and I generally would rather avoid it.

However, sometimes it needs to happen.

I board a horse for someone at my farm. All I've ever asked is for supplies. You know, pay for wormers and hoof trims, get me some hay.....

I don't think that's too much. Actually, it's damn little.

Back in July I asked for a years supply of hay for this horse. Just this horse, not my own, just this one. Back in July.

End of September I was asked if this person could just make payments toward hay. Nope. Sorry. I don't have extra. I HAD enough for my two horses and my cattle back when haying season ended. I asked for a years supply of hay for one horse. I don't have extra for this person to buy back. I understand that it's hard to come up with the money to buy that much hay, so why is it expected that I'll do it and then I can be paid back. If it's so hard to come up with x amount of dollars to pay for x amount of hay, then why is it ok for me to do that, and just have this person pay me back. Sorry, I just repeated myself, but I think the ranting rules will allow for that.

I'm sorry. Again. I don't have the hay. I have no way of getting the hay, so no matter how much you offer to pay (a little every week) I still don't have it to sell to you. Why don't you go buy the hay and make arrangements to pay a little bit every week to someone else.

This leads to quite a bit of stress on my part. Hubby, who helps me with my hay, and whom I really couldn't do this without, wants the horse gone. Why should he put up hay for someone else's horse. I get that, I just was willing to do it to avoid the confrontation. Remember the part about me not liking confrontation. So it was with great trepidation, loss of sleep, and even near tears that I had to make the phone call to say "I think it would be best if you came to get your horse and find someone else to make payments to". Knowing all along that I had been feeding said horse at my expense all summer and didn't really expect to be compensated.

Ok, no problem, I'll come get him, I appreciate all you've done, I won't screw you over.......

Guess we'll see. Even if I don't see another dime, I'll be a lot closer to getting through until next haying season only feeding 2 horses than I ever was feeding 3.

Whew. All better now!

And the good news.... yes the horse is now gone, but hubby hasn't yet realized it, wonder how long it will take, but I digress.

The good news? I have 2 brothers coming in from California and Colorado end of the week for a long weekend. I'd like to think they're coming to see me, but I know better. But, that's ok :-)

Can't wait!!

Scraping the Windshields in October - NOT

So, once again, my fail safe frost and freeze advisory warning system failed to warn me. I really need a backup.

Because going out in the early AM to do the chores and being hit in the face with the woeful death cries of all of my lettuces, herbs and tomatoes and peppers is not a fun way to find out.

There wasn't time this morning before work to do the CPR thing, being as how I was SCRAPING THE ICE OFF OF MY WINDSHIELD so this afternoon, I'll have quite a bit of damage control to do. Since my greenhouse platform isn't done, I'll have to beg, borrow and steal window sill space to try to keep these things going. But the rewards will be fresh grown "stuff" in the middle of the winter.

Yummy!

Fresh rabbit food when there's 5 feet of snow outside.

And, I lit the stove again last night. Again, some warning would have been nice, and you know who you are!

This weekend I have some serious "clean off the deck and find a spot for firewood and then haul said firewood up to the deck" to do. Serious. As in, Large Amounts of firewood.

It's just that time of year.

One more thing before winter, I have to build a bigger hay feeder for my calves. That's easy. Almost no-brainer. How hard can it be.

Ugh, don't say that.

And the deer carrots are out in full force. I didn't get any canned last night, so this weekend will find me hauling, building and canning. No wonder hubby is going away (duck hunting - yummy!)

Good times! Monday night, roasted duck with potatoes, carrots and onions and maybe a sage stuffing.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

Seasonal Musings.....

It was bound to happen. This time of year it always does. Sometimes a bit sooner, sometimes later, but always this time of year. When the weather is rainy and damp and chilly, before Indian Summer officially hits. When the last of the tomatoes out of the garden desperately try to ripen before the final freezing frost. The deer bait comes out in full force at gas stations and fruit markets, the pumpkins and squashes are ripe and ready to eat or can, and of course, the leaves...

It was bound to happen.

Usually before I'm ready for it. This year being no exception.
I'm usually at least 3 weeks behind myself, kind of interesting trying to catch up!

Before "it" happens though, I'd like to have the porch all cleaned off and filled with fire wood. I'd like to have the garden put away for the winter. I'd like to have all of the summer clothes put away and all of the winter stuff drug out of their short hibernation.
Before "it" happens.

But I never do. Have it all done that is. It's futile. So I just go on and on with my daily tasks, knowing I'll never catch up, but at least I'll never be bored. Never have nothing to do. And now... there's a new task on my plate, 3 times a day or so.

Because it was bound to happen.

And it did. I had to light the wood stove last night.

Tomatoes

Ugh. If I ever see another tomato.

Yesterday afternoon, I canned tomatoes. And then I canned tomatoes, and then, you guessed it, I canned tomatoes.

I'll love this in January, but right now? Not so much.

It's not that I don't enjoy the canning process, I really do, but it's work, and I'm kinda against manual labor of any kind.

And the greenhouse? Well, I finally got hubby on board, but it's gonna be a bit different than I had envisioned. That's ok, sometimes you gotta give up some floor space to get hubby interested in helping with this.

That's all I'm gonna say at this point, I don't want to jinx it, he's seriously interested, even busted out the tape measure and started tape measuring and all. Got a board out and put it in place "just to see".

So, that's the update on that little project.

Sunrise Circle Jacket is done. Well, the knitting is done. Still have to block it, sew it together, wash it and then sew on the buttons.

I'll take a picture when it's all done, other wise you wouldn't believe it.

My next project, a kind of "free form" wrap/cardigan I'm knitting in "colors of the forest". From dark browns to dark greens and sages (moss) with a hint of oranges, yellows and even some blues. So far I LOVE it.

We'll see. All I'm really using is measurements for this project, not really a pattern, and it's really gotten me thinking about opening up the knitting process.

Yesterday, hubby and I went on a road trip, scored some serious knitting time. And serious "alone" time. With a hurricane and her 2 year old tropical storm living with us, we don't get a lot of time to just talk. It was very nice. Saw some of the colors that are Autumn in Michigan, a lot of road kill, some deer, and even a few possums. Gotta get some of that to spin into yarn!

What's next? Still picking tomatoes, so is everyone else, and by now everyone is getting tired of them, so I'll take all I can get, and I'll put them into jars for spaghetti sauces, chili's and gouloshes in the winter.

Deer carrots are out in full force, you know the 50 lb or so bags you can get for little to nothing, and the only reason they didn't make the food grade cut is because they're bent or twisted? Yeah, I'll put them into jars too.

Sigh, then it's time to start hauling firewood up to the deck, cause any day now.........