Winding Up Another Week

Even though Jack Frost has not visited us yet, I am on a mission to clear out the garden of just about everything.  Even though I've managed to grow and harvest much more than I would have guessed from the gardening struggle efforts this year, I think the difficult growing conditions have 'bout taken the urge-to-grow stuffings out of me, and I'm oh-so-ready to forget about it until next spring.

I'm leaving the salad greens and such until they get frozen into a petrified state and keel over.  And carrots, potatoes, cabbages and some beets will stay in the ground until the temp in our root cellar comes down more.  Oh, yes, I still have the Brussels sprouts to harvest and process.  The onions, the poor onions.  They need dry weather to start their curing in the soil, but right along with the past many months, rains keep pummeling us so I don't know how well they will turn out.

We had more heavy rain yesterday.  The rain gauge held one and two-tenths of an inch when I slogged out to check it in late afternoon.  Now I see we got another two-tenths over night.  The daylight hours continue to be foggy, heavy, gray and wet even when it's not raining.  Needless to say, this weather makes cleaning out the garden a little more challenging.

Last Thursday was forecast to be a sunny day so Papa Pea and I laced on our hiking boots and set out for a day's play.  We started out in grayness (just when was the sunny day supposed to appear?) and it stayed that way until we were in our vehicle driving home in the late afternoon when Ol' Sol decided to peek out for a short time.  (But at least it didn't rain on us while we were out and about.) 

Our hike was very up and down, in fairly steep terrain which was probably good since it got our blood moving and body temps rising on what turned out to be a very chilly, windy day.  (With no sun.  Oh, I guess I already mentioned that.)

We were in an area that is favored by rock climbers and ice climbers.  It was interesting to come upon these.  I don't know the official name for them but they're obviously tie-downs or some kind of ground anchors.  It was a vertical rock wall straight ahead over that ledge.

But gray day or not, it was good to be out, and we enjoyed ourselves.  Saw a bit of autumnal color which, on the whole, seems to be late in arriving to our area this year.  And doggone it, ya think you're in good shape, but both of us were really feeling some sore leg (and gluteus maximus!) muscles all day yesterday.

My dear husband is off on a male-type fun day, and I was going to attack the garden clean-up again.  (Whadda martyr.)  But ya know what?  It is extremely wet out there (still and yet) so I'm going to toddle on into my quilt room and enjoy some quality time there.  If I had some early fall apples, I'd whip up an apple pie to add a fragrant, cozy atmosphere to the house . . . but we haven't gotten any apples yet.  From the inquiries we've made, it seems we weren't the only ones who've had a really poor apple year.

So in lieu of the real deal, I'll put some of this potpourri to simmer on the stove.  It smells so much like an apple pie baking that it's been know to fool those entering the kitchen into thinking a slice of pie might be in the offing . . . only to have their hopes dashed when realizing it's just the aroma . . . but without the pie.  Bwaaah-haha-ha!