It Doesn't Have To Be Sunny . . .

It's gray.  It's dismal.  It's been raining steadily all day.

Now at only four o'clock, it's looking like dusk is approaching quickly.  Inside the house it could hardly be more comfortable and cozy.  It's a great day.

Lucky, lucky us to be able to enjoy a day like this so close to home and hearth.  I must admit I've been thinking of curling up on the couch and watching a DVD (or three) ever since finishing breakfast this morning.  (What weather could be more conducive to that than this which we're currently having?)  But I haven't quite made it yet.

I baked a batch of blueberry/raspberry muffins before breakfast this morning, then got the laundry started.  Made a big pot of potato soup for lunch.  Lots left over for a couple more meals this week. 

Got thawed venison from the freezer browned and then simmering on the stove with seasonings for Swiss Steak for dinner.  Combined with mashed potatoes, gravy and Brussels sprouts, we will have a tasty meal tonight.  (The slow cooking meat is making the house smell pretty darn good all afternoon, too.)

Both hubby and I have gotten a little damp when going outside to do what needed to be done at one time or another today, but fortunately we've dried out quickly and it hasn't kept us from enjoying this lovely November day.  It doesn't have to be sunny to be a good day.

Now.  Wonder if I can get in half a movie before dinner time?  The couch and quilt are calling me . . . 

Bring On November!

I did it.  I worked like a demon in October to get as many outside tasks done in readiness for winter as I could.  Big cleaning jobs inside the house were crossed off my list day by day.  It was all worth the push, 'cause I am really, really going to take some down time in the month of November.  And I started today.

Although the day was gray and damp, hubby and I took a short hike outside for some fresh air and exercise, but otherwise I spent most of the day inside doing just what I wanted to do.

First thing this morning, I curled up on the couch with my latte in front of an open fire and got into the new Rita Mae Brown book I picked up at the library.  Actually, that little adventure wasn't very successful and had to be aborted, because it wasn't long before the words started getting blurry, and I was feeling v-e-r-y sleepy.

So enough of that.  Into my quilt room I went.  Shortly thereafter, I heard Papa Pea in the kitchen cutting up one of our recently harvested apples for a snack.  I trundled out there to have a sample.  Verdict?  Still no taste.  Sigh.  There may or may not have been some cajoling involved, but I volunteered to bake an apple pie to see if the apples were passable to be consumed that way.

I made a Dutch Apple Pie, and at least the appearance was pretty good.  Chicken Mama stopped by to pick up Tucker on her way home just as we were finishing dinner so she joined us for a sample piece.  Both she and her dad thought the pie was quite good.  Me?  Meh.  All I could taste was the crust, cinnamon seasoning in the apples, and the crumb topping.  Oh, well.  Maybe the flavor of the rest of the apples will improve as they  age.  Or  not.

But I did get more time back in my quilt room this afternoon.  Made more progress on the appliqued Christmas wall hanging I started way back . . . when?  The first part of October, I think it was.  I haven't had but a little time to work on it since then, but I made a lot of progress today.

I finished up the second of the four 12" squares that make up the center of the wall hanging.

And I have a good start on prepping the pieces to be appliqued on the third square.  (Ugh, blurry-bad pictures.  I'll try to do a better job next time around.)  So much fun watching the blocks take shape.  I'm really enjoying the whole process.

Okay, back into my quilt room now for another hour before trying to read some more tonight.  This taking time off is really nice, and I could get used to it!

  

The Apple Harvest

We held off harvesting our apples as long as possible so they had a chance to ripen as much as possible.  But today was now or never as the forecast is for a temperature in the low 20s overnight tonight.

It was a gray, chilly day so we bundled up for the work.  At least until we got going and warmed up a bit.

Chicken Mama offered to help and her assistance was much appreciated.

Tucker did what he could to help, too.

Unfortunately:

1)  We got only about two bushels total from our seven semi-dwarf trees.  This wasn't totally unexpected as the blossoms on the trees this spring were very, very sparse.  It's not that the blossoms froze . . . they just. never. appeared.  Few blossoms = few apples.

2)  None of the apples got a chance to mature enough to have good flavor.  Even though we had a long, warm fall which we were hoping would do the trick, all of the varieties were either tasteless . . . or sour and tasteless.  That blasted cold spring and early summer we had did a number on the apples.

I'm planning to make applesauce with most of the apples since they're not much good for eating out-of-hand.  If there's a chance they will make passable applesauce, and maybe be good in apple-ish desserts, I'll be happy.  Can't have a fantastic apple year every year, I guess.

And wouldn't ya know, most of the apples were beautiful in appearance this year.  Unblemished and lookin' good.  No, we don't spray; Mother Nature made these beauties.  

She just forgot to put the flavor in them.

Wood Gathering

We have a long-time friend who has a small sawmill about 45 minutes from us.  On a recent visit to our place, he mentioned that he had a big pile of slabwood (outside pieces from a log when cut for lumber) and miscellaneous scrap pieces of wood and wondered if we were interested in taking any of it.

We're always looking for a good source for kindling and knew the slabwood would be good for getting a fire going in our wood stoves before adding the hardwoods (maple and birch) during the cold, upcoming winter months.

So this morning we hitched up our faithful high-sided trailer and headed out.

We had heard there had been a new public boat landing constructed on a nice lake on the way so we stopped there to take a look at it.

It was a windy day, and mighty chilly standing looking out over the lake.

Then it was on to G's place where he greeted us with a load of wood waiting and ready in his fork lift.

He put three loads into our trailer and after a short visit, we were on our way back home.  

We did do a little trimming of a couple of those boards sticking out before heading down the road.

When we got home we had to unload each and every stick of wood by hand.  No other way to get it out of the trailer.

 

Funny how big the load looked in the trailer.  And how small it looks stacked in our back wood working area.  Some of the pieces of wood were twelve feet long but most were eight . . . along with a good share of scrap pieces.

Talk about getting your bending and upper body workout.  Ooof.  I should sleep soundly tonight.

The Year of the Root Crops

I guess that's the only way to explain it.  Yes, root crops usually do well in our area of northern Minnesota.  Maybe we can't grow tomatoes, but our carrots can be the size of baseball bats.  (Slight exaggeration.)

Even with all the frustrating weather this past gardening season threw at us, the root crops in my garden came through with flying colors.

As of yesterday, all of them were harvested except the potatoes, so Papa Pea started digging them while I was . . . I was . . . what the heck was I doing?  Oh, well.  Not important.

Backing up to this spring when I planted the potatoes . . . only red ones this year, because we really do prefer them over whites.  (Supposedly reds have a lower starch content than white varieties, and we like the texture of reds.)  Anywho, I had very poor germination (maybe only 65%, I'm guessing) in the four fourteen foot long rows I planted.  Not too happy with that, but rather than trying to fill in the empty spots, I just went with what sprouted.

So yesterday my dear husband started digging the potatoes and got two of the four rows done before he went on to something else.  Today he and I worked together to get the last two rows harvested.

Although we haven't actually weighed the potatoes, Papa Pea estimates we got between 200-250 pounds!  And that is due to the size of the individual potatoes rather than the number.

These aren't all of them (of course), but just two buckets I grabbed to photograph.  Look at the size of those spuds!  (Hubby's glove is in the picture for size comparison.)  We have never, and I mean never, grown such consistently large potatoes.  Sure wish I knew why they grew so big this year.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining but would love to be able to do it again!

Getting Our Fresh Air and Exercise

My dear Under Gardener and I got great things accomplished in the way of garden clean-up yesterday.

The day in the low 30s was mostly sunny (which helped a lot) but very windy (which helped not at all).  We worked in many layers of clothing, hats, hoods and insulated gloves.

We pulled the cucumber and green pepper beds which had been under cold frames.  All the other raised beds got cleared out, too.

I got five more servings of Brussels sprouts for the freezer.  Lots of teeny-tiny heads left that went to the chickens.

There were more usable green peppers than I thought there would be.  Here's a 5-gallon bucket full, full, full.  I'll have enough to make more stuffed green peppers (than I really need) and plenty to chop and freeze for cooking.

One 5-gallon bucket of carrots.  I didn't plant as many this year (finally wised up) because we just don't go through that many any more.  I don't process and preserve carrots, just store them for fresh snacking and tossing in soups, etc.

I do process and freeze beets and I have two buckets of them waiting for my attention.  Like the carrots, the beets are beautiful this year.

We pulled the last of the turnips.  Some got too big for human consumption, but I think I'll try cooking them for the poultry.  ('m going to have to check to see if that's okay.)  Maybe the big ones would be suitable for fermenting for us.  I'll have to see how woody they seem inside.

The bed of mangels planted for winter chicken goodies yielded three 5-gallon buckets.  The above picture has no color enhancement.  Aren't they attractive roots?

Today has dawned in the upper 20s with only the low 30s forecast as a high.  There's frost all over everything, and Papa Pea reports there's a hard crust on the top of the garden's soil so I think we're going to be wusses and wait until about 10 o'clock to venture out for another day of seeing what we can get done out there.