I'm Still Here and Thanks for Checking

I usually have enough drivel to impart that I get out a posting nearly every day. So blessings upon you, dear readers, who have inquired as to my well-being since I haven't posted for a couple of days. This is to let you know that I'm not cutting back for the winter months nor have I succumbed to some dread disease that immobilizes my typing fingers nor have I taken off for Tahiti with the mailman. It's just been a busy week and since I'm a routine schedule kinda gal, I've been a little thrown off.

Hubby was gone for two days and I was AWOL yesterday. Added to that, we've been having work done on our driveway because of the damage a couple of our gullywashers caused this summer. It needed to be shaped up so snowplowing will be easier this winter, and so we won't have so much of a muddy mess in the spring.

I'm still trying to get on top of (or out from underneath?) the last of the preserving for the year: squash and apples, apples and squash, squash and apples.

The siren call of my quilt studio has been very strong lately. For my emotional health and stability, I need to spend time in there. Soon. It quiets me down and helps me put the emphasis on all I do accomplish rather than on all that I don't get done. When it comes to quilting/sewing, it's all pleasure rather than (as with so many other things) putting hours in on a task only because it NEEDS to be done. (You know, those kind of tasks that if you were rich, you'd hire done in a New York minute.)

We finally had our first hard frost night before last. No snowflakies for us yet though. We're very lacking moisture again and would be glad to see some steady rain before the frost starts to penetrate the ground.

It sure is nice to know you are thinking about me, and I appreciate it. My perhaps not-very-funny sense of humor tempted me to just enter, "Help! I've fallen and I can't get up!" as a blog post, but that wouldn't have been very nice, would it? Hahahaha!

Bye. Time to get back to my stimulating conversations with the apples.

Wood Smoke

This morning Jane over at Hard Work Homestead wrote a blog entry about wood heat. It reminded me of something that happened many years ago.

We were still living in Illinois but planning for our move up here to northeastern Minnesota where we knew we would be living for several years without electricity.

I did a lot of sewing but realized my old Sears electric sewing machine wouldn't be of any use once we made the move. One day I saw an ad in the local paper for an old-fashioned treadle sewing machine so I called about it and made an appointment for hubby and me to go see it.

The man and woman who had the sewing machine for sale were quite elderly and lived in a very small house that they heated with wood. We chatted with them for a while and although they didn't in any way complain or tell a sad story, we definitely got the feeling they were having a hard time of it and needed money.

The treadle machine looked to be in great shape including the lovely, old, carved wooden cabinet/table it was mounted in.

We agreed to buy the machine and I asked if the price I remembered from the newspaper ad was the correct amount they wanted.

The old gentleman said yes, they had hoped to get that amount, but if it was too much for us they could perhaps come down a bit.

My husband responded that he thought the sewing machine looked to be in such good condition that it was really worth more than the asking price and insisted on paying the couple a bit more for it. (We may not have had much money ourselves, but we had more than they did!)

We got our prize home and installed it in the living room. Right away I noticed that every time I walked by the machine, I could smell the wonderful aroma of wood smoke. It had been inside the old couple's home for so long that the wood smoke smell was an integral part of the wood.

Silly as it sounds, I found myself dropping to my knees in front of the wood cabinet, nose pressed to the wood and inhaling deeply a couple of times a day. Anyone looking in the window would have thought I was worshiping at an altar. In a way I was. I got into the habit of spending 30-45 minutes first thing every morning sewing on that treadle machine before our one-year old daughter woke up and wanted her breakfast. Nearly forty years later I still think back on and treasure the peaceful start to my day that old treadle machine gave me.

The Mysteries of Mother Nature

I don't understand this.

This is a geranium that is in a pot that's sitting on a deck table on the south side of our house.

These are geraniums that are planted in a garden bed in the middle of the yard.

Why are the potted geranium's leaves almost all maroon in color while the ones in the garden are green as you would expect them to be?

The one on the deck gets maybe a little less sunlight each day, but not a whole lot less than the ones growing in the bed.

Anybody wanna explain this to me?

Just 'Cuz

Just because I thought it made a pretty picture.

'Course, maybe you have to be a squash lover to appreciate this wheelbarrow full of bounty.

One day this past week I harvested a total of thirty fruits in various sizes. Only two had bad spots on them; the rest should be good keepers . . . for as long as you can manage to keep winter squash, that is.

Haven't started processing most of them for the freezer yet. I hope to get to that sometime this coming week, but the week is already looking too, too full.

Finally got my Halloween decorations out this morning. Most years I would have had them out shortly after the first of October.

Criminy, would somebody please do something about slowing time down a bit! Halloween is in two weeks, then only four weeks until Thanksgiving. We all know how the time flies between Thanksgiving and Christmas. After Christmas, the first of the new year is here in a blink and it will be WHAT HAPPENED TO 2010??

Paint Day/Harvest Day

Today was a balmy, sunny 60 degree day . . . with a stiff wind. You'd never have know it was as warm as the thermometer read by my outfit for painting.

I got the siding painted today. Good job, Mama Pea!

I was working on the north side of the house where the sun don't shine. Add the breeze to that and I had to dress up to be comfortable. I had on a turtleneck, heavy flannel shirt, polar fleece vest and and my painting shirt. And stocking cap. I was not trying to make a fashion statement.

Meanwhile, out in the sunny south yard where it was warm and pleasant, hubby and daughter were harvesting apples. Daughter had volunteered to come help pick. Smart girl. She wanted some apples.

We're expecting a hard freeze first of this week so decided the apples had better come in this weekend.

First the netting had to come off.

It came off much easier than it went on, believe me.

Chicken Mama's dogs, Maisy and Tucker, provided entertainment by putting on a wrestling match.

Methinks we should have done a bit of judicious thinning a few months back? (Thinning. That's not the word. What is the term when you pinch off some apples as they begin to form?)

Apples, we have apples . . .

. . . we have lots and lots of apples.

Hubby fears all of them are not yet quite fully ripe, but they've had a chance to mature much more this year than in any year in a long time. We're mighty pleased with the harvest.

I see applesauce, and dried apples in my future. Any ones we deem unripe, the poultry will happily scarf up. Potatoes and apples. These birds are living pretty good.

With A Little Help From My Friends

You know what? Knowing you all were behind me with all your encouraging words AND knowing I had to report in to you tonight as to how I did on my list today really helped a lot. There just might be something to this being accountable to someone else other than yourself. (So easy to have a conversation with yourself where you both agree it's okay to be mopey and dopey and the official Queen of Procrastination for another day.)

So how am I feeling at the end of what I would call a successful "get lots done" day? Truth to tell, no better. What the heck is going on here? I got lots done today and am now going to take the evening to spend in my quilt studio until I get tired, then I'll climb into bed and read. It's like somebody pulled all the energy and enthusiasm out of me and I can't manufacture any more.

Here's a run-down of the day:

Make Blog Post - I counted my post last night as the first one today and now am doing the follow-up one. (That makes absolutely no sense.)

Get Info to Chicken Mama - Didn't get close to that one.

Make a Couple Phone Calls - Did so first thing this morning. First one went smooth and slick, second one involved wading through an automated service before waiting 20 minutes (yupper, twenty) to be connected to a real person. Then being put on hold for 10 more minutes before getting things straightened out sufficiently. (I hope.)

Order Supplements - Done. Done. And done.

Go Thru Two Magazines and One Catalog - I just sat right down on my butt late this afternoon and did it.

Vacuum - Sucked up all the miscellaneous debris not stuck down.

Clean Bathroom - Done. (Yahoo!)

Repot Aloe Plants - Whadda mess, but accomplished. Glad I did it out on the front deck.

Make Egg Salad - I did that before breakfast. Wow.

Hang Fall Shower Curtain - Hubby complimented me on it two times. (He thinks it's brand new, but I had it up last year, too.)

Charge Camera Battery - Easy-peasy.

Manicure - Can't you tell I can type better with short fingernails?

Hair Cut and Beard Trim for Hubby - Not done. Not my fault. Tried to corral hairy subject three different times but he was always "too busy." At dinner he promised we'd do it first thing tomorrow morning. Ya, uh-huh, sure.

Work on Wall Hanging - I sat and worked on it from 11:30 to 12 noon this morning. Am going back to it as soon as I finish here.

Paint Siding - Oops. Forgot the caulk had to dry a day before paint could be applied. I'll paint tomorrow. I promise. If the weather cooperates.

Harvest Squash - Did so. Got a grand total this year of thirty in various sizes.

A very productive day. It really did help keep me moving knowing you were all waiting with baited breath to make sure I didn't fluff off. ;o) Thanks again for all your encouragement.