Where'd this week go ??

 Lordy...it's a chilly morning here at Honeysuckle Hill.  Probably only mid forties, but after last night's storms and high winds, it just feels colder. I was out picking wet greens for the chooks and my hands about froze. But--like all mornings after a night of cleansing rains, it's beautiful out there, for sure. All crisp and clean and good smelling.  It's a blessing to wake up to a morning like this one. 

  All the critters are starting to act like it's coming on winter...the dogs sleeping in and not wanting to be out so much, the chickens getting ready for their longer nights and shorter days by already starting to change their egg production schedules. Also, got some moulting going on, though this seems like a strange time of year for that... We had a young possum hole up in the garage last night , driving the dogs insane. Time to close that door again I guess, and stop leaving cat food out. sigh...Molly wanted a piece of him REAL bad...lol


  The pears are finally almost ripe enough to can. Sweet Jesus! I can't believe how long this has taken. I also picked up about 30 pounds of really good looking onions for a song...(20 cents a pound, people!!) and plan to dehydrate most of them. Might go get some more...onions get pretty expensive around these parts in the winter. Have to see how crazy slicing 30 pounds of them for the dehydrator makes me...lol. The onions we planted this year didn't get very big due to the drought...I canned some jars of small ones, and the rest we replanted a few days ago for next years onions. Have a whole bed full of onions and garlic. I have 2 commercial sized cookie sheets of lemon grass all dried and ready to put away and then I am done with drying the leaves.  It's time to work on the actual stem itself, where all the goodness for cooking is. It freezes well, I am told, so I need to research that and figure out the best plan. Then I'll dig up the roots and pot them and bring them in.


  I babysat the two little boys Monday and Tuesday...adorable and a LOT of energy. The youngest one is crawling and will be walking any day now...he's like the Baby Flash--ZOOM!-he's gone. And climbing up everything.  Makes me remember why it's the YOUNG people who have babies...I was pooped by the time those days were over. Today I am sitting with my neighbor for just a couple of hours while his wife goes to lunch with a friend.  She was down with the flu last week, and much better now, so I'm SURE she's ready for a day out.  Then I'll come home and make some dinner on the dash so we can run off to our discussion group out at La Vista Ecological Center tonight. After that, I'm not leaving the house for a week.  lol  OOPS. Not true,, I forgot I am going to a NaNoWriMo  Informational meeting on Wednesday night. And then Friday I am driving down to pick up my niece for the weekend. (and THEN I am staying in my house for a week !!)   lol

  Speaking of NaNo...I really want to participate this year again.  I dropped the ball last year (can't remember the particulars...just didn't have enough motivation or interest to go through it, lol)  If you don't know about it, it's the National November Writing Month...you write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. It's a good exercise and a good discipline to make you write EVERY SINGLE DAY...because if you don't, you fall fatally behind and will never finish it.  Theoretically.   But it's fun too, and if you think you've got a novel in you and you're interested in giving it a try, just go to nanowrimo.org.  (Tried to link it 3 times, but blogger is having none of those shenanigans)...sigh...

  Sitting here drinking cold coffee and trying to make a decision about what to do regarding the finances today. The answer will come, I'm sure.  Nothing is life and death, just in a bit of a stranglehold right now. Thank goodness I have some cash from my little babysitting job...every little bit helps. (Onions for 20 cents a pound helps too...lol...I made a big pot of french onion soup yesterday)  I dipped into the stash and spent 6 dollars for 30 pounds of onions....this morning I need to put a little gas in the car too. Only going to put 20 dollars in I think...the price of gas keeps going up and down and up and down. It's ridiculous. 


  Okay then. Time for some granola and then a shower. Have a brilliant day, everyone!!!


Namaste.