The last Monday in September

There's a soft rain falling out there...it's after 11 PM, and I am tired but not sleepy.  The dogs are sleeping all around me and the Irishman is sound asleep on the other side of the house.  It's been cool of late, fall settling around our shoulders like an old blanket.  Mornings are very cool--in the low 40's mostly, although this rain should warm things up a bit.

  We still haven't put up the heat lamp in the chicken coop, but probably will this next weekend.  One of the hens is laying ginormous eggs...almost twice the size of the others. It's bizarre. The last Rhode Island Red is looking pretty raggedy, I suspect I'll go out to the coop and find her dead any day now. She doesn't appear to be in any distress  but you can tell by her comb and her body that she's fading. She is almost 5 years old...

  I was walking out in the backyard today and noticed the last of the flowers and the walking onions and the raggedy old lilies and irises...almost like the plant world is preparing for it's seasonal shutdown. The green beans are flowering to beat the band and the sugar peas have lots of blooms too. The turnips and kale are looking healthy and there are even a few radishes out there. The 2 squash plants that Patrick put in the ground are getting big, I suspect there's not going to be enough time for them to make fruit though....but who knows? The parsley and chives are still looking well and I could probably harvest more basil. I harvested quite a bit and made pesto, if you recall. I still have last years basil drying in the closet (I know, I know...) and I need to get that out and bagged....

  Baked a chicken pot pie today, with big buttermilk biscuits on top instead of making pie crust. It was warm, good comfort food....chunks of chicken breast with onions, celery, carrots, green beans and red potatoes. The house smelled like heaven....

  I had a busy weekend. We went to the little local retro-theater and saw Cowboys and Aliens. it was fun. That was on Friday.  ON Saturday we usually kind of go our separate ways, as I have to go to MissB's anyway at 3...on Sunday we had our District picnic and then I went to MissB's and then I went to an 8 PM meeting and gave a girl a coin for 3 years.  By the time I got home, my butt was draggin....I baked a coconut cream pie that morning for her, and I made a cooker full of crockpot corn to take to the picnic. Today was the graveside service for the baby my niece lost....she was 4.5 months pregnant and wanted only her mom and dad and brother there, so...I don't know much about what happened. I came straight home tonight and thought I'd surely be in bed early.  HAH!

  I got 2 new books today...The Complete Idiot's Guide to Preserving Food and another called Independence Days. I'm looking forward to digging into them.

  Okay.  I'm tired and need to get to bed.  It's almost midnight and I feel the fog starting to creep in around the edges. lol

The canning workshop is this coming Saturday, and I'm both excited and nervous about it.  I need to try to get into a chiropractor too, my neck is killing me. Hope it's not another earthquake....

Namaste.

Grey and chilly Sunday....

 A really GOOD day for cooking comfort food in the oven...like the lovely chicken pot pie that's in there now, making the house smell all wonderful and feel nice and warm. I've been puttering around all day, after waking up at 10..or was it 11 ???  lol...Daylight Savings Time strikes again!!  After last nights meeting, where I drank 2 small cups of regular coffee, I was awake until 3 Am...so I really only slept about 7 hours.  Now...that doesn't seem nearly as bad, does it?   lol

  I met some really great new people last night and we all had a good time. I had one guy stop me after the meeting and say that he was told early on that if he kept coming around and listening, one day he would meet the person that would tell his story, and that I was that person for him. He had just celebrated his 12th anniversary...

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  Well, it hasn't exactly been a cell-free day like I'd hoped, lol. But the last 4 or 5 hours I turned the ringer off and put it in the other room. That helped. The Irishman and I had a nice quiet dinner and then watched the Coen Brothers film, Millers Crossing, starring Albert Finney, Gabriel Byrne, and Marcia Gay Hardin...to name a few.  It was quite good, even though gangster movies aren't necessarily my favorite. 

  Tabitha, I will post that recipe for the honey oatmeal bread on my Dragon Woman's Kitchen blog for you...I posted the Irish Soda Bread recipe earlier today...let me know how it works for you...I have been using a white whole wheat flour for these recipes...it has a ton of extra fiber and protein in it. I also always add flaxmeal and vital wheat gluten to my bread recipes. I was trying to think...it's been over 8 months I think since I last bought a loaf of bread. It was just getting too expensive, because we only eat the serious whole grain breads, and they were creeping up to 4 dollars a loaf around here. I approximately figured out that it's costing me under 2 dollars a loaf to make it myself.  'Nuff said....

  I slipped in the mud today and twisted my knee again. I don't think I did any serious damage to it, just enough torque to make it painful again.  Damn.   If the day ever comes when my knee is pain free again...why, I'll jump for joy.  *erk.

  I think I just might be able to finish this office tomorrow, if I get really diligent about working on it. If I get up early and get right on it.  Tonight we moved the loveseat out of here, and that will give me a lot more room to shift things around and get to the walls.  It seems like this mess has been going on a long, long time. On a bright note, I have located several books I've been looking for.  lol

Maybe I need to get some ice out for this knee and take it easy a bit before going to bed.   I have a full and busy week coming up and feel like I need some rest.   I also need to google the invisible dog fence and see what I can find. It's breaking my heart having to tie up this dog.  I almost wish another dog would get hurt, just so we'd know for sure it wasn't her...and of course, I don't really mean that, but...

Alright--off to fill the ice brace for my knee. Put some nice jazz on the radio and sit back and relax....

Namaste.