Worked on a little bit of everything today.

Today, Dude is nursing a horrendous chest cold. He insists on beginning the floor project.  I am sticking to my prior plans.  If the homestead is my "job" and I am the manager/owner... I need a weekend too.

Well, first I need to go feed the animals and make sure their water troughs are scrubbed and filled. I drain them and fill them up on Saturdays and scrub them once a month. The homestead doesn't really just stop for the weekend - smile.

 I get the water down low enough so I can push the trough over to drain and clean. 

 Sorry the next few pictures are blurry Molly, the Suffolk lamb kept nudging me.

I worked with the lambs for a bit getting some of the mud and dirt of Molly.  Prudence didn't want any help in that area -she looks like a pig that just rolled in the mud. I will work with her tomorrow. I did get Molly looking much better. 

I made a stop in the greenhouse and was so surprised to find two large cucumbers hiding in between the plants. 

Dude stuck around in the greenhouse to water .

I wanted to make and can maraschino cherries.  This is the end of cherry season.  Colorado has beautiful orchards of cherries. There are quaint little places along mountain roads with small cottage shops and stands selling cherries, pies and jugs of juice.  I love visiting them.  scraaaaatch… I love those places but I bought mine from a grocery store in a nearby town.  I am using the recipe from Living Homegrown but I could have use just about any recipe as most of them follow the same procedure and ingredients.  It is the almond extract, that most will tell you, give the cherries their distinct flavor.

I pitted the cherries but left the stems on them. 

 These are pitted. 

 They look and taste wonderful. 

I was lucky to have one of my sons and girlfriend come over for a bit.   Then it was time to nap (I am one of those 15 minute solid napper), eat and sew! 

I finally got those pants made.  Someone was mad I was in the sewing chair. 

Done.

She wouldn't even look at me. 

I am also following the FQS Cross Stitch quilt sew along. They are on block two and I got those done. It is a beginner quilt and even though I am not quite a bigger, I think I  am more apt to finish a quilt if I follow each week with a group. I am totally only using scraps. 

And began another block cutout for this quilt....

That's it for today. I hope there is a little bit homesteading inspiration somewhere in there for you.

peace

December 2nd First day of Advent , morning in the greenhouse and more.

I began the day...after my morning coffee with Dude in front of the fire... in the greenhouse.  My thought was to get some greens and carrots for dinner.  We are having  locally grown pork and I am on a mission to eat, at least half the plate in veggies.  There is still snow on the ground.

The ground in the greenhouse is not frozen yet so I took some more plants I had and planted them... mums. In the spring I will transplant them outside.

Planted mums.

As I was digging I found this wiggly worm.

Our carrots do well throughout the winter. We pick them as we need them. 

The cabbage is growing too. 

We put our wood stove ashes in our gardens.

It was a great way starting the day... in the dirt... hearing the sheep calling outside and rooster crowing.

 Sunday is Dude's football day.  That man does so much for the house despite being "retired".  Since he does I like taking on the outside chores on the weekend, mostly feeding and watering the birds and sheep.  I mean, who wouldn't... everyone is so adorable.

When I got back in Dude was stoking the fire and then vacuuming while listening to the game. Rest... for one day... rest.

Again the day did not turn out as planned.  My mom needed to be taken to the hospital for stomach issues.  She lives over an hour away and the hospital she wanted to go to was another 30 minutes away.  I brought books and crafts to be done.  I am glad we did... we were there for 5 hours.  They did many tests and in the end sent her home with some good medicine to help her eat. 

I worked on paperback Christmas trees while waiting . 

 It needs painted and decorated but the hard part is finished. 

And read...

Always be prepared!

We lit the Advent Wreath after dinner.  This is the first Sunday of Advent... the four Sundays before Christmas.  It is a time of Preparing the Way and the first candle a symbol of Hope. 

peace 

December 1st is here!

I joined a 30 day blog challenge... here we go, day one. 

It was a snowy night with big, fluffy flakes.  We cleaned out the fireplace and kept it going all night.  It's how we heat our home. Today was in the forties and suppose to be the warmest day of the next seven.

December 1st is the Feast of St Eligius who is known for his kindness and work with the poor. He is also the patron saint of horses. He had a flare of prayer and helping shoe horses who were difficult with blacksmiths. We had two such horses.

They greatly enjoyed life just not the farrier. 

It was an exhausting day. The plan was to transform our bedroom something with visions of sugarplums for Christmas time but like most people our plans were changed.

We weren't home most of the day, helping my elderly mom transition to the next phase of her life... preparing to go into a senior living apartment.  We offered a home here but the homestead is a bit isolated... as did all my brother and sisters.  She is an independent type of gal and wanted her own senior living apartment. 

It was late when we got home.  The sun was down and it was time for me to collect the eggs while dude went out to feed the sheep. Chickens don't lay much this time of year. 

I did take time when I got home to get on the treadmill (blustery, windy and cold outside) and worked a craft challenge from the town over's library, a Christmas tree book. 

oh, and I did put cherry brownies in the oven - smile.

I will show you the final product tomorrow of both the tree and the brownies. 

peace

A very autumn Friday!

We had a very busy morning going from appointment to appointment.  We warmed up the car and scrapped the ice and frost off the windows before heading out. 

It is World Arthritis Day... appropriate that Dude had his follow-up appointments for his new shoulder (arthritis, spurs and other such invasions had been removed 6 weeks ago).  Science and medicine are truly amazing these days.  Healing has been wonderful, all considerations being taken. (grin, Dude says large magnets pose a problem when he walks by them)

We didn't come home until 2 pm.  It is always great to be home.  I did take a small detour to the library.  Angels and all the spirits of the season were looking out for me as I went back to the car. I was reading the back of a book when I looked up to see a snake slithering and zigzagging across my path.  As I screamed, it looked up (I thought to strike me), said hello, wink and kept on sliding into the ornamental grass nearby.  A young boy came running out , smiling and yelled... how cool!  It took me a moment to breathe and head home.  Dude and I are so connected. He called right when I got in the car to ask if I was okay. (he couldn't have known what just happened) I asked him why and he said he didn't know, he only knew he had to call me right then.  *love*

I took time to be with my birds and lambs to calm my nerves. 

Look at those irradiance feathers!

I gathered up a few gifts they left and thanked them with corn. 

I watched the farmers bringing in the silage (corn). It is amazing how it strips the corn right from the cob!  Notice the snowcapped mountains in the background?  I went out and talked to the guy who owned the farm and asked if I could glean for crafts and decorations when they were done. He was more than gracious to share. 

This is the sorghum down from the corn. 

Here's the book round up from this week:

peace