Garden, Ravioli Soup,Biscuits, Beginning Felting - a Pumpkin.

Each day begins with the animals.  Dog, cats, chicks, chickens, and lambs come first. There is something so grounding being with the animals first thing in the morning.  We make sure they are fed, watered and loved.

Today is a Monday. I water Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  It is dry and arid where we live.  We are doing our best to plant and GROW trees. We have lost many due to draught or hail storms.  This year we are doing well... honey crisp apple trees, 3 aspen, elm, willow, and this year I added two Chicago hardy fig. I contacted the Colorado Extension office and asked if they will be okay in the winter.  Here's the answer:

Here's the response to your question:
Thank you for your inquiry. Chicago Hardy Figs are compatible with Zone 5. If they have been properly planted in the ground (not in containers), are in a suitable area, and are well established, they should winter over with the correct mulching, winter watering, and protection from extreme conditions. If they are in containers they should be brought in to the greenhouse.

I am going for it. They are not in containers. Leaving them outside and mulching the heck out of the area and snug it in for the fall for winter.

We are on well water. Know that I am very grateful for the water we have but … it is full of sodium and bicarbonate.  You can actually see it some areas on the soil... it looks like a patch of snow in the dirt. But water we must... Here's how everything is doing.

I need to replant the lettuce.  A cat got in the greenhouse and used it as a litter box. 

From the greenhouse today, looks like I will be making relish. I already have 24 jars of pickles.

I did pick up a few things for dinner too. 

Breakfast... veggie biscuit sandwich.  I found a recipe HERE that I had tried before with great success.  So, I gave it another go.  They turned out great and I used a glass to cut the dough . Next time I will you a wide-mouth ring to get larger biscuits. (my sister gave me that idea).

Breakfast was onion, tomato and goat cheese biscuit. 

I saved six for the week and froze the rest.  It made two dozen. 

House chores were done. My goal daily is to be done by noon , today was 12:30pm. 

Time to have fun.

Craft time - felting a pumpkin. My youngest grandson said he wanted me to make Halloween/Fall things not so "pookie" aka spooky.   So this week I am challenging myself to craft not so spooky and gory crafts.

I had an audience at the front door. He tapped as I  felted.

I added a little yarn vines.  I have a bunch of roving that I can't wait to try and make more. 

We went for a walk this evening to see if we could tell where the coyotes were hanging out and getting into the field behind our house. I think we found it. But on the way there , trucks hauling corn have been leaving big dirt clods on the road... I twisted my ankle on one leg and went flying.... tore my pants at the knee on the other leg , landing hard...skinned my knee and hands. No big deal. I kinda laughed because I haven't fallen like that since I was a kid.  Norman, the dog, was by my side nudging me to get up and get on home. 

Dinner was from the garden... a big salad...

Plenty of vegetables from ravioli soup.  I used the recipe from HERE .

Added garlic toast. 

Time to clean up and get ready for tomorrow. 

peace

Saturday chores and time to relax

I love being on the homestead. So quiet and chores that I actually like doing. I finally convinced Dude to get off the homestead and have some fun. So, he and his son went to a model train show. I stayed home finish up chores before tonight's snow.  Off to the store first to grab a few things. 

The Old Farmers Almanac said if you toss daisy and poppy seeds in the ground before a snow they will be the first to pop up in the spring. Well, these were by the register  so I grabbed a couple to test this out.  I planted them quickly when I got home before I forgot.  We'll see if they grow.

Bought matches and birdseed. 

You can't see this but remember about a week or so ago Dude washed and polished all the lamps? I went and got oil for them today. 

A box load of our new produce boxes came in today. 

I found a bit of rose and lavender mixture for the coop and headed out to clean it. 

I decided to lay out all the old chicken manure out on the garden-to- be. It should cure well before we plant. 

All nice and clean with the herb mixture on it. 

Wilbur came over for some massages. Dude says he rams him but with me, he just wants a good scratching and

a kiss.

Norman wanted to help. I tripped over him throughout the day. 

I had to get the wood in before tonight. I really like doing this. I pretend I am getting a workout. 

All loaded up.

I stopped at the library. Picked up some classical music , a couple of movies and a few books on CD to listen to while I sew .

I made some fun rolls. They tasted great and rose  well. 

Heat the oven 425*. 

Mix 4 cups of Bisquik,  1/2 cup Greek yogurt, 1/2 cup sour cream, and a cup of Sprite.

Melt 1/2 cup butter in a  cookie sheet pan. 

Bake 20minutes or until golden. 

Then it was time to sew. It was such a nice relaxing afternoon.  Well, until the dog came in, chased the cat and got caught in a lamp. 

I tossed them both outside so I could sew. 

 I did get two placemats quilted and finished. 

And actually finished and embellished this one... a month late. 

It is suppose to snow tonight. I didn't want to lose my greens so I put them to bed... literally. I put a blanket over them. I have done this before in the past and it saved them. I hope it does again. We don't heat our greenhouse. 

peace