Thursday, November 22, 2012

Thanksgiving

Feel
 Joy in good company.
Feel
Comfort wherever you may be.
Feel
Peace on Earth and among all creatures.
Feel
Thanksgiving.






Indian Summer

First off, a quick observation:  I don't know about you, but the Internet here is giving me fits lately.  It's very slow or doesn't work at all.  Several times I gave up trying to blog posts.  I even had to take some pictures off the blog in order to get it to load.  Surfing and just reaching many web sites is almost painful. I'd be more upset except that I expect the grid will go down entirely at some point.  I'll miss electricity, but then we are used to having the power go out here. 

Hunting season has been good for us this year.  Tom got a buck with his bow on the first day of bow season, and he got a nice doe the day before yesterday with his rifle.  I was grateful he shot it before it got dark -- I hate trying to drag a deer out of the woods after dark.  Yesterday when he was out in his deer stand across the road, someone got smart and decided to spend the day in the back yard.  She liked munching on my blackberries and kept eyeing my Honeycrisp apple tree that I wisely enclosed with a fence.  The chickens watched her warily from afar (perched on the forest garden fence that protects most of the other fruit trees and berry bushes).


My Solar Return (a.k.a. birthday) was pleasant and uneventful.  It was three years since I made myself a birthday cake so I figured I would make my favorite -- German Chocolate cake.  It lasted all of three days around here!


I bought myself a beautiful pair of wool combs from Paradise Fibers and 400 heddles to add to my loom.  Now I can buy a whole fleece and practice combing the wool.  Here's a question for you fiber artists out there:  Can I spin wool from just combing it, or do I have to get some carders and card it first? 

 

Sarah sent me some fancy coffee beans and hot sauce. I ground the coffee in my Great-great-grandmother's coffee grinder. Boy, the smell of that freshly ground coffee was wonderful!


Tom bought me a neat book called Putting Down Roots.  I really got into it because I found that I am doing what a lot of the early pioneers of Wisconsin did like growing gardens in beds as opposed to row gardening, making fences with wood brush, drying and preserving crops for winter food and next year's seed, and so on.  There are even recipes; I may try making the rutabega pudding though I won't tell any of the picky eaters here what it is until after they eat it!

We had some more snow right before Election Day, but since then the weather has been mild enough.  I've been able to get most of my fire safety zone cut back and expect to finish in a couple of days.  It feels good to believe I am moving forward in my homesteading work.  I'm eyeing a spot near the house for a root cellar.


Well, it's a holiday weekend so I'll keep this short.  Be safe and have a wonderful holiday!