Happy Columbus to the chicks on the south of the border and Happy Thanksgiving to those on the north.
Yesterday was very dreary; we had misty rain and fog that lasted all day. But now we have 3 days of sun in the forecast and I have 3 days off. I need to do some boring niggles (groceries and cleaning) but will also do something with the apples from our trees; I'm thinking about trying applesauce in the crock pot; then I can freeze it for later. I also want to get DH to go check out the leaves with me. They will be gone soon enough and I don't want to miss them.
Good morning, Beth, and happy long weekend to us all. Three sunny days are ahead. We had frost last night but I covered my flower boxes and am hoping that did the trick. It's going to 70 on Monday so it'll be nice to have flowers a bit longer,
I couldn't figure out why I felt so perky yesterday and then realized I was no longer in sleep deficit! I finally am sleeping until 6 or later which certainly makes a huge difference. I zoomed around yesterday doing banking, a grocery shop, post office and even tried to vote in the advance poll. There was a big crowd though and some had waited an hour. Heard later that other advance polling stations had the same grumbling about the wait. They must have been rushed by people going away for the long weekend. Actual voting day is the 19th.
The house smells great this morning as I put the pulled pork into the large crockpot to cook overnight. The Pypers will be here for dinner around 6 and it seems like the right kind of meal after a day of hiking. They are going to hike Rock Dunder which is fairly difficult climb - to me it's not a hike but rock scaling. Yes, I was invited but graciously refused.
Today I will officially close and clean up my raised bed and cut back any of the perennials that got hit by frost. I'll also finish putting away the summer things. The old white pine in the yard is about to start shedding its needles and I'll try to rake them up before they are covered by falling leaves. Neighbour Moel likes them for mulch.
We had a wicked & wild band of storms come through here last evening, but this morning is bright and sunny, and it seems I'm over the worse of my cold.
I don't have any set plans for the weekend since I was supposed to be away, but I think I'll pick the last of the peppers and get them sliced and stashed in the freezer. I'm going to put off switching wardrobes for at least another week since our temps are supposed to hover in the 70s for a while.
Beth - The only kind of applesauce I like is the homemade kind! I like mine with chunks in it, no sweetener, just cinnamon. Sometimes I eat it warm. Yum.
Ruth - I'm eager for one hard frost to kill the ragweed!
Linda - Glad you are feeling better.
I'm working today and tomorrow. Good thing I made chicken salad with the meat from my soup because I forgot I needed to pack lunch today.
DH is still gone until tomorrow evening so when I get home I'll do more chick TV and maybe start a new book. I'm getting used to sleeping without him again so he is in for some poking when he gets back and starts snoring or pulling the covers!!
We are having a nice warm spell but tomorrow is supposed to get back into the 80s!
It looks to be a beautiful day today, DH and I are taking DD2 and a couple of friends to Fright Fest so that should be a fun day. So glad this work week is over, I have forgotten what it was like to have to go in to work every day, definitely don't get as much work done. The award luncheon was a success and I stayed on plan food wise.
Beth enjoy your weekend
Ruth glad you are getting enough sleep, I feel asleep last night at 8 p.m. lol
Cottage glad you are feeling better
Karen I had an evening to myself last night but feel asleep catching up on shows.
Fall is in the air and it sounds like everyone is getting their weekend planned out. I'm sitting on the porch back in Glenwood drinking my coffee this morning. We had a little incident last night and I just threw a couple of things in a bag and got my iPod with all my good music and headed back over. While Kirk was gone Kirby had done some furniture hopping and had pulled Bing's Big pill box down and had pulled out all the pills that were in the pill pockets and eaten them. Of course, there was concern for Kirby and there was no way that Kirk could have found his way up to the emergency vet which I can't even find in the light. It's 45 miles away. The second thing was that Bing no longer had pills. I had all the extras with me. I did read online that if it had been longer than 35 minutes that stomach pumping wasn't the option and Kirk said he had upchucked a bunch anyways. I had a beautiful drive enjoying my music and when I got over here I was able to see that he had only eaten four days worth of pills and it looked like he had vomited most of them up. He's fine today so I get an extra day at the pool and I think I'll go out to the organic farm and buy a bunch of wonderful eggs. Disaster averted and I think I will wait until early morning and just head over in time for work.
Good morning, chicks! I had an enjoyable and productive day yesterday. A walk with DH, a short drive to the mountains, a little housecleaning and meatball casserole for dinner.
Today will definitely be groceries and some laundry; we are supposed to have sunny and warm both today and tomorrow. I think my last tomato plant died in the frost yesterday morning but I have brussel sprouts to pick!
Good Thanksgiving Sunday! (The smell of roasted turkey will soon be wafting across the border. Most Canadians have their TD dinner Sunday, leaving Monday for travel or leaf raking.)
Yesterday was absolutely gorgeous here. I drove to the next town to vote in the advance poll and came home the long way through a very wooded area. Lots of colour! I did get my raised bed cleared out but ran out of time for raking - maybe today or tomorrow - gotta get those needles up before leaf fall!
The Pypers had a great day hiking and were tired and hungry. Glen DID have enough energy to put up my venetian blinds in the stove room - at last! (I bought them in June.) The pulled pork turned out really well with a few leftovers - I froze them in single servings for suppers. It's the sort of thing that's great for fairly effortless meals.
Today? I will do some outside work - cutting back some perennials and stashing garden tools. I have a lady coming to pick up a quilt sometime during the day and will be off to Claire and Doug's for dinner. It certainly has been a relaxing few days. (I should book and cancel more trips!)
Woo-eeeee, it's in the 30s here this morning! But the forecast says we're going to warm up to near 70, and I'm on the line as to whether I want to change out wardrobes yet.
We had a bonus of a volunteer San Marzano plum tomato plant growing in our compost bin, and yesterday I picked all the ripe tomatoes from it and made a big pot of marinara sauce. Mmmm, the house smelled so good while they were cooking down, and I got enough sauce for 4 meals. That will be nice to enjoy homemade sauce from our own garden in the deep of winter.
I'm just making a quickie run for groceries this morning, then hanging out at home the rest of the day. Reading a book outside and basking in the sunshine sounds like a pleasant way to spend this day.
Debbie, I'm so glad everything turned out OK after that little scare!
Good morning home from our trip. Beth it was certainly cold yesterday morning! I treated DS to sweats at the student store, but I claimed the hoodie for myself during the day. Mind you underneath I had a tank top and a sweater on plus a light weight raincoat and I was still cold lol. Absolutely beautiful area. The views coming home were breathtaking. Even DS took pictures!
Debbie what a scare! Glad Kirby is ok.
Pearlrose way to go staying OP. I was the opposite the last two days. All I wanted was comfort food. Ironically though now old comfort food makes me uncomfortable. I did enjoy my ice cream cone from Stewart's. So the three pounds from the conference are back again, so today I buckle down yet again.
Karen glad you enjoyed your chick flick time.
Linda glad your cold has passed. Now it's my turn. Been fighting one off for over a week. But today it's full blown stuffy head and clogged ears. Hope it's only a cold and not a sinus infection. Which explains why I wanted "uncomfortable food"
Ruth I was shocked how close we were to Canada.I am going to look on a map to see how far Delta is from Canton. I told Joe last night I woukd love to plan a fall vacation by Tupper Lake, NY next year. The views were spectacular. I was amazed too how narrow the Hudson River is where it starts. By me, it is over 2 miles wide!
Today is a sweats kind of day. I need the big pocket for tissues lol. I may try to cut back the dead plants in the front and tinker around here. I think I could use a day or two at home.
My drive over was safe this morning. Now I'm enjoying a cup of coffee. I have already hauled to snow tires out of the basement and put them in the car. I'm heading to Costco right after work to get them put on.we still have not had a killing frost here yet. That's pretty amazing but I know that it has to be coming soon. I can't depend on clear roads across the continental divide anymore.
Happy Thanksgiving Canadian chicks! Wish I could have a little turkey and dressing today.
Wow, lots of early risers today. Good morning Chicks DH is sleeping so I have a little time to surf and post. Once he is up we have lots of plans, of course. Yesterday we went to the big farmer's market he loves. We rarely buy produce because I can get what I want up here. I did find a quart of brussels sprouts though, and we both had dirty chai. The Chai Man has the best, very spicy chai. It's just perfect on a cool morning. The rest of our day was home chores - I pulled all the tender herbs and veggies and he insulated the underground water pipes that froze two years ago. Today I'll work more on fall garden tasks, bake a little, and he will replace the starter and change the oil in the snow blower. I know, so much excitement around here I do want to get two walks in today, one short with the pup and one longer for exercise. Tomorrow I've got the long awaited dermatologist appointment. It's an hour north so we will do some shopping while up there. I lost about 1.5 sizes this summer so need to visit the thrift stores for new pants. I definitely learned I can't work a sedentary job with long hours. It's too easy to regain.
Ruth - the coast is in Massachusetts Maybe the Lake Champlain shore would count as coast? Loved the pictures of Delta. One of our surviving the winter projects is making bucket lists. Delta is definitely on mine!
Debbie - how scary! Glad Kirby is alright.
Beth - I've prepared for frost twice, but so far it's missing us. Forecast looks like the end of the week will be the end for all but the hardy veggies.
Linda - My volunteers weren't that productive, but still fun to get freebies I'm going to buy enough tomatoes for one more batch of fermented salsa. We love that stuff.
Jennifer - Did you hike in to the head of the Hudson? I did that many years ago, It is amazing! I went to the head of the Connecticut a few years ago. It's fun to see where our big rivers start. I love the Tupper Lake area. Adirondack camping is definitely on our list next summer.
Well, DH is still sleeping so I think I'll make a list for the day. I am still loving fermenting. I made another batch of the spicy pink sauerkraut with garlic and jalapenos. I love that stuff! I'm going to try a relish with beets and apples next, and get another batch of regular sauerkraut going. I'm also going to ferment some carrots. The ones we grew are pretty yellow carrots. They are a bit woody so fermenting should break them down enough to eat raw.
I'm down to eggplant dehydrating before I move to apples. I am looking forward to the smell of drying apples. I'll make a lot extra this year for the babe. I can't believe he will be a year old in a few weeks!
Had a great time at 6Flags with the kids, one of the girls had never been so that was fun.
Today I am doing laundry, cleaning and groceries. I am waiting for DD2 to wake up she has a rash that is spreading (not sure if it is poison something) and I want to see if the benedryl on I put her on yesterday is stopping the spread otherwise we might make a visit to an urgent center today.
Jennifer, Cyndi will back me up when I say that people who really live upstate laugh at those of you who think "upstate NY" means Poughkeepsie! There's a lot of state north and west of Albany!
Cyndi, I am always amazed at your food preservation! You are amazing.
Debbie, it is scary that you are already thinking snow tires; last year our first snow was right around Veterans' Day.
Cottage and Pearl, enjoy your day!
Ruth, I think I'm starting to smell the turkey. Actually I was looking at the grocery flyer this morning and I may have to pick up a turkey breast to roast.
Holiday Weekend Chat Oct 10-11
I need to do some boring niggles (groceries and cleaning) but will also do something with the apples from our trees; I'm thinking about trying applesauce in the crock pot; then I can freeze it for later. I also want to get DH to go check out the leaves with me. They will be gone soon enough and I don't want to miss them.
But the forecast says we're going to warm up to near 70, and I'm on the line as to whether I want to change out wardrobes yet.
I do want to get two walks in today, one short with the pup and one longer for exercise. Tomorrow I've got the long awaited dermatologist appointment. It's an hour north so we will do some shopping while up there. I lost about 1.5 sizes this summer so need to visit the thrift stores for new pants. I definitely learned I can't work a sedentary job with long hours. It's too easy to regain.