Well, for Georgia it's chilly. Sort of. This time last week it was in the 90's and the heat index Friday was 100*F. Stupid global warming. :( But the highs THIS Friday will be in the 60's and low's in the 40's. THAT'S more like it!
Hubby and I have been talking about adding more raised beds to our gardening efforts. The 2 we used this year did far better than the traditional row garden area we planted. I LOVE the idea, but of course am cringing at the expense. We need to do some serious research on how to build them on the cheap. Regardless, we need to clean out the spent plants in the existing beds and get them freshened and replanted with fall/winter stuff, and I’m chomping at the bit to get my blueberries in the ground and to find a place to put some fruit trees. I’m SO tired of waiting on our orchard. :(
I’m making the girls decide this week on what they want to be for Halloween, so that we can start working on costumes. F is waffling between Princess and Pirate. H is still on Princess. Either costume should be easy-peasy to put together, but hubby keeps bringing up store-bought. Since he’s working at the local Halloween store, he gets a small discount, but we already have 3 gorgeous princess costumes plus tons of other stuff in the dress-up chest! Why in the world do we need to buy one that lights up? Seriously?
Hubby’s preparing to teach a class at the local Pagan Pride Day Saturday. I’m really proud of him … he knows his stuff and enjoys teaching classes on historical topics. I keep telling him he missed his calling as a history professor. Anyway, we’ve invited a group of folks to come to our place afterwards for dinner, so I’m looking forward to that. I may roast a turkey and make dressing! I love having company and miss all the dinner parties, cookouts, etc. we had before we moved.
Okay … here’s my IDC update:
Plant: Nada
Harvest: tomatoes, peppers, eggs
Preserve: 9 jars of Candy Apple Jelly, 18 jars of Apple-Poblano Jelly, 23 jars of beef stock
The jelly is for gifting. The beef stock … well, hubby wants to know exactly what I plan to do with 23 quarts of beef stock. Soup … rice … soup … (I may need some recipes.)
Waste Not:
* Repaired refrigerator again instead of getting a new one (repairing was cheaper than replacing). I considered suggesting to hubby that we do without on a permanent basis, but decided not to push my luck. LOL
* We didn’t lose ANY food due to refrigerator issues. Yay!
* Used recycled juice & soda bottles for food/water storage.
* Fixed the washing machine all by myself, thus avoiding hubby’s argument that we get rid of my ancient washer and upgrade. Don’t get me wrong … I covet the HE machines, but money is TIGHT. Our bank account does NOT care if we have working appliances, and as nice as the people are at the local appliance store/repair shop, they aren’t going to trade me a HE washing machine for some home-baked bread and a jar of jelly (no matter how delicious).
Want Not/Prep/Store:
* My brother offered us some seasoned oak for firewood, which will save us from having to buy any. We don’t need much (our winters are short and mild) and I’m hoping we get all we need for free from our own trees. Also, dad brought us 2 HUGE chunks of fat-lighter (1’ x 3 or 4’ each!) to go with the 2 HUGE stumps a neighbor brought us earlier. We need to chop it all into usable bits and figure out the best way to store it, but we should be set for fire-starting material for at least 2-3 winters.
* We’re hanging in there with the Pick Up After Yourself Plan. Had a rough go of it between the broken refrigerator and the weekend spent canning, but I’m almost done putting everything back where it belongs, and could get the public spaces ready for visitors in an hour. Not too shabby, considering where we started a few weeks ago.
Community Food System:
* Found out this weekend that we have doomer relatives! Mom & dad went to a family reunion this weekend and met some cousins (a married couple) that have stockpiled heirloom seeds, make their own wine, and other prep-type things that I won’t go into here. Mom asked for a wine-making lesson and I plan to tag along. So awesome! They’re family, live in the same county, and are likeminded on at least some topics. Now if they just won’t run screaming at the thought of being related to a bunch of heathens, we’ll have a place to start. :D
* A coworker gave me a bag full of Calamondin lemons and told me I could start my own trees from the seeds. That’s what he did, and he now has 4 10+ foot trees in his yard. Yay, lemons!!
Eat the Food:
* Used up leftover sweet potatoes to make muffins.
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