Winter forecast - Wooly worm coat color

Not sure if you can see the wooly worm here, but it is totally black with a brown head.

Does this make for a predicted hard cold winter? I saw 2 and they are marked exactly the same.

Been Busy

Summer is on the way out of here, Fall is on the way in.

Thankfully with the ending of summer, the heat has left us also. Drought conditions still, but good news, we got rain last Friday. Home received an inch and half, farm got just under an inch.

I have been canning and freezing all my produce from my garden.

List of canning done: Tomatoes - sauce, juice, pizza sauce, sloppy joe sauce, and spaghetti sauce.

Frenched green beans

Mock apple pie filling, apple butter, raspberry jam, strawberry jam.

Sweet pickle relish.

Dill pickles.

Into freezer I added: sweet corn and summer squash (shredded, chopped, diced and sliced)

Now that cool weather has come here to my area, I have gotten some of those outside things done, which I didn't do, with the heat of summer.

Also, we are building a shed at the farm. It's been hit and miss, as Steve works all day, and we work on it in the evenings and weekends. Sides and back is up. Now we are working on getting the roof on it. We had 4 more post holes to dig, when the post hole digger broke down, so the guy's dug 4 foot deep holes by hand for those last 4, and the ground was hard like concrete from no rain.

During the day, while Steve is at work, I am cutting tall weeds along the ditch and tree lines of our little corner where eventually it will be yard. Still have sticks and limbs and a couple willow trees to clean up, from spring/early summer storms. Now's the time to get to them and pile them up for a fall hot dog roast/hayride in October/November weather permitting at Halloween.

I'm sure I have forgotten to add things, as my time has been limited on computer with being gone, and coming home late, getting supper and then getting things done around the house so the next day I can head out again. So looking forward to only having one place to take care of, instead of the 2.

Rainy Wednesday

We are finally getting some much needed rain. It rained Monday afternoon 1.2 inches. But came so fast and hard it ran off more than it soaked into the ground.

This morning early, it started raining again. This time the rain is slower and soaking in. It's a very cold rain, making sitting on back porch watching the squirrels feast on their ear corn, not quit comfortable. But I sat out there anyway.

Yesterday I tried out a new biscuit recipe. Bacon Cheddar Cheese Biscuits. Turned out very well. Will be sure to make it again, maybe for a Sunday morning brunch meal on a lazy winter day.

Weather forecast is for rain to continue and turn into sleet, possibly snow during the Thanksgiving day tomorrow. Such a contrast to the last months weather we have had here. I have to be honest, I am anticipating the snow. I love to watch the snow fall. There is something about the calming effect of falling snow, walking in it, catching the flakes in your mouth, just breathing in the cold cleansed air of a snow fall.

So now that I have envisioned snow falling, I feel sort of down with the dark clouds outside. I feel closed in and restless. Looks like it will be a piddle around day and maybe a Harry Potter movie. Can't wait to see the newest release.

Feel the Fall

I complained last week of the heat and humidity. Temps were in the 90's, days were swelteringly hot. I hope that is a word, swelteringly, sounds just like the days felt here in my area. The whole summer has been record setting hot here. So I haven't really enjoyed it all that much. Usually our summer consists of very warm, but not so miserable that it's life threatening for weeks at a time. This year was like 7 weeks straight of heat warnings, day and night. Then we had some relief, only for it to come at us again for weeks. Then again last week. Friday morning early, we saw some rain, was damp out, but the temps were tolerable.

Then Saturday, we really felt the relief, as highs only climbed to the mid 70's. The sun was shining bright, so it felt warm, but with the breeze blowing, we enjoyed working outside in it, putting up summer tools and equipment, mowing at pulling track, and then heading to farm to mow there also. I got some grass seed sowed while there, and gazed sadly at my garden, what used to be my garden. It's almost gone. I only have some carrots to dig, and tear down the fencing we put up for tomatoes to grow on, then pull out the last of the tomatoes and green beans. Zucchini has died out. Green peppers are still producing too. But nothing else is left to enjoy.

My hollyhocks are bloomed, some of them. Some won't bloom before frost gets them, for they were planted too late. But they are growing proudly all alone in the space I planted them.

While driving home, I took an interest in watching the tree lines along other farms and creeks, there is definiately fall in the air now, as the trees are starting to turn, grasses are dying, farmers crops are being harvested, and the fields are bare where the early crop is already out.

We slept with the windows open last night, and awoke to a cool house this morning. Steve said it is time for the warm sheets now, (flannel) and I told him not right yet. He suggested I cut the sheets in half and sew them together, and I would have cool sheets while he had the warm sheets. You know, he just might have an idea there, as going thru the change had made my body temperature higher than it used to be. I am thinking of looking into doing just that for the both of us. Doesn't matter if they don't match, the sheets are covered with the comforter when bed is made and that is the first thing I do everyday upon rising. I personally think people lazy who can't make a bed. How hard is it really.

So the windows are closed for now. I turned on 2 burners on the stove to take chill of the house. And I lit my candles in all the rooms. The house smells so nice and spicy, flowery and rain scented. Candles are different in every room, so it's all mingling together. It really is smelling of fall.

Well, off here, heading outside to enjoy some of the crisp cool air and watch some of the leaves turn as I piddle around out there.

Have a nice day.

It's Sunday morning. I am going to tie my cat to a chair. She is running thru the house like a wild animal, jumping on everything in her path. She leaps onto the kitchen table, runs across it, leaps onto the back of a chair and hangs upside down on it, looking thru the slats at me to come with flyswatter to chase her off chair. Her claws are making marks on the wood. I am about to catch her and tie her feet together so she can't climb, run or leap.

Now she's headed into living room at the speed of light to run across the furniture in there. Steve is in there, so she will head back into family room with me. Silly cat. I sure hope she calms down as she ages. Being still a kitten, growing yet, she has energy like a child on an inside cloudy day who tends to get into everything. I think we have all had those type days with our children, today is mine with my cat.

She has added to my list of things to do this fall/winter, as now I will have to re-do my table and chairs in kitchen. Good thing I love working with wood and refinishing furniture.

Time to get showered and hoping to head out the Air show at Scott Air Force Base today. Something to see those air shows. I am a big fan of planes. Looking forward to a beautiful day.

This batch down, more to go

Last post showed some of the tomatoes I am thankful my garden produced this year. More in garden ripening fast. These produced 50 pints of juice for future use this winter. Next batch I am hoping, with weather permitting, I will be able to cook down into ketchup and ready to use sauces.
Steve told me he can get me a propane stove if I want it. It can be put on porch for summertime canning. I am thinking that may be the way to go right now. Inside cooking keeps the AC working overtime, it's been working full time just battling the hot summer we have had this year.
We are so looking forward for fall coming. I actually look forward to putting on a jacket and jeans to work outside.

Fall

I love this time of the year. Cool crisp nights, warm days. As I was outside today, looking at my flowers in full bloom, I suddenly got sad, for they are almost at there peak. I wish flowers could live throughout the winter also. The colors would so go with the white of the snow.
The leaves on our trees are starting to turn and fall off the trees. Going to have to get out the rake soon. But that also is something I like doing. Making everything look spruced up and clean when I get them raked.
I still have so much to get done outside, I hope weather holds and I am able to get it all done. Still, I won't mind putting the jacket on and still being outside. I do look forward to burning leaves and if we have enough twigs, we will have a fire and hotdog roast.