Two Months! Whoops!

Here's the rundown:

Met the local farmers I was telling you about. We had a lovely evening of food and conversation... and then they had to disappear into one of their busy seasons for several weeks.

Honey took forever to heal that rat bite because she kept scratching at the scab but she's fully healed now and re-furring the area she nibbled bare.

October we got some more hens and I finished the barn wall so the chickens could co-habitate safely.

Isabella and Jennifer had their usual drastic moulting, but thanks to barn, the naked chickens seem to be coping well.

I canned up some chicken and pork when I could find sales to easily add meat to soups and pasta dishes. Defrosting and cooking meat is usually the most annoying part of making dinner.

I've started buying some "easy" food for the days I just want a hot meal without fuss. (Eg: Tin of split pea soup, frozen stirfry microwave dinner, 5 min to heat precooked roast in sauce) It's a lil more expensive but I figure it's worth it for the twice a week or so that I can NOT wait 30 min for food.

Also bought some cranberries on sale after Thanksgiving so I can make some preserves with them. They're frozen until I have time.

When I closed down the summer greenhouse mid October, I couldn't find a good recipe for making shelf stable sauce that didn't involve removing the skins so I dried some and froze some cherry tomatoes. Also made some pickled tomatoes.

Some beefsteak tomatoes and peppers were large but not ripe so I brought them in to ripen.

Hugslut and I were sick with a cold for about 2 weeks. It sucked but we took care of ourselves and it didn't get too bad.

Got the Garlic planted Nov 1st-ish and replanted some cold weather crops. They're likely too late for a harvest before solstice, but definitely a head start on spring.

Gathered a bunch of Rowan "Berries". They're very RED this year instead of orangish. The neighbours say this means a very cold winter is comming.

They're best if harvested after at least one good frost so I waited and now there's a FULL folgers tub in the freezer waiting for me to have time and spoons to turn into preserves.

Hugslut said she's looking forward to Advent of code. It's a programmer puzzle event where there's a new puzzle every day and the programmers use all their skills to solve each puzzle fastest, or just use the puzzles to test and stretch their skills in a new language.

The other day, Hugslut was in the shower and when she got out the hot water would NOT turn off. I turned it off at the shutoff valve and took apart the tap to confirm the cartridge had worn out. We ordered the parts and we pick them up tomorrow.

We've also been working on improving our house by making plans and buying parts. I haven't installed any of the parts yet, but we have replacement faucet for the kitchen sink, cabinets for storing kitchen gadgets and other bits and pieces for rewiring the barn to be safer and more useful (split lighting and gfi outlets).

That's it for this one. I'll write more soon.