11:44 AM

"Autumn begins with a subtle change in the light, with skies a deeper blue, and nights that become suddenly clear and chilled. The season comes full with the first frost, the disappearance of migrant birds, and the harvesting of the season's last crops."- Glenn Wolff and Jerry Dennis

Autumn begins today at 11:44 AM. Autumn brings a calmness usually which I am looking forward too.

I haven’t seen any geese flying south yet but the birds are starting to come to the empty feeders, hoping to find something. They won't as I don't wish to be a bear magnet. The harvesting of the season’s last crops is done except for potatoes and horseradish.

Friday I cut down all the corn and fed it to the pigs and steer. I cut down this year’s bearing canes on three of the blackberry plants to give the sheep a treat. The zucchini is still producing so I left that. I pulled the small cabbages that I didn’t use for sauerkraut and put them in the root cellar. The peppers have flowers on them so I left them too. I don't know why, they won't produce before frost.

Saturday we worked on the house and then made a trip to Home Depot. I am playing with designs for tile behind the woodstove when I should just be slapping some up there. The paint primer should go on this week if all goes as planned. (Murphy’s law says it won’t but one can always hope)

Yesterday we went to a friends and picked apples, like this years berries, the apples were abundant. She said to come get more when we are done with these. The bed of the truck is covered in apples, so I don’t think I will need more!
After apple picking we loaded the steers and pigs on to the trailer and watched them drive away. This years pigs are leaving a month early but I needed to get rid of the steers now so the pigs had to go to so I didn’t have two transport bills. Which brings to mind, that I need my own trailer to transport animals. While loading was going on #2 daughter found a walking stick. I haven’t seen one for years so it was nice to know they are still around. Today I should start digging potatoes but my shoulders hurt from picking, so I am not even going into the garden. I am heading to Mom’s kitchen to lean over pots of applesauce and apple butter. Tomorrow we will make apple pie filling. After school for the next couple of days, the kids and I will make cider. (They don't know that yet!)

Soon things will calm down. The jobs won't lessen but the need for things to be done immediately (like before it rots) won't be there, which I think is what was overwhelming me. So Welcome Autumn.