Autumn

"Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns."

George Eliot

I love Autumn…the wonderful daytime temps, the colors, the crunch of the leaves as your walking, the smell of smoke from burning leaves or someone’s wood stove, the fog that hides the mountains in the morning…a long with early Spring it has to be as close to heaven as I would like to get for some time.

It makes it much nicer to do autumn chores. Earlier in the summer the man stopped at a yard sale on his way home from work.  He came home and said you have to come with me.  So back to the yard sale we went.  His excitement was a 9 tray Excaliber dehydrator for $25.  Well I have had it running recently earning its keep.

I never picked all my garlic last year and this year each clove on the head produced its own head so I had lots of garlic but all small cloves.  By rubbing them between my hands while running water over them I could easily remove their skins, run them through the food processor and lay out trays of minced garlic for drying.  All vampires in town went on vacation, it was very odorous!  I also dried multiple trays of oregano, thyme, sage and basil which was much easier to handle. 

We still have not received frost but a short drive up the mountain they have.  The river running through the valley will continue to protect us for a short time, which is good because the beans are still producing about 6 pints every two days.  The green tomatoes that were pulled are now relish, the reds salsa.  Still lots more out there so I may try my hand at ketchup.  Oh and the raspberries are still producing so I may get enough for another batch!!! {insert happy dance}.

I knit Baby O a candy corn hat.  

I hate candy corn but it is symbolic of Halloween and I was informed this year’s hats had to be different.  He had a pumpkin hat last year.  I also finished a Saroyan with Caron Natural merino/acrylic blend that I was trying to use up.  #1 daughter bought me the tatting shuttles in the last post but I haven’t had time to use them.

The yearly test to see how long we can go without turning on the heat continues although it is a little chilly when taking a morning shower!  This means instead of sitting with a second cup of coffee you need to get right to work to stay warm!  Tomorrows top chore is to can the sauerkraut.  If there isn’t enough to last the year I still have time to pick up some nice heads of cabbage at the farmers market.