Hope everyone had a safe and happy Thanksgiving!
The landscape is looking pretty dreary off the front porch this morning. The leaves are now just a memory and we move into the dark season of winter. Many mornings the fog is thick and this morning was no exception. You can see the mist rising off Toe Creek at the bottom of the holler.
And in an hour or two it just got worse. O Wise One was out hunting in this and came in early. He says this is the kind of weather a person can get shot in no matter how much orange you wear.
Things have been pretty quiet on the homestead. We enjoyed a quiet Thanksgiving and Friday we watched the two grandbabies while our oldest daughter got her Christmas shopping done. The grands were nice enough to leave behind their colds with us and we are fighting those now. Saturday was O Wise One's birthday.
O Wise One is preparing to pull up his traps for the year. He is having a horrible time with the cold. Remember when he burned his hands last year. Seems as if there was some nerve damage and now they are extremely painful when they get cold. It is so bad that he is talking giving up trapping for good after doing it for almost 55 years.
We are working on housecleaning in preparation for putting up the Christmas tree this week and preparing all the animal pens for the first snow they are predicting by the end of the week. I did manage to make it over to visit my Amish neighbors and do some shopping at the store to stock up. And I continue to watch for those baking supplies as they go on sale for the holidays. We have walnuts to crack and pick out for the freezer and a few of the last spring turkeys to butcher. We are going to grind them and freeze the meat. O Wise One is also finishing up his deer hunting for the year but is trying for one more doe before season closes.
The seed catalogs have begun trickling in and I have already started quilting so winter has officially begun for me.
There hasn't been a whole lot to blog about so how about I open up the floor for questions. Surely there must be something you want to ask!
Blessings from The Holler
The Canned Quilter
Would love blogs on your quilting.
ReplyDeleteI love to quilt, but get discouraged with the way my things turn out. Ever since I started piecing by machine I haven't enjoyed it. Years ago, I cut each piece out and pieced by hand and loved it. Old age, arthritis, and fibromyalgia slow me down, but I haven't given up on it :).
I agree! A post on your quilting would be nice. I don't quilt but I love to look at and cuddle up with them.
DeleteDo you cut a fresh tree from your property? My in- laws, who live in Missouri, would go to a friend's farm and cut the rattiest looking cedar tree and that's what my husband grew up with. My family always bought a fir/spruce. One of our biggest newlywed fights was over what kind of tree to have and I won mainly because the lots where we lived didn't have cedars.
ReplyDeleteI used to be too poor to buy a Christmas tree (even a fake one) so we went out into our pasture and chopped down a cedar tree too.. I always enjoyed it but I didnt understand why I was the only one who got these red streaky swollen arms when we cut them down.. until I was around 30 when I had allergy testing done. :P No more cedars for me.. I could afford a regular tree by then.. thankfully! ;)
DeleteWhen we were first married, we lived in a mobile home so a fake tree was a necessity. We bought our tree 43 Christmases ago for $10.43 (the tag is still taped to the box). This is the tree that our children grew up decorating. We had a live tree one year when we lived in Michigan about 35 years ago. Our daughter had such a bad reaction, we've never tried again. In the past several years, as my health has suffered and my work hours have become insane, we've only put up a small silver tree that requires no work. By next Christmas, I hope to be retired and to drag out our old tree at our new farm. Love it when life comes full circle.
DeleteMary
Well, you will undoubtedly do well even if he gives up trapping. Has he considered trying hand warmers, or is there a possibility of an apprentice?
ReplyDeleteHope you all have a wonderful week!
I've learned so much from you and I want to thank you for your recent post on canning turkey broth. Do you grow anything indoors during the winter? I just started a flat of microgreens. I would also like to see your quilting. :)
ReplyDeleteCQ!! Oh how I've missed you! But hey, everyone needs a break every now and then.
ReplyDeleteI would like to see anything about sewing projects, homemade gifts or any small winter projects.
Anyway, glad to see you back. Happy late birthday to O Wise One and I hope the colds pass quickly.
I too enjoy quilting, and quilting , and quilting!!! I am in my sewing room when I SHOULD be doing housework. I'd would love to see your quilts from beginning to end. I love watching the process.
ReplyDeleteI recently tried your biscuits, they are wonderful. Since it's just DH and me, I make up the dry ingredients and then use it as a biscuit mix. I add butter and buttermilk to a smaller potion of the dry mixture. Works great and they are so good. Thanks for all your recipes,the ones I've tried always come out perfect. I enjoy your blog and the time I spend with you each day. Miss you when you aren't here......
I'd love a recipe for your from-scratch scalloped potatoes! And, do you have any advice or tips for someone just starting out with a pressure canner?
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your blog. I'm in my lower 30s and saving to buy my first home, and my dream is to put the land to good use just like you do!
I don't have any questions as I get most of them answered just by reading your blog daily. I would like you to know that reading you is like a visit "home". I don't garden or can, have no livestock, don't hunt or fish...too old and living circumstances don't permit, but I am thrilled to read your daily endeavours and the mindful way you live. I do share a love of quilting with you, but do my piecing and quilting by machine and am satisfied with the results. I hope O Wise One is able to find a solution to his hand pain so that he can continue trapping which he seems to love.
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas to you and yours.
A question for you on putting your gardens to bed until next season. Do you ever burn leaves or debris as a way to "help" your garden soil? For the past couple of years we've layered our garden spot with leaves in the fall and then turned them under in the spring. A friend suggested burning the pile to "help" the soil. I would love to have your opinion on it!
ReplyDeleteBy the way...I'm working on my first quilt top and loving every minute of it!
It is extremely foggy here in Linn Valley, Kansas and has been for the past 3 or 4 days. We have the house decorated for Christmas and I'm cleaning as hard as I can. Friday I will be having another injection in my back and I'm not going down with a dirty house. I'm dehydrating cranberries for the first time and I'm anxious to see if they are like what comes out of the store bought bags. Hope everyone is doing well. We had a wonderful blessed Thanksgiving.
ReplyDeleteYours is one of the blogs I look for each day. It's too bad about your husband's hands. Has he tried any of the arthritis-type creams? The ones with capsaicin really help as they block nerve pain. It's the only way I survive with my knees. Or maybe it's just time to quit trapping. Sometimes some thing just isn't worth the effort any more. I'm sure he could use some down time in the warm house during the winter also. You both seem to work hard enough during the growing season.
ReplyDeleteI would love a recipe for baked mac & cheese. I know everyone thinks it's simple, but mine always is dry. I've tried making it in the slow cooker and oven. Some recipes taste so bland, I want something moist with flavor. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteWe have had fog, fog too! To bad your husband had to give up trapping. But at least he can still hunt. Hope you get rid of those colds soon!
ReplyDeleteLiz
I want to know where on earth you get your energy!! I want some of it! ;)
ReplyDeleteI am one of those who checks your blog at least once or twice a week. I am envious of your lifestyle and your energy! I've heard of some folks planting an over crop, typically rye grass, for soil retention in the winter. In your post on the overwintering question you showed a photo with some of the straw from your animal pens sprouting. My question is this: do you have a tremendous amount of the straw or grass growing through the summer? Do you need to do a lot of weeding because of planting the cover crop? I'm a novice gardener. Thank you for this awesome blog and all of your tips!
ReplyDelete