Falling

Once again, it's been awhile since I last posted.

I have cleaned all the plants out of the garden.  We still need to put leaves and then straw on for the winter.  I pickled the jalapenos, made some enchilada sauce out of the last of the tomatoes, and made a bunch of pesto out of the basil (I freeze this in ice cube trays and add them to hot pasta for a quick meal.)  JP ran out of his favorite sweet relish, and we were almost out of applesauce, but I had to buy produce to make those.

J came home from the city for a day in early October, so we used the tiny pumpkins that we grew in the garden to make mini Jack-o-Lanterns.

I also made a lego Jack-o-Lantern, complete with lights!

We have done some dressing up as well.  J won a costume contest dressed as "2D" from the band "Gorillaz."  I dressed as a Hockey Player to take my mom for testing at the hospital on Halloween day.  L and I dressed as "Lord Gray" for a "Clue" themed Murder Mystery Tea at the Tea Shoppe.

In the meantime, JP has finished working at the location that he has been for the past 7 or 8 years (I can't keep up!)  He will start his new position (which does not require the 45 min commute) in Dec.  My parents have just returned from a week long trip to TX to visit my brother.  They travelled separately - my mother by plane, and my dad by train...it's a long story!  My mother recently had an MRI of her brain as part of a dementia work up, and may have an aneurysm, she has another test scheduled this coming week to confirm.

It's almost Thanksgiving and I'm trying not to fall apart!

All Fall

 I have been trying to write for a couple of days, but keep getting distracted by masks that need sewing or Algebra 2 questions, or everyone's unnatural need to eat 3 meals a day.  Today, I am distracted by election results. 

Except for anxiety regarding this election, it has been a really lovely fall.  I have been puzzling about why I was enjoying it so much, and finally realized it boiled down to this:  no soccer craziness and no theater rehearsal craziness.  I miss those things, but I don't...it's complicated. 

We had time to carve our pumpkins early in the month.  Well, J and I had time.  L scooped the goop out of her pumpkin and let it sit on the counter for two weeks where it turned slimy and grew mold.  We had a jack-o-lantern funeral procession to the compost the week before Halloween.

J carved a porg, mine was a wolf howling at
the moon (long story)

L had to wear a mask near her pumpkin since
it smelled pretty bad!  Notice the fungus (arrows)

I took time to make lots of roasted pumpkin seeds - a savory variety (R)  and a sweet & spicy one (L.)

It has given me time to take quilting lessons - I finally started the quilting last week:

JP, who has been putting in lots of hours at work, finally has a large part of the month off.  He is continually worried about not having enough PPE at work, and brings home his masks.  I put a bunch of them in a lingerie bag, ran them through the washer and hung them to dry.  Overall, I think it was successful, although the wire to fit over the nose broke on a couple of them.

A multitude of masks

JP is also FINALLY having time to get his cataract surgery done - first eye this week!

So, it seems that Fall is nearly over.  Most of the trees are bare.  The mornings are frosty and we have been building fires in the woodstove.  Winter is on its way - long, dark winter.  Sigh.

Have you been enjoying fall this year?

Pumpkins

Despite all the soccer craziness that has been disrupting our lives for the past several weeks (J's team won their section, got a first round bye in the championships, won their quarterfinal game neatly, and are headed to semifinals tomorrow), we managed to fit in a few moments for carving pumpkins on Friday afternoon.  Our friend, C, came out to join us, and the girls even created a Halloween channel on Pandora, which featured "Monster Mash."

Afterwards, L went to the Halloween dance at the Middle School, and the rest of us watched "The Sixth Sense."

The Jack-O-Lanterns turned out great!



 

They look good in the dark too.

L even carved a tiny face on the back of hers - kinda like
a cheerful Voldemort!

 

Yesterday was a cold and rainy day.  I took the opportunity to roast the pumpkin seeds.  My favorite way to do them is with the classic "Chex Mix" seasonings:

 

"Chex Mix" Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
- 5 T salted butter, melted
- 2 T Worcestershire sauce
- 1 T lemon juice
- 1/2 t garlic salt
- 1/2 t onion salt
- 2 cups pumpkin seeds

Dry the pumpkins seeds, spread out on a cookie sheet, in a 250* oven for about an hour, stirring occasionally.  Mix all seasonings with butter then toss well with pumpkin seeds.  Spread on cookie sheet and continue to roast for another 45-60 min, stirring every 15 min.  Cool and enjoy!

In my attempt to prove that Pumpkin Spice Lattes actually contain no pumpkin, I happened across a recipe for such that I actually really liked.  (Yes, it does contain a small amount of pumpkin!)

 

PSL - makes 2 servings
- 2 c milk
- 2 T pumpkin puree
- 2 T sugar
- 1 T vanilla
- 1/2 t pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 c strong black coffee

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan over med heat, and whisk until hot.  Pour into mugs and top with whipped cream and a dash of pumpkin pie spice.

In the midst of all this Fall Fun, we had another tire incident on Wednesday!  One of the van tires blew on the way to school/work and looked like a splatted pumpkin.  Luckily it happened just past our driveway, so JP was able to return, reload everyone in the Subaru, and head out again.  Another lucky break came when I remembered the used van tire in the barn, so once my dad was able to help me take off the flat, I was able to drive to the tire shop on the "donut" and get it changed out.  Whew!

 

I hope you all are enjoying Halloween-ish-ness!

Boo!

It is definitely Fall in our neck of the woods.  Last week, our route into town looked like this:

 

Last weekend, we got 3 more inches of rain, which emptied many of the trees of their leaves, and leaving it not quite so pretty.  The evenings have been cool, however, and we've had some overnight frost in the low lying areas a couple of times.

Consequently, I have been working hard in the garden, trying to get everything harvested and weeded before winter sets in.  It is coming along fairly well.  All of the tomatoes are pulled, so I am FINALLY done with the weekly canning/cooking of tomatoes!  Same with the peppers, although I still have a bag full in the fridge, waiting to be chopped and frozen - I already have about 3 gallons frozen...should never have to buy another pepper for cooking!  Half of the cornstalks are pulled as well.  I dug the carrots, and they were fairly nice this year...there are still a few beets to dig.  Most of the basil has been harvested, and I plan to make Thai Basil Chicken for dinner tonight.

 

Unfortunately, October is the month when 2 of the vehicles need to go for inspection, so I have spent a lot of time at the Auto Repair Shop over the past 2 weeks.  JP's old truck, which mostly just sits around these days, has had issues with the battery draining over the past year.  Last year we bought a new battery, but the thing died again.  This time it cut out on me in the driveway (luckily I was on the way home.)  I also had to take Ole Bessie in a few weeks ago, as it died while Dad was hauling water - had a cracked fuel line.

On Tuesday, I happened to check the cistern on the way back from the garden.  It was distressingly low, especially given that Dad had just hauled 6 loads (1200 gallons) 5 days earlier.  I cleaned up slightly, and jumped in Ole Bessie to go haul some more, and the ignition was locked - key wouldn't turn at all.  Unfortunately our Fix-It-Man (Dad) was out of town for a couple of days, so we had to break down and get a truck of water delivered...much more expensive. 

JP messed with it a bit that evening, and ended up with the key stuck in the ignition!  Dad was able to remove the key lock cylinder (with the key still stuck inside) yesterday, and it is my job today to take it back to the Ford dealership to try to get a new one ordered.  Yesterday I was at the Subaru dealership to order a new glovebox, which L destroyed back in the summer when she was having a temper tantrum in the car all the way to the next town.  I Gorilla glued it, and it limped through the past 4 months, but now it is done for.

So...sigh...there is still the question of whether our well is also done for, and the water hauling truck is still out of service.  I am getting a bit weary of all of these extra worries and expenses.

Luckily we had some fun stuff going on that lifted our spirits!  As relative "newbies" in town (we've been here over 13 years now), we are still trying to wrap our minds around the strange custom of holding Trick-or-Treat festivities on the Thursday BEFORE Halloween.  It makes no earthly sense!  In any case, that happened yesterday.

J was informed last year that she would be too old to go this year.  Instead, she and a friend took her friend's little sister around.  The 2 of them dressed as "Spice Girls."

J had this spice bottle pinned to her shirt.  She was
 "Cayenne", and her friend was "Curry."

 

L walked around with some friends in town.  She was Hermione this year, and one of our friends was Harry Potter.

 

She and I made our Jack-O-Lanterns last night.  Alas, J was too busy with Geometry homework, so perhaps she will do hers tonight.  We used the volunteer pumpkins from the chicken yard.  Mine had a hole in the top from insects of some sort.  JP suggested that I use it as a bullet hole, so mine ended up as a sad, deceased JOL.  L's has a deathly hallows symbol (more Harry Potter stuff) amid many flourishes.

I hope you all enjoy your Halloween festivities....when it actually rolls around!

Halloween 2015

Our town has a strange annual custom of holding Trick-or-Treat festivities, including a Halloween Parade on the Thursday BEFORE Halloween, beginning at 4 PM.  Having kids all hyped up on candy, and then sending them to school the next day seems pretty much contradictory to me, but it's what we do.

So, we got our Trick-or-Treating out of the way several days ago.  Both of the girls dressed as their favorite characters from their favorite books.

L was Annabeth Chase, from the Percy Jackson series written by Rick Riordan.

 

J was Hermione Granger from JK Rowling's Harry Potter series.

Today they carved pumpkins with their friend, C.  Luckily we had 3 nice pumpkins from our garden saved for carving.  They stuck to their books, with J carving Harry Potters glasses and scar, and L carving Poseidon's Trident.  C was creative, and carved not only a pumpkin, but an unfortunate apple as well.

It is Daylight Savings time tonight, so we will turn the clocks back before bedtime, and get an extra hour of sleep tonight!

Hope you had a Spook-tacular Halloween!

Trick-Or-Treat (Smell My Feet!)

For all of you peeps out there planning on doing the Halloween Trick-Or-Treat thing tonight, we've already been there, done that, all done folks!  For some crazy reason, our town does Trick-Or-Treat on the Thursday BEFORE Halloween, have for years.  Not only that, but the kids get a half day on that Thursday, so that they are ready by 4 PM at Go Time!  Now tell me, wouldn't it have been awesome to do Trick-Or-Treat TODAY on the actual Halloween day, and have a half day of school, and then the entire weekend in which to lay around eating candy?  I certainly think so!

In any case, it's done.  Yesterday I spent most of the day in L's classroom, helping with their party, and reading a book to the kids.  I picked up the girls from school so that we would have extra time to work on our pumpkins before candy time!

This year, J went for a French Monsieur, complete with moustache...ooh la la!  L tried different shapes and patterns on hers.  I went for more of a lantern effect.

L chose a Bollywood Dancer costume early on, but decided against it once she realized that her belly was showing (refused to wear a shirt under.)  Luckily, on my little outing with the Ladies a couple of weeks ago, I found a cute little colonial style dress at the Goodwill.  It fit her perfectly, and along with a hat made by Aunt C before our trip to Williamsburg a couple of years ago, it made a great costume!  J had her heart set on Pikachu, and froze out there in the trenches!

 

We had a good time, the girls slept well last night, but JP and I were so busy cleaning up multiple messes, that we forgot to raid the candy stashes once the girls were in bed.  Oh well, there's always tonight!

 

Halloweenies

Just a quick post to show pictures of the girls' Halloween costumes.  I'm "supposed" to be paying the bills right now (BORING!)  It didn't get done earlier because I was on the phone with the Department of Environmental Protection, trying to get information about recent mining and drilling in our area to see if that could be the culprit for our well being ALMOST dry.  (Haven't heard back regarding drilling, but they have not yet mined under us.) 

My unexpected but long overdue Physical Therapy appointment for my sore back/hip left me more sore now than I was this morning, but hopefully now that I am getting the appropriate treatment, I will be on the road to recovery.

J's unanticipated visit to the Orthodontist resulted in the removal of her expander - just until Monday.  J is thrilled to have it OUT!

This afternoon, we drove to a friend's home to trick-or-treat with them, since no one treats out here in the boonies.  Then this evening, we drove to another friend's home for potluck dinner (I "made" KFC chicken.)

I must mention, since it's Halloween and things are scarey, the 'possum that JP dispatched out back on the veranda tonight (too bad you weren't here to help out, K!), and the flock of baby cockroaches that scuttled out of the package I opened a few minutes ago.  Ew.

So...now it's back to the boring bills.  Ho hum, and Happy Halloween!

L decided that after wearing her cute pink kimono
to school, that she wanted to be the "colorful"
witch again this year!

J is a racoon - really!  I swear that she has ears and a tail there somewhere!

 

Here's the whole crew we went trick-or-treating with!

Waking Up is Hard to Do!

Getting out of bed was hard this morning...mostly because I stayed up too late mopping the floor (it's SOOO much easier when people aren't walking all over it), and partly because I REALLY enjoyed having a few days off from school and work last week!

So here I am again, up late ironing and blogging.  Will getting up tomorrow be any easier?  Nope.  At least I don't have any chores hanging over my head until the next weekend.

I enjoyed being with my kids yesterday.  We played with toy animals in the morning, read books and magazines together until I nearly fell asleep after lunch, and carved our Halloween pumpkins in the afternoon.  Yes, we carved pumpkins, but we convinced ourselves that these were Holiday Pumpkins.  Thus was born...the St. Nick o'Lantern:

Too many times, I tell my kids that I'll do something "later".  I'm thankful that we just did whatever came along yesterday, since today was all schedules, school and work.  True, I was grumpy after dinner, when I realized that the cleaning up still needed to be done (pumpkin guts all over the kitchen floor...ewww!).  Tonight, when I look back, I have no regrets.

Tomorrow morning when the alarm goes off, I might feel differently...better get to bed!

We Came, We Saw, We Haunted

Yes, 'tis true that this post is exceedingly late in it's posting.  My only excuse is "Superstorm Sandy", and it is a poor one.

Sandy was forcasted to hit our area and bring snow, flooding, damaging winds and power outages.  Luckily, I didn't read those forcasts, so I didn't have my typical anxiety attack about the power being out for weeks.  Also luckily, Sandy didn't really blow through here, but sort of passed around us, leaving us with minimal wind damage, and 4-5 inches of cold rain (which was actually really good for our well.)  It wasn't so pleasant taking care of all of the animals during all of that rain.  It involved actually going out into the rain multiple times daily to take the dogs out and care for the chickens, and then drying off the dogs again when we returned to the house.  If ever there was a time I wished we raised cats and gerbils, it was last week!

The fortunate children of our town had their Trick-or-Treating over and done with long before Sandy came over the horizon.  As I mentioned previously, our town celebrated on the Thursday BEFORE Halloween, and had the costumes packed back up in moth balls by the time Halloween actually rolled around.

We are usually invited to a friend's home for a party and Trick-or-Treating in her little village, but this year, she called a few days before the big event to cancel because of illness.  The girls were understandably disappointed, and not just because of the lack of candy.  I usually buy a GIANT bag of candy at Sam's Club to take along for our friend to use for Trick-or-Treats, so we had candy covered.  Mostly they, OK...really mostly L, was disappointed because she would have no one to show her costume to.  I appealed to our good friends in town, and to Mom and Dad, and they all agreed to let us come for a Halloween visit to show off their costumes.  They were even kind enough to share their Halloween Haul with the girls!

J dressed as a Gypsy this year

L changed her mind at the 11th hour, and decided to wear the "Colorful Witch" costume that J wore a couple of years ago instead of her cute little kimono.  Notice the black lipstick and nail polish!


L the "Colorful Witch"

In the end, I believe that the girls were satisfied with the experience.  My thoughts, well...JP's and mine, remain with our friends whom we were unable to visit with this year.  May their illness be treatable and without much discomfort.  We will look forward to seeing them next year in our next round of costuming!

Extracurricular Liberation Day

It is finally here! Starting tonight, I have no pressing evening activities to run to on a weekly basis. Well...until I start taking the girls to the pool once a week. Tonight, however, we plan to celebrate by having a Girls' Night. The girls and I will watch girlie princess movies and give each other pedicures and eat junk food while JP works late.

Our last scheduled activity of October was trick-or-treat. I very nearly cancelled, as it began sprinkling on our way to the small town we are invited to every year. The sprinkling occurred, on and off, for most of the night. It got heavier as we completed our 2 block circuit, which is when we usually head back anyway.



The girls picked out their costumes last year, and we bought them at Target for 80% off after Halloween 2010.



J was a Snow Princess, complete with luminescent skin and white eye make up.



L was a Southern Belle, with a beauty spot for good measure.

We got cold and damp, so hurried home to warm up by the fire afterward. As the girls were digging into their candy, I told them to slow down, "Only two pieces each!", I said.

"What?" JP countered, "It's Halloween!"

"Oh all right, 3 pieces." I conceded, while I tossed the remainder of last year's Halloween candy.

I'm such a softy!