October 23, 2011



End of our evening walk



Rose bush Autumn
at Rose camp



We actually accomplished everything we wanted to on Friday!  Finished our daily chores and hung the wash inside, then went out to cut, split and stack wood.  I moved the logs along the cutting block while JB cut them with his chain saw.  I stacked two wheel barrow loads in the wood shed, then we split and stacked four loads.  JB put the rounds on the splitter and I split them until the wheel barrow was full, then he continued the splitting while I took the wood to the shed and stacked it.  So that was a total of six loads into the shed and it is almost full.  As soon as it is full, I will get out and pick rose hips.

JB put his red peppers in the dehydrator for five hours and they became leathery just like they were supposed to.  Then we put them in the oven overnight for further drying - no heat, just the pilot light.  It was cloudy most of the day with just a few sun breaks and the dehydrator used a bit more power than we had anticipated.  We may just use it on sunny days from now on.  By Saturday morning, the peppers had dried a little more and were just right.  I vacuum sealed them in a jar and put them under our bed with the canned peaches.  It is dark and cool there, so they keep better.

On our Friday evening walk, we saw three large does on the east ridge.  The dogs took out after them, but just far enough to chase them off our land.  A few of the dogs in the canyon will chase deer clear down to the pavement.  Thank goodness ours don't.

We awoke to rain Saturday morning so we turned on the generator to run the water for washing dishes, refilling our jugs, washing my hair, doing the hand wash and filling pots for making tomato soup.  The recipe called for four pounds of tomatoes and we had just enough to keep one of Elsie's heirlooms out to enjoy in our eggs for breakfast this morning.  Home made tomato soup takes a lot of time, but it is certainly worth it.  What we didn't eat for dinner, we froze.

The rain stopped about 10:30, so after lunch we cut wood for an hour and a half.  Got two loads for the wood shed and three loads for the splitter.  Then it was definately time for a nap, at least for me.  I slept an hour and it felt sooo good.  Just before I got up, Jesse jumped down off the bed and ran to the front door.  It seems that their friend from a couple miles down the road had come to visit.  If no one sees him out there, he will stand by the porch and whine.  If that doesn't work, he barks to get our attention.  It's so cute!

Deer season ended on Saturday.  So glad it is only a week long.  Larry and Elsie saw trespassing hunters shoot a large buck on their neighbor's land on Wednesday.  Larry yelled at them and his neighbor had already called the sheriff.  The buck rolled down the hill and couldn't be found.  The owner of the land went out to look for it but haven't heard if he found it or not.  According to the sheriff's deputies, the laws have changed a bit in Washington regarding hunters.  It is still their responsibility to know where they are and not go into fenced property, but if you own land that is not fenced then you must have it posted (which we do).  The owner of the unfenced land in question does not have his land posted.

The November issue of Outside magazine has a couple articles that I really enjoyed.  "You Need to Hear This", by Tom Vanderbilt, is about the sounds of nature and how you cannot find them unadulterated by human sounds any more.  "How The Nomad Found Home", by Michael McRae, is about Mike Fay who is the uber-ecologist and savior of the planet.  Absolutely fascinating!

The current issue of Countryside magazine continues their series of articles on essential oils.  I am certainly going to look into the home made shampoos using oil of rosemary. 

Thought for the day:  Be kind to Mother Earth.  It may be the only planet with chocolate.