November

November already. Not that I didn't know it was coming, it just seemed to arrive so quick. I guess because of the crazy weather we have been having. The past two days have been real nice- didn't even mind wearing shorts to the store this weekend. It is just funny though to see everyone in coats already. I stretch the season out as long as I can. After all-it just makes me walk faster from the house to the garage and then from the car into the store etc..... Nothing else going on. I finished the chairs and now I need to finish cleaning my sewing room. I started earlier and Corra came in to work on her crafts, as she calls them and Carter just came in to climb around on stuff. Something about sitting on the bottom shelf of my sewing table. He has been doing it since he started crawling-he would get up on it and then was scared to get down. Now he is a pro- The stools are his new challenge.
Finishing the kitchen updates are the November project- Hope all goes smooth. Have to order the counter top- Scary thought since we have to take all the measurements. This should all go down after Thanksgiving-Then on to the next project.  Fun times, but it does make winter go by faster.  Nice to have a few days to slow down though before we get into it full swing. Heading to Menards tomorrow, see what I can find.

Before and After Pics

Camera batteries charged so decided to throw in a before and after- Brown was ok and in good shape but the blue sparkles!!  Four down ........ one to go- Gotta go carve some pumpkins- two days to Halloween

Little Windy

We had a huge change in the weather this week. Some time Monday night the winds started to pick up. By the time we got up on Tuesday the wind was blowing at 35+ mph with gusts to 70 mph and it was raining. This lasted all day and through the night. Wednesday morning the wind was still blowing and it was snowing. There was a little accumulation but it melted fast since the ground is still warm. We were lucky though and didn't lose the big old tree-just a few smaller limbs. Finally today it is sunny, wind is still blowing but nothing like the past two days.
I brought the fish in- Found three of the tadpoles-one is almost a frog, it has all four legs but still a bit of it's tail, one has it's back legs and the other is all tadpole still! Lot's of the snails survived and there are lots of babies. The fish all look good except for one that didn't grow much and is missing it's top fin. Now I just need a slightly warmer day to get the pond scrubbed one last time before winter sets in.
We had a freeze last night but the greens still look good in the garden so we just might eat off of them one more time before I pull them up. I would like to have them out of the way and maybe even plot out the beds before winter. I have the plan drawn up and a supplies list started. We are going to be building  an A-Frame trellis for each of the tomato beds. I am also going to need a square foot grid for the mixed beds. I am excited about the new garden plan since I will be able to add all of the annuals that I like but don't seem to have a good spot for in my flower beds.
I have also almost finished upholstering my kitchen chairs. As of noon today I have just one left to finish. My goal was to be finished today and then to paint the kitchen this weekend but have decided to wait on that until I get the cabinet hardware ordered. The new plan for that is to paint the weekend after Thanksgiving. Aubrey will be off so instead of trying to get it all done and put back together in two days I will have three. Gotta love the deadlines. You can tell it is almost winter because now I am switching from lawn and garden mode to home improvement mode. Have to have something to keep me busy though. Starting January though-no excuses-I will be working on a new stained glass piece each month.

Busy days

Today we finished cleaning out the garden. Pulled out all of the okra plants and made a run to the compost sight. It was overcast and a little chilly, but it was nice to get this job done. It will be nice to be ahead of the game when spring rolls around. Still had enough time to get the yard mowed-and leaves mulched. My rhubarb patch looks terrible. I think it is time to thin it out, maybe even move it to a new spot. The cherry bushes also need to be moved. Looks like I still have plenty to do before the snow falls.
The weather is cooling off again this week-looks like we could have our first freeze by the end of the week. I have to go buy an aquarium to move the fish inside for winter. My pond isn't big enough for them to overwinter in. Should be fun. I know I have at least one tadpole that still hasn't started getting it's legs yet, so the grand kids should enjoy watching that. Just what to do with it this winter if it becomes a frog? Oh well I'll worry about that when it happens! I haven't spotted the other three- they have either grown their legs and hopped off or stay close to the bottom. It will also be nice to see how much the snails have multiplied. I started out with 10-so we will see.
Looking forward to some more sunny days to get everything done. Maybe even a couple of more Bar-B-Que's!

So this is fall?

We had a few nice fall days- chilly enough to turn the heater on. But the something happened last week. Somebody pissed off mother nature and she decided to turn up the heat. Off went the furnace and back on went the AC.  I can't take the heat anymore- It makes me edgy!!! We did make it to Sioux Falls to look at an old stove- It was very pretty and if I didn't have my mind set on a double oven I would have bought it. Drove on down to Canton, SD to see the double oven one and it was in great shape so we brought it home. That was a long day-Anyway, Albert is in the process of running a gas line for it and it should be up and running by the weekend.  Very exciting! Glad I have a big kitchen-enough room I can keep the electric stove hooked up until this one is ready.

Also my Vinyl arrived within two days of ordering it-Very impressed---I will be ordering from Vogue Fabrics again. The colors are great and I almost have one chair finished. Corra is very excited about them. She just had to sit in it because "everyone knows she has never tried a blue chair before".  Now I could use a few of those rainy days to get all the chairs reupholstered.

Along with this I am also emptying out the garden. I picked 4 1/2 gallons of peppers so today we canned 31 pints of hot sauce. I am glad that job is done. Hopefully this will last a year! We are expecting our first freeze next week so I need to get busy. The days should start cooling off starting Tuesday- so full speed ahead. So I guess it is a good thing that it hasn't rained because I have a lot of yard work to do. It is finally dry enough.
I did take the time to make another run to Joann Fabrics to pick up some more craft stuff. Have to stock up before the snow flies-

Lots to do

Time has been flying by. I can't believe tomorrow is already October. Seems like nothing got accomplished in September. How am I going to catch up in October! The weather has been great though. We were able to walk to pick Corra up from school both days this week and also walked to story time at the library yesterday. The evenings have been cool but just right to be outside during the day. No cabin fever this week. Aubrey, the kids and I are going to Watertown tomorrow. Just to do a little shopping. But Saturday we are going to Sioux Falls and beyond to look at some vintage gas stoves. One double oven and one that is just extremely pretty. Hopefully I will come home with one of them. It will be nice to finally have a gas stove. I don't care for electric stoves. Especially when canning veggies-burners seem too small.
Haven't finished cleaning out the garden yet- oh well- it will happen! Strawberries and raspberries are still producing- much to Corra and Carters delight!
I have decided on ice blue sparkle upholstery for the kitchen chairs. I ordered a sample swatch from Vogue Fabrics so will make the final decision when it gets her. Will also be getting vintage glass knobs and pulls -Peacock Blue. Very pretty. Funny though, blue is my favorite color and I have never had a blue kitchen! We will see how it all comes together.
I have been doing a little sewing-making fall crafts and little things like that. Chasing kids and trying not to be edgy. Other than that not much else going on here-the only exciting thing is that Leslie and Caleb have made plans to head to Vegas November 5th thru the 8th. I'll have a new son-in-law, but it feels like he has been family for the past few years.

Fall

A new season is arriving tonight- Fall, my favorite time of year. This year though the first day of fall will not be clear, sunny or crisp. It will be cloudy and rainy. The forecast is calling for "tropical downpours". So I will sew all day tomorrow-kids allowing!
I picked the last tomato's from the garden today. Diced two for dinner and Corra ate four of the remaining five Roma's. There are still greens, peppers and herbs that need to be tended to but other than those few remaining things the garden is ready to be cleared out. Kind of sad to come to a close but excited to plan for a new season. I have a new plan in mind, converting over to a Potager Garden. I have been researching these for a few years now and I guess this is as good a time as any to give it a try. I have the room to expand if need since we haven't installed the new fence yet. Should be interesting. I am trying to hold off on setting plan to paper until winter, don't want to get ahead of myself and have nothing to do when it is too cold to go out!
 I am missing living on the farm. I think I would feel better if I could have some chickens! Not a bunch-just three or four girls would be plenty. If I would have known I would be living in town I would have made sure to photograph my chickens and write their stories. I have had some special ones in my time-Who would have ever thought? All my critters, another day, another time!