Heading Into Fall, Independence Days, Setting Up An Outdoor TV Antenna, A Little Early Halloween For Work

     Herb fairy garden

Heading Into Fall-
This week has been the "get out the fleece jacket" time. Days are getting shorter and cooler. We had the highs in low 70's and hit high 40's at night. We'll be in the 80's this week, but then 50 at night. Not bad! I did some yard work this afternoon and it was only about 75. I love the fall, just waiting for things to keep ripening before a hard freeze. Sometimes that's October, but sometimes early November. Who knows? More of the garden in "high summer"-

a few raspberries on our new plants!

lemon cuke, finally, my fave!

my daughter's squash patch  

girls still growing, eggs next month, I hope!

my camera-shy barred rock :)

Independence Days-
I haven't done one of these for a bit, so here ya go!

1. Plant Something-

No fall gardens here, hot then straight to freezing. I may order some seeds for next year.

2. Harvest Something-

Various tomatoes, lemon cukes, yellow squash, pickling cukes, green beans, Italian kale (excellent!), herbs. 

3. Preserve/Store Something-

French nectarines are still a bit too firm and tangy, will wait another 1-2 weeks to harvest, then a canning and freezing frenzy! They are so good dead ripe :) No apples this year, and about 10 pears on our baby pear tree. I may buy some apples to can for applesauce. I make mine chunky with lots of spices. Great in the winter with pork or for breakfast. Buying summer grilling meat and freezing for winter.

4. Manage Reserves- Get a Good Deal/Barter/Stock Up/Prep-

Still stocking up the pantry on a regular basis. I bought some small, canned hams, for soups, etc. Still freezing local, artisan, organic breads from the outlet. We may do a pick-your-own apples, if it's not too far away.

5. Eat the Food- Try New Foods/Recipe-

Kale salads, fermented pickles. Using some of the meats in the freezer to make room for nectarines. Made some sausage with sauteed garden veggies, yummy!

6. Build Community Food Systems-

 Neighbor may have some rhubarb she gives us, the rural farmer's market is just too far away to buy much. The downtown version is too overpriced for me. 

7. Recycle/Re-Use-

Cleaned coop. spread shavings into the garden. Bought an old window for a chicken wire display. Will get it together in the next week. Bought a like-new used bathroom cabinet for $5.00 at the Habitat Store. Dave hung it today for me. Perfect for a little decor, with some beachy stuff leftover from our main bathroom remodel. I knew I'd find a spot for it somewhere...

 8. Skill Up-

 Learned how to install an antenna watching Dave.

9. Regenerate What is Lost/Salvage Something-

Dishwasher quit, so Dave pulled it, and did some diagnosing. We loaded it into the wagon and took it to a reliable repair guy we've used before. We think they can repair it. A new one would be several hundred dollars. I have told Dave to just use the extra space for shelves, but I think he's afraid he'd be doing dishes the rest of his life! :)

Setting Up An Outdoor TV Antenna-

We had been using Dish with HBO for a while. At one point we had cable, but then Dish was cheaper so we switched. Since we rarely go to movies it was good deal at the time. We started thinking about switching to Netflix, since there's so much more variety, and it's so much cheaper- $8.99 a month. ***Dish would be wise to come up with some GOOD packages that are cheaper. We had one up from the bottom, and the low price one was mostly junk channels. No History, A&e, TNT, etc.*** So... first we ditched HBO a few months ago, after the Game of Thrones finale :) We got Netflix after that, easy to install with our wireless and a Roku 2. We started looking around for an outdoor antenna and got this Antenna at Best Buy. Since we're in the middle of town we knew we'd get a strong signal. Long story short, Dave and I spent a lot of time (hours) trying to get a clear signal from the roof. We'd get some stations, but not others. FINALLY Dave realized he was trying to use the OLD cable. Off to the store. New cable. Problem solved! Clear as a bell!!! AND we gained 4 PBS channels instead of 1! Note to self- do a clean install with new cable, not 10-20 year old cable. It may LOOK ok, but it's the guts that count. Cancelled Dish, more $$$ in our pockets. And I LOVE Netflix, catching up on the old Haven episodes from the Syfy series, the only decent series left IMO.... 

Better shot of the antenna-

Better shot of the antenna

A Little Early Halloween For Work-

Being an elementary librarian I HAD to but this little guy for $5.00 online. Cute huh? I decided to buy these too for a couple bucks, 2 cute little burlap covered birds, great for fall!

time to dust I see :(