This month saw the last of the summer produce coming in. I fermented all these lovely jalapenos and serranos, and we put them on/in everything! They are amazing.
And the first of the fall harvest has begun. I fermented some of the cabbage, but we just ate the broccoli.
We also harvested the first mandarin on 11-18, but while it was fully ripe, it wasn't quite sweet yet. We'll wait for some more cold nights to increase the sugars.
We got some rain throughout this month. This pic is from 11-1 and the last storm dropped another half inch, with more expected.
My backyard fall garden is thriving. No broccoli yet from here, but I'm harvesting a lot of arugula.
So what do we do now that summerfall has given way to winterfall? Well for one thing, we put on hats and coats and drink in the bar when it's rainy. We also make fires or fire up the heater.
Catherine encouraged me to make hats for cancer patients this year, and here she models one. I'm using "eyelash" yarn, which makes the hats fuzzy and "hairlike."
This varigated one is really pretty.
I had to rearrange the furniture in the patios, and I really like the sofa in this room instead of the back patio. But we had to move it because we ordered a new hot tub! Brand new! We don't have it yet, but it should come in the next week or two. It was pricy up front, but it should last a long time and be very efficient to run. We also got an ozonator so we won't have all that chlorine exposure. We totally cannot wait for it to come!
Jane usually hosts Thanksgiving, but this year she's deeply in the midst of remodeling her cottage, and simply couldn't take the time. So she provided the dog-friendly venue, and I got to cook much of the food! I actually was sort of missing getting to make the feast, so it worked out perfectly. I bought a beautiful big organic turkey.
And made rolls,gravy, mashed potatoes, and stuffing. All totally homemade: I ground the grain to make the bread to make the stuffing, for example. And of course I roasted a chicken the week before so I had homemade stock for the gravy and stuffing. Cindy brought cranberry sauce and butternut soup, Jacqueline brought asparagus and yams, Jane made cucumber salad and appetizers, and Lori and Becky brought pies, Rick brought the beer, and Titus did the dishes. What a feast!
