Before Hibernation

For one of the first times ever, I actually finished all the outdoor work BEFORE it turned freezing. 

This has less to do with my own determination and more to do with the fact that the weather stayed warmish until the beginning of December. 

And the fact that many hands helped me this year, instead of doing it on my own.  That makes a HUGE difference.



I planted garlic in a new spot this year.  Last years' harvest was almost nil (despite planting over a hundred cloves) so I am hoping this new spot will be better suited to garlic.  Please, oh please!



Interspersed throughout this boring post of garden chores, I saved some flower pictures from our first frost.    Like how I did that?  Yep.  Makes this post a little prettier on the eyes. 



Some road crews came and cut down branches/trees/limbs in the way of power lines.  I chased them down and asked if they wouldn't mind dumping a load of woodchips in my front yard. 

Yay for free mulch! 

And new places to play...



~ Ahoy there!  I spy some pirates shooting cannons off their ship!  Their enemies don't stand a chance.



Oh look- a third!  This pirate looks to be braiding strands of wood.   No doubt necessary in its' own rite.





~ When little boys grow up to use power tools.... Mama's are simultaneously joyful in the delegating opportunities opened up and stricken with terror for life and limbs.







The sky on fire when we worked.









The freshly mulched flower circle...



We worked until the fire turned to ash.





What does one do when their garden has a bum harvest?  This...



Why yes, that is a baby sitting in.... well, you know.



And that picture of me spreading manure isn't exactly accurate.  I labored for about 20 minutes and discovered wet manure dumped by the tractor bucket load is not exactly easy to spread and it ain't fun.  So I gave up.  I'm a quitter.  Just being real.

Matt finished the job later on his tractor.  Unfortunately, only HALF of the garden got the black gold. 

But half is better than none, am I right?

  There is garlic in the ground, manure on the garden and mulch on the flowers.  

Now I can hibernate proper-like.

A Granary Project

Grandma and Grandpa took the four older children to a museum, leaving a string of several hours for me to get some Christmas crafting done.  Provided, of course, that Ineke takes a good nap.  (Please do, Babycakes.)  

And while I am working away in the dining room (it is too COLD to sew up in the Spare Oom, my usual spot) on my Christmas projects, you can see one of Matt's recent projects...

I told you he'd find something to do with that lumber...

And guess what?  There is still plenty more lumber where that came from.

Slapdash

I am waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyy behind on blogging.  So I am setting aside this week to blog every single day.  Maybe by the end, I'll be caught up?

I doubt it.  But, here's to trying!  

For today- a bit of slapdash.

~ Hunting season....  Two tags.  Four hunters.  Lots of orange.  No deer.

~ Andrew found some scrap leather from Matt's leather working days.  He decided to make mocassins.  He got as far as making the patterns...we'll see if he continues until the end.  (He is using this book to guide him.)  And look!  More ORANGE! (how exciting.)

~ I took it upon myself to organize ONE of our book spaces.  This is the adult/teen/classics book space.  I'd be lying if I said it held ALL of our adult/teen books because we have piles in plenty of other places too.  Organizing books is a big job.  And a VERY hard one for me because choosing what good books to keep and which good ones to pass along is very hard for me.  But one only has SO MUCH space in a house.  And it is very satisfying when it is done.

And besides- the cobwebs hanging out in the high places were a SERIOUS problem.

~ One of the perks of a girl with a broken arm is that we get visits from Uncles!  Both Uncle Jonathan AND Uncle Bob came to visit.  Lucky us!  Uncle Jonathan came with lots of stories of growing up- which had everyone bursting at the seams.  He's got some good storytelling skillz.

~ Ruby had another litter of pups.  Eight little beauties this time.

~ Adele' isn't the only one benefiting from Uncle Love.  Uncle Bob came and picked up my rabbit-loving boy and took him to get a few free rabbits from a rabbit farm on Saturday.  Andrew has dreams of having a rabbit business... for meat, for selling and for tanning furs.  He had two rabbits before and now he has SIX.  I told him it won't be long before he has MANY, MANY more.  (Been there, done that.)  

He's pretty excited though.

~ blueberry scones.  Enough said.

~ Ineke has discovered the dollhouse and all the treasures within.  Little girls and dollhouses- sweetness I've seen before.

~ Matt wore a hat I made for him the other day and I realized it was the very first hat I had ever made...even before I had a ravelry account to document said projects.  So I told him I needed to take a picture of it to put on  my projects page.

Really, I just wanted to get a picture of this handsome fellow.  Sneaky wifey.

But seriously, can you blame me?!?!

I didn't think so.

~ Ineke loves to write and it is so strange to me that a baby under two can do such a good job holding a pencil.  She is most known for her teeny tiny circles, over and over and over again. (Brother did the train tracks.)

I find her signature circles in books all the time.  😒😒

~ Most recent project:  Operation Christmas Card



~ But many hands make light work.



~ An outtake from the Christmas card photo shoot which I think is pretty awesome, all by itself.



PS.  Pertaining to Christmas card photos:
1) It took less than 10 minutes straight from the van after church on Sunday.  (It doesn't have to be elaborate.)
2) This was the first year I didn't procrastine until mid-December.  It was still cold out, but this is pre-broken arm for Adele.  (So you don't think I let her jump haybales with a broken arm.)
3) I have no idea what Matt is doing...maybe channeling  GQ model with a walking stick?
4) I know exactly what Judah is doing.  That is 100% Judah right there.



~ Ineke in the little black hat I made for her.  (Using the fabric you gave me, Rebecca!  Thank you!)

It's a little bit ridiculous (the point is VERY pointy and quite a bit higher than I intended) but she is still small enough to make it adorable.



See you tomorrow!