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Post by Admin on Oct 1, 2020 15:52:23 GMT -6
It's a NEW MONTH, welcome in October!
What's on your to-do list, what did you finish up last month.
Everyone is welcome to post. We want to hear about your plans and accomplishments.
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Post by hobbitlady on Oct 1, 2020 18:30:31 GMT -6
Hello Just jumping on board for now but I know a couple of things will happen this month. #1, I'll be doing "something(s)" with apples.  #2, I'll be watering my garlic and watching for sprouting and them getting a good start. #3, I'll put my kale starts somewhere... Hahaha. #4 I'll get the house in better order and do some cleaning. Ummmmm,well, I guess the biggest thing is to really Recover from that fire stress. I'm still kinda tired all the time,lol.Looking forward to finding some enthusiasm again! |
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Post by Ohio Dreamer on Oct 2, 2020 6:51:17 GMT -6
This month is "recovery month", lol. I put away the canning supplies and won't can more....I need the break. Our farmer friend takes cows to the butcher at the end of the month so we will get our meat in November....which will bring me back to canning.
I need to put some effort into Christmas plans. When the kids were younger I would have already inventoried all I had bought to that point and made lists.....they are older and "over it" so it's October and I haven't worked on it.
Spent the last 2 days cleaning....since I no longer need to have canning things spread all over the house, lol. So a big goal is to NOT MESS IT BACK UP, lol.
Fire wood chores this month. Same farmer we get our beef from loans us his wood splitter, so when we go down next week to pay and give him our cut list we will pick up the wood splitter and bring it here. Then start splitting. The farmer is fighting bone cancer and will have stem cell infusion in Nov, so we don't have to get the splitter back to him in days. We can use it for longer (he works with DH...so usually we borrow it Fri to Mon. But with "work at home" and him being sick, he doesn't come up here to work....so a 1 hr drive each way - through PRETTY territory). Paying the farmer for the meat and then the butcher for the cutting work sure makes beef affordable for us! $600 for a side of beef and about $100 for cutting and packaging. SO...$700 for 300#+ of meat....that I know the origins of!
Need to winterize the chicken runs. We get straw and build "wind walls". Babies won't move in with the older chickens till December....so we need to do their run, too. Wind is nasty here in winter and spring. But not every day, at least.
Went through some cookbooks this week and pulled out some "new" recipes. So far everything is a hit. I'm in a slump, so I needed inspiration. And with a clean kitchen....I'm more likely to cook something good, lol. I'm about to head out to do the shopping and will be looking for something I never bought before....Marsala wine. I've been hearing about marsala chicken for years and how good it is. I found a simple recipe and think I'll make the plunge and give it a shot, lol. Hope we like it.....since I'll be buying a wine bottle full of this. I'll be making it till the bottle is empty if we like it or not, lol.
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lilith
Full Member
Posts: 79
Talent: herbs
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Post by lilith on Oct 5, 2020 7:47:16 GMT -6
Happy October folks! This is normally my favorite month of the year. All the fall colors, slowing down and taking time for family, big meals at the table all together. And lots of hot drinks! Did I mention hoodies and leggings??
Ok, so it's not my typical fall, but 2020 isn't a typical year. At least mother nature has given me a semblance of normal as my virginia creeper vines that hide the well house are turning the most beautiful brilliant red against the gold's and yellows of the aspen and birch trees right outside my front door.
Unfortunately, I can't make it much further than my front door without the help of my car right now as my broken foot is pretty bad. I have been on crutches for almost 3 weeks now and still can't put any weight on it. Somehow, they think I can still work too. Just have to go slow and balance on one foot all day. It's total crap. As soon as I can get into the ortho I'm sure that will stop long enough to heal, but until then I am stuck with what the urgent care doc said. I guess there has been a few hangups with work comp and the surgeon won't see me till he is sure they will get paid by them .... He won't even see me on my own insurance. It's totally exhausting!
So, what I did was really quite interesting and has me looking really hard at my normal walkways. I stepped down about 5 inches into gravel carrying extra weight. The uneven gravel on the ball of my foot shifted all my weight to behind my big toe. This caused the long skinny bones that make the arch of the foot shift sideways, tearing the ligaments on the inside of my foot and crushing the cuboid bone between my heel one under my ankle and the two long skinny bones over behind my pinky toe and it's neighbor. All of this over a little loose gravel in front of a doorway. It's not a common thing to happen, but I can see it happening to anyone of us carrying a bucket of water, a bag of feed, firewood, or anything else.
Make it part of your preps this month to at least be aware of where your walkways have loose shifting gravel or uneven footing. If you can fix it, do it!
So, my preps for October are to
1. get the quad from my dad so I have some accessibility to my property.
2.gather rosehips and preserve them for the extra vitamin C.
3. Sewing. It keeps me inside, off my feet, and I rather enjoy it.
4. Major shopping trip. I've got to find the energy to go out there and restock everything!
5. Get hubby to fix any sketchy walkways ... Especially the one going out to the shop. I need to be out there with him, even if it's just to sit on the rolling stool and tell him that's not the right tools for that. Lol
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Post by feather on Oct 5, 2020 11:00:09 GMT -6
lilith, I'm keeping you in my prayers with your healing. The only positive about not being able to walk, is that this is the time of year, that is better for healing, because there is less to do outside for the next few months, not much else. Sorry you are going through this. If your area has a borrowing center for medical devices (ours does) I'd encourage you to get a small motorized wheel chair, narrow, to get from one place to the other. In hindsight, I wish I had done that, even just for a few months as a temporary solution to mobility around the house.
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lilith
Full Member
Posts: 79
Talent: herbs
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Post by lilith on Oct 6, 2020 7:40:07 GMT -6
Thanks feather, my inside accessibility is good. I have the crutches and my daughter has put in extra effort to make sure the puppy doesn't leave his toys out. It's so cute that she has taught him to put all his toys in his bed when she tells him it's time to clean up. At work, one of the techs brought me his shop stool with wheels on it so I can just roll around the warehouse. The height is adjustible, so I can sit on it, or put my knee on it. Outside, I use the forklift as a golf cart hahaha. I'm just lacking the ability to go off road at home. Gathering in the last of my herbs for the season has become difficult, but the little quad I'm getting back from my dad should help a lot. It's got just enough get up and go that it will haul me and a little trailer (3'x3') anywhere we feel like going on the place. Even after I'm done being broken it will be handy to have back. I forgot that I still have to fix the insulation under the house too. Add that as #6. |
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Post by Ohio Dreamer on Oct 6, 2020 8:25:45 GMT -6
lilith, OH NO! Seems getting in to see Ortho's is a problem nation wide. I know 2 here having the same problem. One is also a workers comp case. One waited 6 weeks, after 2 ER Dr's told her she couldn't wait that long. Guess their opinion doesn't count. Sounds like you are great at thinking outside the box (but we knew this already). Hope you can find an "all terrain" option for getting around your property. Ok, 6th day of the month and I have already failed, lol. I got permission to pick apples from the neighbors....I canned 14 qts of applesauce, lol. I'm working hard and not going over and getting more buckets of apples today. I pick up off the ground as much as I can. I give the chickens the ones past human use, then sauce the rest. He doesn't spray so they are very "ugly"....but oh so sweet! Applesauce with NO sugar added  BUT my floor is sticky again, lol. Put together a rose hip and elderberry tincture. I'm sure it will taste horrible, but if we need it we will have it in a few months. We do straight elderberry normally, the rose hips are new for us.
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Post by feather on Oct 6, 2020 8:38:46 GMT -6
Ohio Dreamer, or anyone, is there a best type of rose to plant to get rose hips? My friend was asking me and all I could remember was that wild roses have rose hips.
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Post by Ohio Dreamer on Oct 7, 2020 7:23:33 GMT -6
Ohio Dreamer , or anyone, is there a best type of rose to plant to get rose hips? My friend was asking me and all I could remember was that wild roses have rose hips. I have no idea, I ordered mine, lol. |
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Post by Ohio Dreamer on Oct 8, 2020 9:15:14 GMT -6
When I made apples sauce a few days ago I had extra. I put it in the fridge and have been working at using it. I made an applesauce cake, which went over well. Then yesterday made applesauce cookies (ho-hum) and an applesauce custard pie. The pie was a surprising hit. Never heard of such before so I expected some up turned noses. NOPE, in fact they decided that it would be even better if made with red hot applesauce. UM....we don't have any.... SO, since DD was part of that discussion (She and DH had it...my 2 dyslexics and the 2 that have the same texture aversions in their foods - I wonder if the 2 issues are relates-....the 2 I THOUGHT would hate the pie, lol) I made her help me harvest more apples off the neighbors tree this morning. So I'm back to canning, again, lol. Doing pints only, since a pie takes 2 cups of applesauce.
So, deciding what to declare next I'm done with....so it comes back and hits me. Maybe I should declare I'm done with money, LOL...
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Post by feather on Oct 8, 2020 9:23:58 GMT -6
Ohio Dreamer, YES! And the checks will start rolling in, people will come to your home and ask if they can pay you exorbitant prices for things you were thinking of throwing out, you'll be walking along and a $20 bill will get caught under your shoe, and the elderly neighbor you made bread for 3 years ago, put you in their will. I like the way you think. Watch for those miracles in plain sight.
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Post by Ohio Dreamer on Oct 9, 2020 12:40:13 GMT -6
Local produce store has bacon on sale. 2 for $5. So I ran to town to get some, 4 packs came home. I see why they are cheap...most of them are ugly, not the nice neat slices but a wrinkled pack. For that price I don't care, lol. Stopped at Goodwill, too....it's right next door. We seem to have "lost" a bunch of silverware. It is not uncommon to be out of forks by the time we serve supper, spoons are also "missing". So I bought 2 bundles. Washed one bundle and they are drip drying now. I'll put the second bundle and what ever seems like "too much" down with the spare kitchen things in the basement.
Starting to put my garden beds to bed for winter. Pulled the beans and and ran the Mantis through that area. Chickens got the bean plants, they will snack on and break them down for me. Need to harvest carrots, yet. I've been pushing that off....don't know why.
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Post by Ohio Dreamer on Oct 12, 2020 7:39:09 GMT -6
Knock Knock....where is everyone???
Paid for our side of beef, yesterday. He goes to the butcher at the end of the month. Also borrowed the same farmers log splitter. Put a 3 or 4 hours in yesterday (well, DH did) splitting this years firewood. I helped for a few hours, but had to cook supper, too. Both kids are home today, so we will get out there and finish that pile and get it re-stacked. Then onto the piles in the woods.... Haven't told the kids, yet, but I'd like to try to get some of those started, too. We will see.....it was a hard weekend, not sure if I have the leg strength to start those piles.
Amazon Prime days starts tomorrow. So I'm putting things in my cart today and then will see if the price drops on anything. All things I'm going to get the kids for Christmas (sheets, retractable clothes lines, etc). Son want to get everyone those adaptors so you can charge you phone wire-free. Since we keep having to replace phone because the phone charging port dies....sounds like a great idea. Told him if he buys adaptors I'll by the charging "thing". I'll do it with him sitting beside me so I do it right, lol.
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Post by feather on Oct 12, 2020 9:03:08 GMT -6
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Post by hobbitlady on Oct 12, 2020 19:01:29 GMT -6
Hellooooo Well, I've looked in,and things are OK here these days,but I still(or again) have "the blahs" going on bigtime. Even out of the line of fire, our air quality has been in the "unhealthy" range lots of days.I like the cooling weather but sure am too tired all the time. We finally had more rain and breezes from a different direction and I took a few pictures outside for the first time in weeks.Today was nice all day for once! I had that same sort of dizziness I had last July come back and I don't like that one bit....that it REoccured. It's not as severe as before but I "feel" it. This time I'm wondering if my body is "toxic" from the smoke (although I wore masks outside they weren't always the "good" ones); and I often wonder about all that metal in my leg (despite it being non reactive "new" metals made for such things). Anyone have any particular tonics they like a lot for inner cleansing or pick-me-ups? I have Not been doing well with healthy eating so I'm not helping myself much.  Feeling foggy brained to start with so I lack motivation I guess.Kind of ashamed of myself(which also does no good!!!)I usually love this time of year so I'll "affirm" my intent to Snap out of This! yeah...that feels better. The garden is winding down since the tomatoes are small and taking forever to ripen now and I've picked all the good size summer squash.Still haven't gotten to the apples but I'll take half a day for that pretty soon and see how many quarts I get. Oh yeah...I never reported that my Excaliber died on me and I had to get parts and it still didn't work. Dang. I was SO careful to get everything Exactly right with the wire connections that that was just one more thing that threw me into the dumps.I'd harvested my grapes and prepared them and had 5 trays of them...which ended up in the shop with a fan on them for 2 weeks.They turned into raisins,Mostly,some semi hard round things...Hahahah...but I didn't trust them (too much moisture still) so they got frozen instead of on the shelf.I have made oatmeal cookies with them that worked out fine though. We did another big grocery shopping trip today and having that done Does make me happy. I'm still/again buying stuff online "just in case" another supply rush kicks in around here(and on Amazon)too. Sundance the pup entered his "terrible teens" and I never know when I turn around if I'll be laughing or yelling Nooooooo over his pranks.He's a little thief and I find people-items in the middle of his pile of ripped up toys.TG the people items are whole(so far). He got tall enough to get his front feet up on a table and stretch his neck for a heist,but I never See him do it! Funny little sneak is too smart for me I guess. At least it's never potty accidents now! He's beginning to lay around like-a-real-dog more often though. whew Well, I got to just yakking away. Time to get outside with DH and the dogs while it's still light and breathe some clean air! Be well,everyone. |
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Post by feather on Oct 12, 2020 19:16:34 GMT -6
hobbitlady, For cleansing, try celery and carrot juice, if you don't have a juicer, as I don't, I blend it with water in the blender, then put it through a sieve. It will wake you up, even if the flavor isn't, mmmm good. Head over to here: homesteadingheaven.freeforums.net/thread/335/celeryI've been drinking celery seed infusions, and the taste is 'bluck' but it is invigorating. It's supposed to help the body get rid of build up of toxins. I really like it for how I feel. UGH! Your excalibur died. That's terrible. I'm sorry to hear it. Take care, stop in more often if you can.
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Post by hobbitlady on Oct 12, 2020 22:14:29 GMT -6
feather, Thank you! I like the celery-carrot juice idea a Lot.I'll give that a try tomorrow since it's almost bedtime now. I'll go read the other thread Now though.
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Post by Farmerjack41 on Oct 12, 2020 22:41:22 GMT -6
hobbitlady, Seem I read you can put your grapes on parchment paper, on a cookie sheet in the oven. Set oven for low reading of 125 or less. Think they said you would have raisins in about four hours. Timing might be different depending how you like raisins. Have not tried it yet, but that on the bucket list. Jack
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Post by Ohio Dreamer on Oct 13, 2020 5:41:23 GMT -6
hobbitlady , With your tiredness, "blah's", and all that smoke in the air....might you need some Vit D? I know when my D is low that's how I feel.....to the point of not caring about anything. My kid could come down the steps bleeding and I'd look at them and say "That's nice" , lol. I'm tired....3 busy days in a row. But my body doesn't hurt, yet today, lol. We got the rest of this years firewood split and stacked yesterday. Then we (DS and I) moved the splitter back to the trees taken out 2 months ago. We started with the biggest logs, the ones that take 2 of us to get on the splitter. Did about 5 of those (maybe 10-15 more to go of that size). That gave us a 2/3 filled trailer. I'll unload that today and get it stacked. Maybe we will split more when he gets home from work. Would be nice to get 2 or 3 more done and drying. Maybe tonight DH and I could do a few more. WE have the splitter for 2 weeks....so we need to keep plugging away to get as much done as possible.
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lilith
Full Member
Posts: 79
Talent: herbs
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Post by lilith on Oct 13, 2020 8:16:53 GMT -6
Ohio Dreamer, or anyone, is there a best type of rose to plant to get rose hips? My friend was asking me and all I could remember was that wild roses have rose hips. Dog rose It's a wild rose native to Europe but widespread in the US. It has pink flowers all over it and near impossible to kill. Most commercial rose bushes are grafted to dog rose root stock and if your rose winter kills, the roots will put off shoots of Dog rose. That's where all mine came from anyway. The dog rose is way more hearty than it's delicate counterparts. |
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Post by feather on Oct 13, 2020 8:30:03 GMT -6
lilith, thanks Lilith! That helps.
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Post by mogal on Oct 13, 2020 10:19:18 GMT -6
In the 40's the conservation department recommended multiflora roses to fight erosion. The stuff took over and has ruined a lot of pastures because cows won't eat it or try to eat the grass growing under it. Goats will clear it out in a season. Anyway, we have a good bit on our place and it's covered with rosehips. Unfortunately, they are tiny, not much bigger than a BB and you'd likely bleed to death from the thorns just trying to get a few handfuls of hips. ARRGH!
Feather if you find a source, would you share it please?
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Post by feather on Oct 13, 2020 10:25:48 GMT -6
mogal, I had a climbing white rose, nothing very special, growing off the deck, it had nice rose hips. I don't have a source right now. I certainly won't withhold it, if I find one.  My friend is more interested in them than I am. She's going to give up vegetable gardening and plant an herbal medicine cabinet, so to speak.
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Post by mogal on Oct 13, 2020 10:28:43 GMT -6
My Blue Girl rose doesn't bloom a lot but the hips it does produce are easily the size of a "shooter" marble, maybe 3/4" in diameter. I need to move her to a better location and root some cuttings. That's my favorite rose ever.
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lilith
Full Member
Posts: 79
Talent: herbs
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Post by lilith on Oct 13, 2020 19:12:29 GMT -6
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Post by feather on Oct 13, 2020 19:46:24 GMT -6
I sure like the shape of that bush. I could see putting that in our back corner. I sent this also to my friend, I know she'll be interested in it. Thank you!
My mullien is growing near my spearmint ....this summer. I'll be starting more from seed this next spring, winter sown. I was so glad to have a patch established. Thanks!
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Post by adinwnc on Oct 14, 2020 4:25:25 GMT -6
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Post by mogal on Oct 14, 2020 6:19:54 GMT -6
Thank you for your link, AD in WNC. I was actually looking for a source of the plant--should have been more specific.
Still plugging away at apples. I used to have marathon canning days when I could do a couple of bushels from basket to jars but those days are long gone. DH had washed a quantity of 2 varieties on Tuesday that I processed yesterday. My legs were screaming, foot swollen after I'd done 16 pints of sauce and I still had evening chores to do. Bless his heart, DH made dinner.
Our county has fewer than 45K residents but we've had 5 deaths and case numbers continue to rise. It's worse in two adjacent counties that have larger population centers and are college towns with more people coming and going. This county serves as a bedroom community for both of those population centers which might explain some of the transmission. We also have 2 small private colleges that brought our initial cases into the county when students were on the move.
We're in need of rain, have pretty low humidity plus high wind in the forecast. I don't know why anybody would need to be told they don't need to burn but we're under a burn ban right now. Common sense just isn't common.
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Post by Tim Horton on Oct 14, 2020 11:00:44 GMT -6
Ohio Dreamer, or anyone, is there a best type of rose to plant to get rose hips? My friend was asking me and all I could remember was that wild roses have rose hips.
+++
Up here, Alberta wild rose is a menace.. It is HORIBLE invasive, but it does produce an abundance of marble size hips.. We use a lot of them in critter feed...
You DO NOT want this plant within 1000 km of you...
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Post by mogal on Oct 14, 2020 12:05:56 GMT -6
Ohio Dreamer, or anyone, is there a best type of rose to plant to get rose hips? My friend was asking me and all I could remember was that wild roses have rose hips. +++ Up here, Alberta wild rose is a menace.. It is HORIBLE invasive, but it does produce an abundance of marble size hips.. We use a lot of them in critter feed... You DO NOT want this plant within 1000 km of you... I understand, Tim. We've also got multiflora rose so it's a bit of a moot point adding another wicked thorny plant. Now if it were poison ivy, I would avoid it like plague. |
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#2, I'll be watering my garlic and watching for sprouting and them getting a good start. #3, I'll put my kale starts somewhere... Hahaha. #4 I'll get the house in better order and do some cleaning. 
BUT my floor is sticky again, lol.
Feeling foggy brained to start with so I lack motivation I guess.Kind of ashamed of myself(which also does no good!!!)I usually love this time of year so I'll "affirm" my intent to Snap out of This! yeah...that feels better. 
My friend is more interested in them than I am. She's going to give up vegetable gardening and plant an herbal medicine cabinet, so to speak.
