Fall on the Homestead - and I'm Ready to Hibernate

The past couple of weeks have really been hectic. We had about 40 bikers here for the TEA (The Extreme Activist) annual party. This is basically a family reunion of sorts for the Biker Republic. It is always intense, educating, and fun. We had a great time and from the first in to the last out, it lasted almost a week. We are exhausted. It's taken us all week to clean up - even though every one did a great job of cleaning up after themselves, we still had shelters to tear down, dishes to do, stuff to put away, trash to haul off, etc.

And someone, whose name I won't mention (Spotman), left me more than just memories. Death Flu. I have been sick as a dawg all week. Friends and family are wonderful - but they have germs. And they aren't afraid to share.

So we are finally all alone on the homestead and I'm feeling well enough to drag my tired body to the computer keyboard. It's fall now - the trees are just bursting with color. Bernie cut firewood the past two days. He's gotten quite a lot accomplished, but informed me he's no where near finished. Here's what he's got so far:




He's got some stacking to do, but I'm seeing lots of toasty evenings in front of the fire with cats!

We're starting to plan the garden for next year. Early spring will be lettuce, onions, garlic, potatoes, carrots, and radishes. We'll bring out our horseradish in the next week or so and get that planted too. The summer garden will be tomatoes, squash, corn, cucumbers, snap beans, green peppers, banana peppers, jalapenos, habenaros, Tabasco peppers, and maybe some okra. That's as far as we've gotten so far.

Soon it will be rifle season for deer - and turkey. We have seen plenty of both here in the yard this year. I'd love to see plenty of both in our freezer.

The bees are fabulous - the girls routinely find their way up to the house to visit with us. I swear they just come to say hello - it's all I can do to keep from just kissing their little wings right off them. This weekend we'll put on the hive reducers, remove the supers, and start feeding everyone. They've done a great job this year. They deserve a little break as the cold weather rolls in.

Bee Free,
Penny