Gifts

We have been given many things lately.  The gift of friendship and use of laundry machine and dryer, besides tangible things from this fall harvest like pumpkins, spahgetti squash, kale, and for me two gently worn linen dresses.

Rob worked on making this barn door, inside we have logs for our wood stove and milked Bella on the rainy days.

Our butterfly emerged from its chrysalis!  

We're getting a metal roof!  It's been nice, but we did have quite a few days of rain.  Mud.  Did you notice my black boots in the top photo?  They are Tingley Airgo, great for mud, milking the cow, waterproof and I paid $38.

Homeschool is writing new words, like these rocks and minerals that were Hannah and Olivia's, baking bread, walking in the field observing nature. 

The sky is beautiful.  More stars are visible here.  Did you see the full moon?

Fall

Flowers are still blooming in upstate New York.  The tall pink cleomes are one of my favorite.  Overall, it's been warmer than usual this fall.  

My mom took this photo when she was here last month.  We still don't have a working bath or shower.  Hopefully tomorrow the electrician will be here and we'll be able to install the hot water heater we got and then finish up with the plumbing.

I bought a bushel of apples for $12 this afternoon.  That's half the price I've paid in the past!

We have been sick, either bad colds, maybe a sinus infection, or the virus...whatever it was, last week was difficult.  Plenty of sleep, hot tea, honey and diffusing essential oils.  All is well, now.  

Monday, we went to Glimmerglass state park.  There's a covered bridge that was built in 1825.  That's almost 200 years.

It reached 73 F and it was such a nice outing.  The water felt cool, but the sun was hot, so it was appreciated.

A dragonfly landed near George as he climbed by the wood.

We got hay delivered from a nearby farm.  Our propane is hooked up to the stove, so we can cook and bake.  We had been using a Coleman burner, the toaster oven and then last week decided to buy a 1 unit electric burner, so much safer indoors... But now, I can make several items on the stove top simultaneously!

There's a chestnut tree on our property.  Have you ever roasted or eaten them?

I was glad to see that the chrysanthemums we planted on my father's grave are still pretty.

What does fall look like where you are?

Woodstove

We had our first fire in the newly-installed woodstove and it was so hot we had to open up the windows.

Our 34 chicks have grown, and are staying the the chicken coop, but with the heat lamps still.  

View from the kitchen sink window, that is the house of our Amish neighbors, Jonathan and his wife, Ellen.  They are the ones who have the puppies.  They also have horses and I enjoyed watching the horses run this morning.

My husband installed this butcher block counter made of hard birch, from Lowe's.  I put Howard's oil all over it.  We hope to get a dishwasher and put it in that empty space for now it holds the trash and compost bins. Our oven is not yet hooked up so we have been cooking over one electric unit, plus our toaster oven.  

Our caterpillar turned into a chrysalis!

I'm sorry to tell the truth, but I'm tired of hand  milking Bella already. Twice a day is a lot and that usually takes about an hour.  My husband has been taking turns with me, thankfully.  And making mozzarella, which looks beautiful here, after letting the whey separate, but it didn't come together nicely.  We got 150 bales of hay delivered!

This land is serene and the fall colors are vibrant along the back. Homemade butter!  I poured the cream off the top of a gallon of milk and shook the jar for about 45 minutes and then added a pinch of salt.