HAPPY THANKSGIVING ! !

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Happy Thanksgiving from everyone here on the farm, snowy and cold that it may be...I have faith that the snow will soon be gone.

Wow, two posts in a row! (and "Looking Back Sunday")

Well, I made it to my class today. Most of the spinning part was yesterday and today was primarily knitting (and I don't knit), however Judith did spend some time with me on some questions that I had, and I got to spin some beautiful Bluefaced Leicester/silk blend and triple plied it (eeek) - (s-twist on the singles and Z twist on the plied) and the knitted mittens that everyone was making were quite nice.

So, on to Looking Back Sunday - These pictures were actually taken two years ago this week - but the game is still the same - Our church provides some of the pumpkin pies for the community food baskets - and for the past few years, we've been providing the pumpkin for those pies.


After the pumpkin is baked, I scrape it into my big yellow Tupperware bowl. Previous years I have used my potato masher to smush up the baked pumpkin - but this year - TA DA - I got to use my new KitchenAid immersion blender that Susan at Farmgirl Fare is always recommending.

Wow, it really lived up to her promotion! The first bowl had a few "stringy" bits - that thing really took care of them and pureed up the whole bowl in just a few minutes - It got a harder workout on the second bowl as although that pumpkin had been in the oven for FOUR (4!) hours, it was still a little bit "chunky" Way preferable to using a potato masher, let me tell you. So I'm pleased (I also got a chance to blend up the black bean soup that I was making at the same time - Yum)


As in years past, The Shepherd saved the best and biggest seeds. These are an heirloom Amish pie pumpkin and often weigh up to 20# - so you can get enough pumpkin puree for 8 or 9 pies from one pumpkin.






I portion it at 2 cups in a freezer bag and flatten it out for easier storage.

The Shepherd took all 30 packages that I did this past week up to church today - there are four more pumpkins for our use - pumpkin muffins, pumpkin pie or pumpkin bars with brown butter frosting - (check my recipes for all these delectable treats)


And the weather report - it's about 26 degrees out now and they are forecasting more snow for tomorrow - I have a feeling it's gonna be a L-O-N-G winter!

'Tis a BIG disappointment...

Early last fall I signed up at my local yarn store for a class to be given this weekend by Judith McKenzie.

The class that I took from her last fall was so wonderful, I have so looked forward to this class.

But Mother Nature had OTHER ideas for me this weekend.

:-(




The class was "Spinning for Twinned Mittens" - Since I don't knit, I was just hoping to gain more spinning techniques from Judith.

This was our back door this morning -

It was 28 degrees out...






I know it doesn't look like a LOT of snow - but have I ever mentioned that I really HATE the cold (it makes my fingers, and knees ache) and don't do well at all with "slippery" - and as you can see from the previous picture of the ice on our back door - it was slippery - AND windy - probably sustained 20 mph with gusts to 35 mph.

No spinning class was worth that much to me.







But I am still very disappointed - I wasn't able to go to my guild meeting last weekend because of our church fundraiser auction. I was helping with the dinner and providing taco salads for 60 people - wasn't going to work with being gone all day to a guild meeting. So, there you go...





The only bright spot in the day (except for the brilliant sunshine that is) is that the wind has died down (some) and The Shepherd has dug the drifts out from around my car and in a few hours we'll be headed into town to go see Pearl Django, one of our favorite bands. Click on the link and listen to some of their music - you'll wish you could join us!

P.S. - I've been feeling guilty that I haven't been posting lately - so much to say, but not enough time - Sinda is hanging in there - our recent "game" is "Mommy, guess what I want to eat?" - often two or three different cans of cat food opened for her to sniff at and hopefully eat a little - we take each day as it comes.

P.P.S. - A little bit after I finished this post, The Shepherd asked me why I didn't see if I could go to Judith's class tomorrow - well I called and asked, and they said that I could come! Yay!

The colors of October

"Wait", you say, " October ended a week ago!" Well, yes, that is true. Although I had spend all month taking pictures of "the colors of October" that I wanted to share with you, I was busy putting together my church newsletter and just didn't get a "Round Tuit" -

This is the the final month that Sue from Life Looms Large will be hosting this "challenge" that has lasted all year and she has given us until the middle of November to finish up - I think that everyone is just really busy right now.

I have met many nice people and have seen such beautiful pictures from all over the world, I really hate for it to end - I'll have to keep an eye out for another one like it -





Looking for "the colors" of a month has certainly given me a new look at my surroundings.

This tree is right outside our kitchen window. It has been so beautiful and colorful for the past month, and today, with the storms that we've had in the past few days, it is almost bare.









October is the month when the Western Washington University college students return to town - well actually they come back the end of Sept., but the impact of an extra 10 or 12,000 more people in town really comes to the forefront in October.

This year is was particularly distressing as a young man (18 - away from home for the first time) who had only been here a week went to a couple of parties the 2nd of October and then simply disappeared into the night.

The community and his friends from the Seattle area searched for him tirelessly for ten days - there simply didn't seem to be any trace of him anywhere - unfortunately after two weeks, a dock worker found his body floating in the bay - a heartbreaking end to the searches. The medical examiner found no trace of foul play - just a tragic accident.


It brought back many memories of my first quarter at school - I had been to 4-H camp, and had spent the summers with my sister, but had never been away from my parents or home other than that - I can remember being horribly homesick - was it so bad that I wished my life would end? I think a couple of times I might have felt that way, but I don't know if it was cowardice or courage - I made it through that first hard month - then began to meet friends, many of whom were as homesick as I - we made it through the second month, the quarter - onward into our lives -


Anyhow - back to real time October - We had rain and we had a couple of weeks of absolutely lovely days - in fact a friend of ours went to Palm Desert, CA and Tucson, AZ during that week - it was rainy and cold there - sunny and warm here - ha ha...

In fact this first week of November has been somewhat crazy weather wise in the Pacific NW - it was almost 70 degrees one day last week - set new records for the warmest day on record for November.

The Shepherd (aka The Gardener) thought that his work would slow down - ie., no lawn mowing, after September - well it is November and he figures he still has about two more weeks of mowing - crazy - but glad for the work...



Our church fundraiser auction is next weekend - I have been busy spinning yarn for the silent auction - I thought this was particularly pretty - it is a merino/alpaca blend that I bought from a friends stash - It is sport weight - some of the lightest weight yarn I've ever spun - tempting to keep....






Soon The Shepherd will be getting his bonsai ready to go to bed for the winter - but not before many of them put on a little show of their own.















A lone gallardia that escaped the frost that took down the pumpkins and the rest of the flowers.










It seemed to me like the fall colors have been especially vibrant this year - even The Shepherd mentioned it the other night. The reds were redder and the golds - well, more gold...







forming a carpet of gold from our river birch tree -
So, today is the end of Daylight Saving's Time - winter is upon us - The Shepherd has put Violet, Pearl and Luna in with Vern and the spring lambs are enjoying being the queens of the barn - in fact he just went out to feed, so I guess I'd better get busy with dinner, as it's getting to be that time of the day.





Several people have suggested taking a particular tree or scene and photographing it from the same perspective every month (or even every week!) - I have a couple of favorite trees that I might try that on - hmm - that gives me an idea -

Now, off to make a little apple tart to go with that ice cream we bought last night at DQ...

Have a great week.