Happy Michaelmas

The kids are decorating for Michaelmas.  Lydia did the flower arrangement herself from our yard.  It turns out that she is quite good at it.  She is currently making a second arrangement.

We had a good time this past weekend.  We went to see family, and we were so happy to have the visit!  We also picked pumpkins and enjoyed apple cider slushies.

Now I have more apples to process.  I have been making and canning applesauce, but I'm about to change to making cinnamon apple jam.  It's all so good!

 

New Adventures

 

First up, I finally have a table that can seat at least 8.  This bench opens to store my muck boots and doubles as Gyunay's new favorite seat

Of course, he also wrote all over the lid with pencil the first day I brought up the bench.  I don't know what got into him; he hasn't written on anything in years.  

Nathaniel found this table and benches for sale, and he sanded it down for me so I could stain it.  I love it.

The kids and I headed to Spring Mill to meet my mother-in-law for the weekend.  We had a marvelous time.

Spring Mill is my favorite state park to visit, and we had a great time.  Gyunay had never been, and Lydia was too young to remember it at all.  Elijah and Malachi were quite young the last time we went there.

Book Review - Something Worth Doing by Jane Kirkpatrick

 

Something Worth Doing, by Jane Kirkpatrick, tells the fictionalized story of real-life suffragist Abigail (Jenny) Scott Duniway.  I really wanted to like this book, but I did not like the main character.  I kept waiting for her character to develop a bit more and care about the people right in front of her, but she only seemed capable of caring about her cause and women she didn't know, to the point of showing nearly constant disdain for her husband, children, and men in general.  Her husband, Ben, was a much more interesting and sympathetic character.  The book is well-researched, with historical details throughout.  I think readers can learn quite a bit about the suffrage movement from reading it, but for me, it was not an enjoyable read because of the main character. I have read and enjoyed other books by this author, but I will not be recommending this one.

I received a copy of the book from the publisher, Revell, for the purpose of writing a review, but all opinions are my own. 

In Our Yard

 

We harvested the cushaw.  It weighs 19 pounds!  While Lydia was posing for this picture, Midnight started crying like a baby.  She doesn't like to see Lydia holding something else, so Lydia took off to hold her.

Gyunay bought me a couple of mums for my birthday and gave them to me early.  He's especially proud of this purple one.

The pumpkins are looking good.  This one is about ready for harvest.

Speaking of harvest, we are going to harvest the rooster soon, so here is a picture of him looking majestic.  He is a really pretty rooster.

And the chicks.  As you can see, the meat birds are about full-sized now.  We will harvest a few of them this weekend, too.

We have been harvesting cucumbers like crazy.  The kids eat 2 or 3 sliced cucumbers a day.  I eat them, too, but we are getting so many that I was able to can 5 pints of dill pickles and 9 pints of sweet relish, as well as ferment a couple of quarts of dill pickles.  Tomatillos are also doing very well.  I canned tomatillo salsa, and more are growing.  I planted some fall radishes and turnips outside, and they have sprouted.  It feels like fall this morning; it is really lovely outside right now.

Lydia Behind the Camera

 

I told Lydia to take some pictures for the blog.  First of all, we have the two toads that she is pet sitting.

She's really enjoyed taking care of the toads for her friend.

Can you spot the cucumber?

Mexican Sunflowers and Golfers

I've grown these orange Mexican Torch sunflowers for the past few years.  They usually get about 5 ft tall and have lots of long-lasting blooms, but this year, this plant really took off!

That is just one plant!  I have a couple of others in the front yard, which are beautiful, but not nearly as big as this one.  I have the 2 yellow Aztec Sun ones as well, which are nearly this big.  All of them are frequented by butterflies, and the orange ones attract hummingbirds as well.

Malachi and Nathaniel went golfing Sunday afternoon.  Gyunay decided to go as well, so they got a cart.  Malachi played really well!

 

August Harvest Totals

 Beans, crescent - 2.7 lbs

Beans, dragon tongue - 4.1 lbs

Beans, runner - 7.1 oz

Cabbage, Brunswick - 1 (1.4lbs)

Carrots - 18

Corn, Buhl - 9

Corn, Shoepeg white - 5

Cucumber, Edmondson (white) - 55

Cucumber, pickling - 10

Eggs - 64

Kholrabi - 1

Pepper, Bulgarian sweet - 6

Tomatillos - 1.1 lbs

Tomato, Black Krim - 7 (2.7lbs)

Tomato, Black Tula - 9 (4.6 lbs)

Tomato, Purple Russian - 4 (10.7 oz)

Tomato, St. Pierre - 3 (1lb)

Tomato, Woodle Orange - 2 (5.8 oz)

Watermelon, Sugar Baby - 1

Plus, cherry tomatoes, basil, cilantro, dill, mint, oregano, parsley, and sage

(Tomato total - 9.3 lbs)  It is such a sad tomato year!