Husband—digging all of our potatoes to put in storage and listening to a race on the radio in the barn while he puts them in net bags.  Me—finishing a bathroom rug, starting mug rugs for holidays, grabbing needles, yarn and patterns to do gifts for the same.  I think I got the better deal.

          These are the crisp fall days we all think about when someone says autumn.  Still warm enough to hang my clothes to dry on the line (I consider it a challenge to see how long into the winter I can line dry my clothes) and cool enough to dig around in the winter garden and not wear out due to heat.  Got a big clothes basket full of kale, Chinese cabbage (Napa) and swiss chard yesterday from the winter garden.  Beautiful, crisp and green.  Also got a great surprise—growing where we had planted spring turnips was a huge patch of beautiful green leaves.,  Upon closer inspection (and tasting), I realized that these were turnips that were going to seed when Mike went over that patch with the tiller a few months ago.  Now I have turnip greens that are just delicious and took no labor at all!! 

          This morning, I made a big batch of noodles that are now drying in the kitchen.  Have a few orders that I need to finish .  I also made my 2-month supply of  wash detergent.  This is so fast, easy and cheap and it does a fantastic job—even with my hard well water.  I am now making the detergent for my two older daughters who both have high-efficiency washers.  Works great.

          Got a DIY tip that I have been doing for 2 months as a trial. I do not have a dishwasher  (by choice), so I do use a popular dish liquid (read more expensive than the bargain brands that you generally end up using twice as much anyway).  I have found a way to stretch the expensive stuff and still have all of its good qualities --- lots of suds, grease cutting, etc.  Here’s the deal.  Divide one bottle of your dish liquid into 2 dish liquid bottles (save the last one empty one).  Into each bottle, add 1 Tablespoon of Borax and fill to the top with white vinegar, turn up and down to mix thoroughly.  That is all there is to it.  You will put in a bit more than you normally do in a dishpan of hot water, but even with that, it stretches it to almost twice as much with ½ the cost. 

          As Thanksgiving gets closer, it is a good time for us to recognize that some of our people are going to be hungrier due to the food stamp cuts that just went into effect.  If effects all of us, whether or not we need food stamps.  If you know of or are related to anyone who could use a little help, think of what you might be able to do for them.  And next year, at election time, remember those who erroneously think that the recession is over and that the only reason people are poor is that they don’t work hard enough.  Remember that most of them have no money worries and certainly wouldn’t know what to do if they did.  Enough said. 

 

A lot left to do today.