A new haircut, a new table, a new wood carrier and fall salads!

Here's a few other updates I didn't want to include in my depressing last post about my traffic court experience.

Jason sprung on me recently that he was thinking about cutting his hair (noted nonchalantly as I was headed out for the evening). No warning whatsoever!! He seemed to feel amused by my need to adjust to the idea or be there for the event. But he graciously was willing to wait and this past Sunday he was surprised to realize he had 10+ inches of "extra" to donate. His new doo is very cute on him!

The kids enjoyed using his long ponytails as reins while still attached to his head. Following the cut, while I was trimming up the ends, he had to endure them being used to tickle his face.

When not at the "hairdressers" he's been doing a fair amount of shop work. The long awaited new sycamore butchering table top is nearing completion! He's had this project in mind more or less since we took down the sycamore tree out front and milled into lumber years ago. We are going to be butchering in style this December! Complete with corners rounded for convenient handles and a hole in the middle to put a scrap bucket under. We'll put it on adjustable saw horses so that it can be at countertop height and hours of lard cutting will leave no one with a sore back. Another day or so on it should have it sanded and oiled and ready to go well before December's hog butchering. Now if we can only eat enough to make way for the pork products in the freezer. I'm making food for others as often as I can and trying to prioritize meals that use up frozen stuff. One more round and we'll have all the seeds through the freezer which will also free up considerable space.

And one more new thing. We've got something better than Amazon Prime in our house: my mom!!! A friend gave Jason some canvas to use for a job and Jason was offered the rest of the roll for various projects we could use it for. While over the top generous, he couldn't turn it down. The next day as I was using our old and nearly worn out wood carrier, I wondered if that cloth would be good to use for a new carrier. Jason said it would be great and so I broached the idea with my resourceful seamstress mother. She suggested I bring the canvas up, which I did. Before I knew it she was busy in the common room measuring, cutting and sewing. Within hours, we had a brand new wood carrier and the old one made its way into the trash. Now we just need to burn more wood to use down the indoor supply so I can use it to cart wood for the first time. It's gonna be fun to break it in.

A cold snap is on the way so in addition to having a fire in the wood stove more often, the gardens will soon not be quite as bright green as they are currently. This week, we enjoyed a fall salad of the first baby spinach leaves, arugula and chickweed. It was delicious!