Snippets from the last two weeks!

My goodness I washed a lot of dishes today! And that was even with our youngest doing a little stint of them midday. It was one of those days where one little project bled into the next and most of them created dishes!! Jason had a work day away from home and so after doing the animal chores and going for a lovely walk with a friend, I started in on what ended up being a blossoming list of home and kitchen things. I hadn't had a "catch up day" at home for a long time and I could tell. There were seeds to roast, aged cheddar rinds to blend down into our parmesan-type cheese, mint tea to make to use hot to clean out my empty 5 gallon honey bucket, the first spinach to pick along with arugula and chickweed for our first fall salad, milk to use by way of multiple batches of mozzarella and yogurt, and then supper included roasted turnips, roasted cauliflower and a squash cornbread. It was also our designated cleaning day and that started ok but then kinda went downhill when I was feeling a tad abandoned in the job and I'll admit yearning to finish the book I was stuck in. As often happens, I felt like I hit a tight spot (both in terms of time available and my attitude) and then we had a little bit of a break through. In short, on cleaning days we'll all be happy if I set Terah on some organizing project and Alida on kitchen cooking or baking things. Terah did a complete reset on the craft shelf and by the 4th batch of mozzarella Alida was more or less doing it solo and likes making it. Score!!

So backing up, Jason and I were BOTH successful giving blood on Nora's birthday. I was so relieved. As often happens, my iron on the first finger stick was too low. But it was higher on the other hand, so I passed that hurdle. Tip for blood donors: the person checking me in said that levels are often higher in your dominant hand. I don't know if that is true but in my case they always stick my left first and it's often too low and sometimes my right hand comes through for me! It was meaningful to be able to donate together again. I developed quite a complex there for a while assuming I was a super hard stick. The person who took my blood this most recent time assured me that there is nothing wrong with my veins. She said I had great veins and it was probably more about the person sticking me. Whether that was right or not, it was reassuring!

As we headed into November there were some Halloween / Fall festivities to enjoy. We started what Jason and I hope is a new annual tradition - our kids go to Ivy's for a sleepover on Halloween where they have fun getting decked out in their costumes and trick-or-treating and then Ivy returns with them for a sleepover here the next night where we make homemade donuts and do other fun fall traditions (like owl cookies!). I think it was a win win all around, so hopefully we can repeat it! This year we had a very cute friendly witch, a bat and a fall leaf.

This was not Jason's Halloween costume, but I think I have neglected to mention here that Jason is in the process of getting used to a CPAP machine. He does believe he is netting deeper rest and is reaping some other benefits (possible memory improvements), even if many nights he has to ditch it partway through the night if he has any hope of getting back to sleep (it can still sometimes make him feel a bit claustrophobic). Maybe over time, he'll become even more used to it. I think I'm also slowly adjusting. The first few nights were rough for both of us, though I really should not complain. He didn't snore (which was a relief) BUT then I kept waking to make sure he was breathing, as I was still sorting out what was him and what was the machine. The adjustments are very much worth it if Jason is able to get more and better rest. 

And now a few other things from the past two weeks. We'll start with the highlight of our week - our Luca day! We keep extending the time a little each week it seems, because no one wants him to go home! You can see the adoration flowing in some of these. At almost 9 months, he is starting to feel sad when a loved one leaves his presence. It's heartbreaking! 

Another thing thrilling us this fall is our spinach patch!!! Woohoo, look at it go! I don't know when we have last had such a good stand and so big in November. We'll likely need to thin the patch soon, which will net us a bunch of baby spinach for salad. Jason side dressed it with compost, which had it looking spectacular and then we mulched the paths with leaves, which added to it's charm!

We've enjoyed a few more visits here at Tangly Woods - overnight or day guests. And then this week, the 5 of us did a day trip to Oak Spring Garden Foundation where Jason will be doing a two day chicken workshop next spring. He'll be staying in the renovated horse stables pictured here. 

The day was gorgeous! It was a fun trip as a family. But there were also mixed and complicated feelings. It is a place that holds a painful history (some of the stone walls would have been built by enslaved people). And a place that was inhabited by persons with extravagant wealth. Now there are a lot of people doing creative programming and trying to use the land and resources in new ways. But it was strange to be in a place where we felt a lot of resonance with some of what was happening there and like fish out of water in other moments. I imagine Jason will have more processing to do as he gets further into his engagement there. 

Another fun tidbit from life of late is Terah's increased interest in practicing reading. The other night we had a book out and she read me the short first page. Then she piped up astonished, "I didn't have that memorized...how did I do that?" It was a really fun moment where it was clear that words were starting to take on more distinct shape and meaning. Since then, she's been practicing here and there with various ones of us - here she with Kali while Jason and Alida were looking at the Oak Spring flock and I was reading my own thing. 

The two days after our day trip were LEAF RAKING DAYS! When I went to get my flu shot on Friday I told the person it probably didn't matter which arm it was in as both were so sore from raking that I probably wouldn't notice the shot much. That was indeed the case! We put in two full days and our leaf pile now has 10 full trailer loads, the swingset has a new layer of pine needle mulch and the pigs have enjoyed many acorns! Pictured on the side here is the empty space that is now full of leaves. We'll pack it down and get a few more days' worth before we call it good for the year!

Well Jason is back from emptying the milk tank down the road, so I think I'm gonna call it a night. I'm the bedtime buddy and companion, so I think I'll be snuggled up reading with the younger two here shortly. Jason has worked the last two days on the final construction job of the year. We then hope to turn our attention to a few things on the home front before he dives into his 2023 list! For now, I'm eager for a day at home together tomorrow! A pizza supper is on the calendar, likely with some more episodes of The Voice "to the side!"