Around the Homestead- October

i was getting ready to post an Around the Homestead- September, when i suddenly realized it was already October. i'm not sure how that happens, but it happens every year. Summer goes by way too quickly and i'm let with my head spinning trying to figure out where the time went. October means scrambling around to make Halloween costumes and a visit from my folks. Then Nov. begins the holiday rush.

i'm trying to slow everything down a little. Extend the summer as much as i can, then embrace the fall for what it is. i'm fine with the changing leaves, apples and pumpkins...but i'm not ready for the cold and the killing frost that will wipe out what's left of my garden.

My October begins with this. Still getting tomatoes and squash.  peppers are really just getting started. The plants are loaded with green peppers, and a few are starting to change to red and yellow.  i replanted cucumbers and managed to get just a few before the plants were overcome with mildew and wilt.

Several of my new pullets that were hatched this spring have reached laying age.  At least one has begun to lay, and the others should be very soon. i've been canning tomatoes every couple of days, and enjoying the fresh produce daily.

i do a lot of cooking in the fall. The morning are chilly, so i turn the oven on and cook until i warm a up a bit.  Pizza is always a good way to use up garden goodies and i tend to make lots of zucchini muffins and cakes to use up the extra squash. These chocolate squash muffins were made with patty pans instead of zucchini.  They are so moist and delicious. 

We usually have access to wild apple trees that we can pick from, but this year the tree were bare. So on my birthday we went down the mountain and bought a bushel of apples from the orchard in Canna. i've been working through it, making lots of apple sauce and apple desserts. i'm planning to make a batch of apple butter this week. 

Yesterday i was feeling a little down, typical melancholy of the season. Part of me is ready to embrace the Autumn, but part of me refuses to let go of the Summer. i went for a  hike in the woods, looking for wild mushrooms and late season wildflowers. i ended up in the goat field where i found quite a few interesting mushrooms.  i also spotted these knapweed flowers coming up all over. Delilah decided to photobomb. 

This next week i'll be canning apples and tomatoes again.i have costumes to work on, and i need to make some stock for the local fall festival at the school where i'll be vending/ i have a handful of dolls to finish and new projects to start.  Fall is supposed to be a time to slow down, but i don't see that happening here any time soon.

The days may not be so bright and balmy—yet the quiet and melancholy that linger around them is fraught with glory. Over everything connected with autumn there lingers some golden spell—some unseen influence that penetrates the soul with its mysterious power. ~Northern Advocate