Ere the Winter Storms Begin

On our drive home today.

The glory of October is fading quickly now. Most of the trees have lost their leaves. There are still a few bright patches of color here and there, but the hills are turning the shades of brown and gray that will be the dominant colors until snow comes and turns them white. But it will be a while before the snows come, I hope. Most of the week last week was gloomy, overcast, and rainy, but not very cold. Even with the rain, I managed to accomplish a lot. Monday was Columbus Day and we had no school. It rained all day, so all the things I’d planned to do outdoors didn’t happen. Instead, I stayed indoors – in the kitchen, actually – and canned all day. By the end of the day I’d canned six pints of tomato sauce, seven pints of salsa, and eight pints of applesauce. I also cooked, mashed, and froze fourteen cups of pumpkin. At the end of the day, it was very satisfying to leave the steamy kitchen and look over all those jars of food. I love canning food.

Now the canning season is over. The tomatoes are done. The apples are done. The only thing left to do is freeze four more pumpkins and I will finish that this week. It feels good to have the harvest gathered in ere the winter storms begin.

Two week's worth of canning ready to go down cellar.

On Tuesday my fall bulb order arrived and I spent a few hours after school doing the last planting of the year – 40 daffodil bulbs, 20 tulip bulbs, 40 crocus corms, and a new lily. I’ve entered that time of the year when the focus of my life shifts. There isn’t much to do in the garden now. Saturday evening I mowed the lawn (leaves) for what I hope will be the last time this year. The trees in our yard are almost bare and the leaves have been cleared away. When I parked the mower in the shed on Saturday just as it was getting dark, I felt a sense of relief and a pang of sadness. The days are growing short. The cold weather is coming. Now the only regular tasks I have outdoors are tending to the woodpile occasionally and doing the daily barn chores. So to fill the looming void, I’ve begun making a list of the books I want to read this winter and the music I want to explore. And there is always family history research to do. And barn quilt orders to paint. And houseplants to tend. And all the indoor projects left over from my overly ambitious summer project list. Yes, it’s nice to have the garden dormant for a while. Of course I’m saying that now in October, but in a month or so I will miss it so much I will start dreaming and daydreaming about next year’s garden. It is the cycle of my life.

We are in the midst of an unwelcome annual occurrence. Every year in the fall, the mice try to move in for the winter. This is an old house and there are plenty of ways they can get in. These are mostly the pretty little white-footed deer mice (Peromyscus leucopus) not the common house mouse (Mus musculus). Pretty though they are, they are pests. We hear them scampering in the walls and ceilings at night. Every year in the fall, we (by we I mean mostly Stacey, who takes the job very seriously) wage a rodent war to get them out of the house. She sets traps in the places they seem to frequent most. She baits the traps with peanut butter, which they seem to love as much as I do. In the last two weeks she managed to catch twenty of them (she keeps a tally on the chalkboard in the kitchen). She hasn’t caught any in a few days now. We’re hoping the war is over for this year, but probably not.

We had a Big Event here last week. Yesterday Miriam and Hannah went through the temple for the first time to receive their endowments. It was a wonderful experience being there in that holy place with them. Kurt and Julie were there with us and our friends Jeff and Angie Moore. This is a landmark for our family, now all my children have been through the temple. I feel very blessed to have such great children. What a blessing the temple is for us.

At the temple yesterday.

Miriam and Hannah at the temple.

Meanwhile in Italy: Daniel and his cousin Emma report that they are half way through the olive harvest. They roasted a pig to celebrate the mid-harvest mark. They went mushroom hunting in the woods. The owners of the farm want Daniel to stay on and take care of their farm while they go on vacation to Portugal during the first two weeks of December. His stay there keeps getting extended longer and longer. I get the feeling Daniel would stay forever if possible. Stacey suggested that I fly over for those two weeks to join him and fly home with him. As much as I dislike traveling, the idea appeals to me. I’d like to see Italy. And in early December there isn’t much to do here. It surprises me that I find the idea so appealing. It would be an adventure.

The celebratory roast pig.

Daniel hunting mushrooms.

Found one.

Today on the way home from church we decided to take a longer route home through the back roads. There are many different ways to go, all of them beautiful. We took a turn at Genesee and headed toward North Bingham. We drove past the old Howe farm at Moon’s Corners (now owned by the Easton family). We turned north from there and drove back up into New York, then came back south. It is warm today, but not sunny and the clouds are gathering. There is rain and cold weather on the way. I can feel it. I’m headed to the barn now to do the afternoon chores. It can rain all it wants after that.

On our drive home today.

Harvested corn fields and clover.

This used to be called Howe Road, now renamed Easton Road.

Looking down on the old Howe farm at Moon's Corners.