Puttering around the homestead.

The calendar has rolled around to December, and it's time to get ready for the cold weather.  Joshua has been cutting, splitting and stacking wood.  John & Josh got the air conditioners out of the windows.  I got the chicken runs covered with plastic.

Yesterday, I finished putting the plants into the greenhouse.  Then I put some empty 5 gallon buckets in, which I will fill with water.  These will help keep the humidity and temperature more stable.  I dug up one of the bell pepper plants and planted it in a container.  I also spread some heirloom tomato seeds in another container.  I dug up starts from 2 of my mint plants.  One peppermint and one spearmint. I put these in the house.

I picked all the green tomatoes still on the vines.  I have quite a few! And two bell peppers.

Green tomatoes & bell peppers

We had some building supplies in the carport that needed to be brought in to prevent freezing.

The repair technician came yesterday and made the repairs to our washer.  I asked him what he was replacing.  He told me he took two plastic hinges our and put 4 metal hinges in, so the lid could not fly off.  That would be a good thing!

Our hunting neighbor, Jennifer, took her large deer to the meat processor and had summer sausage made.  We offered to pay for part of the cost of processing so we could get some of the sausage.  This helps Jennifer with the cost, and helps us get some "non-pork" meat in our freezer.  The chest freezer is full of pork.  And I do mean full.  Both freezers in the house are full of fruit for smoothies and other meats and cheeses.

I went through our canned meat, and realized we've eaten up all the beef and chicken.  That's right.  We have a pantry of canned pork.  And the odd squirrel or quail.  I will be canning some chicken and beef in the near future.

I checked on the food stored in the storm shelter.  Our number 10 cans of dehydrated fruits and veggies are still sealed, so these will be our long term food storage.  These cans will be edible 10 years from now.  That is my idea of long term!  We also have dried fruit, bulk rice, bulk flour and dried potatoes in vacuum sealed bags & jars.  I'd say we have more than 6 months worth of food.

I asked Josh if he likes fudge.  He does.  So I decided to make some chocolate marshmallow fudge.  Well, either our thermometer is off... or I am.  I stood at the stove for 90 minutes straight, stirring the pot!  When the mixture finally reached 235 degrees, I poured it into the pie tins I had prepared.  I warned the guys NOT to touch the tins as they are VERY hot!  After several hours, I put the tins in the fridge.  Josh got one out to see how yummy the fudge was and discovered we have caramels not fudge.  He cut it into squares, and I tried one.  They are excellent! Here's a recipe. I didn't add the corn syrup, but I did add marshmallow fluff.

Mom's caramels recipe

I had an appointment with the urologist on Thursday,  I had to get an Xray beforehand.  The Xray showed I have another large kidney stone in my left kidney.  I will be having a procedure on the 8th, using ultrasound to break this up.  I had the same procedure 2 years ago and it worked well.  I hope it goes as smoothly this time.  Passing the stone fragments up isn't fun, but I really don't want to keep the fragments in my kidney either!

I finished crocheting slippers for my niece's daughters & got those in the mail.  They came out very well.

Nevaeh's slippers

Revan's slippers

I've also been knitting a variety of hats on my knitting looms.  I hope to get them in the mail to Children's Hospital this week.  They have a great program called Knitting for Noggens.  I participate every year.