Slugging Along

So you know, I work 8-5 with an hour lunch when I can get it and I leave the house at 7 AM and get back just before 6 PM, what with the 50 minute commute each way. So not bad, but I had to keep up with the evening dog walkies. I used to walk them in the morning before work, but that was when I was in at 8:30 am and had a 3 mile commute. So feeling rather sorry for myself with getting home at 6 PM and then looking at mail, changing clothes and walking doggers, and then at about 7 PM starting supper and feeding doggers, and getting on with my evening. Not feeling like I have a lot of quality time to do fun things, since I find myself falling asleep during Antiques Roadshow on PBS which airs from 8-9 pm here in Spokane. Don't mean to sound pathetic, but facts are facts.

So I realized when I did my latest "update" epistle that I hadn't been quite the slug, as I had completed a baby afghan for my new grand-niece or -nephew who was due on/about October 19. My nephew, Philip, and his wife, Krista, chose not to know the sex of the Blessed Event (nicknamed "Peanut" during gestation) until it was born. I started out trying to knit the afghan, but after several rows of that, decided I didn't like the look and went to the weaving loom. So in the early days of my new employment, and whilst attending to certain aspects of harvest that Would Not Be Delayed, I managed to finish the afghan and send it off to The Bay Area before Peanut actually arrived. This is a major accomplishment for me, and for those who know me, who realize that I actually LOVE to stretch any celebration before, on, or after the actual date, and therefore, am not so very meticulous as to getting out Birthday, Christmas, Graduation, or other Celebratory Greetings on or about the actual date. Here's a piccie of the afghan:

And, oh, my goodness, it is photographed on the actually unused Guest Bed in the actually Available Guest Bedroom! Not that I am soliciting guests, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention that there are actually Two single beds available in that Guest Bedroom, and depending on the situation of any Potential Guests, they could enjoy the double bed in my "master room" ~ such as it is. Well, you know, some of my friends live in the warm climates, and to experience Winter, even if we don't have as much Snow as we did last year, could be a novelty, of sorts.

And, actually, when I think of it, the first or second weekend after I started working, my "summer apples" came ripe, and I took the weekend to pick them, and then process them into applesauce and some apple pie filling. I didn't know until last year that you could freeze applesauce, and when I learned that, my world changed. I have two apple trees, and so this is very good news. Canning things takes a lot more work than freezing, so it is preferable for me to freeze my produce. Someday I may get a pressure canner, but in the meantime, freezing works just fine. So I did a bunch of applesauce, as I have a recipe for applesauce cake which I just love, and I made it last year with applesauce that someone gave me and it was awesome! I can feel my hips thanking me for the extra pounds now!

The other thing I've done within the food realm is freeze some summer squash and zucchini that fellow gardeners have given me. As I may have noted in earlier missives, I had absolutely no luck with my squash crop this year, having planted zucchini, patty-pan squash, spaghetti squash and Hubbard squash and yielding only one Hubbard squash, in spite of many blossoms on all plants, many, many bees in the garden, and plenty of sunshine. Go figure. So I have begged squash from any and every quarter, and came up with zucchini, summer squash, and butternut squash, all of which have been processed and frozen :0) and I look forward to next year!

So even though I've been working full time, I've found some time to get some of the harvest into the food storage plans.

So I guess, all in all, I haven't been quite the slug I thought I was. And that's a good thing, Thanks Be To God.