Catching up two weeks

I wish I would quit letting this get so far behind. This time it's two weeks behind! Well, here goes...

I'm still slicing and dehydrating tomatoes as they ripen.

The rest of the tomatoes are on newspaper-lined trays, ripening.

I've been saving the seeds from the squash. I'll keep a couple dozen for planting, and we'll roast the rest and eat them.

When I'm sitting around "doing nothing" I thresh wheat by hand. One bucket for the wheat kernals, one for the chaff, and the middle one has the complete wheat heads.
I'm sitting by the woodstove in this picture, in the morning after my hot chocolate!


When it snows we have to sweep off the solar panels.

We used a handle from a broken broom attached to another broom handle to make a long-handled broom. One handle fit just barely over the other, so we shoved it in far enough to make it sturdy, then duct taped it.

This is our road. It's the road that connects us to the outside world. The weight of the snow has branches leaning down over it.

The neighbor ran down the road with his plow after this picture was taken.

We've been melting snow in the kettle on the woodstove, then pouring it into the tank by the door. Then the 12-volt pump pumps the water into the tank over the kitchen sink.

The buffalo had their 'forlorn' faces on today.

I've been sewing, now that the weather is cold. These are pot holders (hot pads).
The lamp was blinding me, so I put my hat on to shade my eyes.

I'm sewing trim on a hot pad.

Cold weather is a good time to stay inside and read.

"Don't tell me how it ends!!!"

A week or so ago (before the snow covered the ground) we had to go to town, so we treated ourself at Fortine's newest eatery.

They've been open since summer.

Huge platters of biscuits and sausage & gravy for $3

Scenery south of Fortine

One of the State forest campgrounds has this pole, like a flag pole, where you can run your bags of food up out of the reach of bears.

The Stillwater River

This is one of our 'grandcats', named "Bonecrusher".

He belongs to Barbara and Victor.

Is the baby asleep, or was Grandpa boring!

lol

"Get those pictures off this blog! Who's the star here anyway

Um, does my hair look all right? Does this red blanket make me look fat?"

We stopped by to see Gregg and Kathleen. They're having the water lines dug from the well to the house. They're also putting a solar panel and solar pump on the well, which will keep the water storage tanks in the house topped off.

WAY cool!

Their dog, Tippman, wearing his hunter's orange.

It's still deer season here.

"Here she comes with the camera...QUICK, turn to a hard level of Sudoku!"

Odie and Nermal know who the soft-hearted one is around this place!

As prices creep ever higher, we watch for good sales and stock up.

I prefer to buy Olive oil and in glass bottles, not plastic.

But this oil was really cheap. I wrapped the bottles in paper wine bags (which I talked the grocery store out of), slid them into heavy plastic bags and vacuum-sealed them.

Then...

I packed several into a bucket. The white paper is ice cream freezer bags, which contain jars of coconut oil. When the bucket was full, I snapped on the air-tight lid. I wish I had some oxygen absorbers to toss in there as well, and I hope to order some.

I took the bucket out to the barn, for now, and later before warm weather, I'll move it to the root cellar. Cooking oil keeps best if it's not exposed to air, light, or heat.

When you have a choice, buy it in glass bottles. Tinted is even better.

Then keep it in the coolest place you have.

Steven repaired his backpack. The top of the internal frame was poking through the fabric.

The kitten makes sure he does it right. Hmm...must be a union supervisor, she's looking the otherway. Nah, must be a government supervisor...not only looking the other way, but her eyes are closed! lol

(No offense to anyone who actually holds one of those positions!)

I've been cutting up, cooking, and dehydrating squash.

Winter wash machine.

I didn't feel like standing in the snow at the wash tubs!

It's wonderful hanging the clothes to dry on the lines in the cabin.

It puts humidy in the air.

Anyone remember those glass cones I had over my squash plants to protect them at the beginning of summer?

My parsley plants survived many frosts and were thriving, so before it started snowing I put these over the last 3 plants.

The fourth plant is in the house in a pot, and doing well. I've already harvested it again since I dug it up and brought it in for the winter.

When you get right down there and stick your eye (or camera) over the hole, this is what you see in there.
Later that afternoon this snow was gone from the heat of the sun, while snow was still all around outside of it.

I took this picture from the same spot where those parsley plants are, looking northwest over the garden fence.

It is incredible to me that these black rectangles mounted on the pole are making electricity.

That just by buying them and putting them out there, wiring them to the charge controller, batteries, and inverter, we have electricity!

That because of those black rectangles sitting out there quietly doing their thing, I'm able to sit here on my laptop computer using wireless DSL to write this blog, and that if I needed to I could turn on a light. That I can go over there and use my sewing machine, run my blender of mixer, turn on the TV and watch a movie, the kids can play video games and be on their computers.

It's just amazing.

Sometimes I stand there in the yard and just look at the solar panels in awe.

So, how much was YOUR electric bill this month...?

It's time to empty out the last rain barrels. This is our only "half-barrel", the rest are 50-gallon barrels. We've been using rainwater for laundry and baths for a long time.

This year we started using boiled rainwater for dishes and cooking.

It's usually boiled on the woodstove, since we have a fire, at least in the mornings, about 8 to 10 months of the year. Nights, even in July, drop into the 40's or even cooler, even when the afternoon high is in the 90's.

This is a land of extremes, but for the most part, we love the variety.

This picture is for Hozay in Texas.

I feel sorry for him, down there sweating in that awful 70 and 80 degree weather...

NOT!

Soak up some of that sunshine for me, H.

Steven is one of those thrifty people that doesn't see the sense of wearing down the studs on the snow tires, so he waited until it snowed to put the studded tires on the car.

Thank goodness he's part Polar Bear (of was that 'part abominable snowman?)!

This handy tire-changing set-up came from Harbor Freight Tools.

It's sure come in handy.

Here, he's breaking the bead (seal) between rim and tire.

It's not actually breaking, it's separating.

Now the tire is moved up to the top part, and the metal bar goes around and pulls the tire off the rim. Same thing in reverse to put the other tires on the rims.

Steven used the treadle sewing machine to fix a pair of wool pants he likes to wear out hunting and on his trapline.

In the background you can see my electric machine, and all the thread and trims and stuff spread out.

Anyone who's been in our house beffore will realize that Steven is sitting where the tall shelf unit used to stand, right in the middle between the kitchen and living room. It's now over toward the wall. The middle of the house is opened up and more heat goes to the dining room/kitchen table.

I'm working on more hot pads.

Steven bought two wool coats really cheap at the thrift store. He didn't like either coat, but he carefully took them apart and he's making a new coat out of them. They're the same color, so it works out good, and he did an awesome job on it. Later there will be a picture of it. I haven't taken one yet.
I love this picture because it looks so rustic. That pole lamp is the one we got at an auction last year for $3. It's perfect in our cabin.

The other morning steven, still in his jammies, brought his computer out by the woodstove where it was warm.

The kitten was under the stool, as usual, and just as I took this picture I noticed what that naughty kitty was up to!

I still took the picture first, THEN scolded her!

Mischief prevailed!

She let go of the computer cord, then reached for Steven's leg!

Minutes later she was over there with both paws wrapped around his leg like she was trying to pull him from the chair!

All tired out, time to sleep.

What cat sleeps in this kind of position?

Looks like the cat left the skin behind, flattened out on the floor!

Last of all, here's some of my finished hot pads.

I like the snowmen ones best.