So, grab your coffee/beverage of your choice. One of these days I'll actually take a photo of myself holding a cup of coffee for these posts. ... One day. ... But today is not that day.
Currently in my cup is some decaf. Earl Grey. I'm trying to be a good girl and limit my caffeine.
If we were having coffee ... I'd look at the date, and slightly cringe. How on earth has it been a month since I last wrote? I'm in denial that we are as far into October as we are. I have not had much opportunity to let dust settle.
If we were having coffee ... I'd tell you about all the time I've been spending in the woods these last several weeks. Hunting! I'm an official Hunter with a capital H.
My early Christmas present. I love it. Thanks again sweetie! :-)
Last month I enrolled my son into hunter's safety. At first he wasn't too keen on it, but he wanted to hunt. So he knew he had to go. He came out of the classes with a fresh appreciation of all that goes into being a safe, responsible hunter. He also takes it very seriously. I have gone through hunger's safety a few years back, but I sat through it again because he asked me to stay with him. It was also good knitting time for me.
My son has taken to hunting better than I thought he would. He will go out and sit in the stand for hours at a time, at the ready, looking for any deer that may come traipsing down the path. The first time he was out in the stand, he did not want to come back in, and was so surprised at how much time had passed. He thought he was out there only an hour. Oh, and a quick proud mommy moment: He's an excellent tracker.
Unfortunately, the deer have realized it's archery/crossbow season and have taken to hitting all the spots well after dark. We have game cams set up so we can get an idea of where they are hitting, and what treats they like best.
If you notice the time stamp, it says 3:42 a.m. This boy is awful pretty, too. It's like he knows he's on camera.
My favorite photo, though, might be this one.
My little brats went into the back 20 far enough that they found one of the stands.
Other photos have shown crows and blue jays. Even raccoons. I'm uneasy about this last one. Raccoons are known for being chicken killers.
So, we have switched things up a bit and we are crossing our fingers that the changes in routine will be to our benefit.
If we were having coffee ... I'd let you know that I've been slowly knitting and crocheting a few items. When I have a few spare moments I work on my Harvest Cardigan.
If you will recall, this cardigan broke my heart the last time I started knitting one.
I am *finally* to the point where the increases have stopped and I can now knit and purl to my little hearts content. I have somewhere between seven and eight inches to go before starting the edging.
Otherwise, I've been knitting and crocheting dishcloths. Nothing too spectacular. Granny square dishcloths, mostly.
Yes, I made this one while I was in the deer stand.
I also made this beauty when I had the itch to knit some cables. I'm also proud of this one for another reason. I accidentally crossed a cable wrong. It was the first time I dropped stitches and recrossed a cable to fix the mistake. A few people were all "Don't worry about it, it's just a dishcloth" when I asked for help. I took this as an opportunity to try something new. Even if it didn't work out, I wouldn't have been ripping a lot of stitches.
A trio of sunflowers.
I've been very good about keeping record in my knitting journal, but I can't seem to get that information transferred over to the blog. Oh well. It's just dishcloths, right?
If we were having coffee ... I'd tell you that my reading has picked up significantly. I wasn't reading much previously, so my "significantly" might not be as much as I think it is, I suppose. Or, maybe because I've been listening to a ton of podcasts about books, it simply feels like I'm reading more.
In any case, I have read "Gilead" by Marilynne Robinson, for the Well-Read Mom book club. I'm currently working on a blog post just for it. However, the thoughts I have written down might be changing so I'm not sure if I will be revising what I have so far, or just continuing on. I did enjoy the story.
Last night I finished "O Pioneers!" Also for Well-Read Mom book club. I'll write something separate for this story too. I still need to listen to the Well-Read Mom audios for both of these books.
During the weekend I read "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." A few years ago I purchased this on Kindle, and now it's turned into a tradition to read it during October. I even have the audio version narrated by Tom Mison. I pink, puffy heart love listening to it. Only in October though.
I enjoy this short story so much. Each time I read it, I notice something new in the writing and smile.
Currently, two of my favorite paragraphs are these:
Now that we've raised and kept chickens for a few years, I can attest to how true this description is.
After having spent some time out in the woods, I can verify that Blue Jays like to think they are on good times with *everyone,* despite being little bullies.
Another book I read was "Jasper and the Riddle of Rileys' Mine"
Story about a two boys who run away to Alaska, during the Gold Rush. Lots of mishaps, trials and tribulations. A good story. At the end I wanted to know more about where their life would go.
If we were having coffee ... I'd give a quick update on the chickens. The ladies are doing fine. Nothing very exciting going on. Well, there was something, but I think they were just finding their "adult" voices. The brahmas are a bit adventurous, however. I think they are determined to give me a heart attack. When we let them out in the evenings, they go right to the front yard and go all the way to the road. Our previous flocks did not do this, and I worry about predators getting them, or a car driving by and hitting one. Thankfully, as soon as they see one of us they come running back.
This group has also discovered the joys of coming up on the deck and leaving us presents.
We have gates, but we don't use them. So can I really blame them for coming up on the deck?
I do have a quick chicken story. Yesterday afternoon, I went inside the coop after opening the door and letting them out. Naturally the hens all act like they haven't been outside in years and bum rush the door, and fly off the roosts out the door, or the land on the floor and run out.
One of the brahmas somehow managed to trip herself as she was going from one roost to another. She tripped on a roost. I saw her do it, and I still can't figure it out. She fell. She landed very ungracefully on the floor and seemed to stun herself a bit. I asked her if she was okay and she hopped up and started walking to the door, embarrassed, mortified. Hard to say what exactly. There was this look on her face that seemed to say "Oh my gosh, I can't believe I just did that." and "What? That wasn't me! You have me mistaken for some other chicken. I didn't just fall flat on my face." Then she ran out the door.
If we were having coffee ... The weather has turned cool.
Earlier this week I had hard frost on my car, and the tender plants in the garden are done.
My preserving project is the carrots. I still have to dig up my carrots, wash and blanch them for the freezer. I'm crossing my fingers that we don't have a freeze that causes the ground to go solid. I figure the ground is the best place for the carrots to be, until I can dig them up and take care of them.
With the return of the cool weather, the desire to bake has also kicked in, and use the oven to warm the house. So I'm amusing myself with new recipes. Wednesday night I tried zuchinni fries. I cut them too thick. Flavor is good and I will try the recipe again in the immediate future. I don't recall which website I got the recipe from, but its a simple and easy recipe to make.
If we were having coffee ... I'd blather about something personal-ish. After writing my last entry, my husband read it and said "You didn't say anything about ____."
Well, I didn't say anything because I wasn't sure what I wanted to say about ______. Then I decided to "out" myself over on my personal Facebook. Which prompted me to decide I'll say something on the blog.
So, since the beginning of the year I've lost 30 pounds.
It is so odd to write this out, almost like I'm shouting it out on the internet.
Why else does it feel odd? Because I don't feel like I went on a diet. I did this with a "get healthier" mindset, rather than a diet mindset. I didn't do anything drastic, unless you count the miles and miles of walking I did during the spring and summer. I figured a calorie "sweet spot" and stayed within it. I also did not cut out any food groups, and I've been eating the healthiest I've ever eaten since I followed the Atkins program 13 years ago. Most important of all: I don't feel deprived. I eat whatever I want and feel like, but I do it in moderation.
Me about one year ago, and then back in July. I haven't done any other side-by-sides.
It's only within the last month or so that my weight loss has really hit home. I see the number on the scale and it doesn't feel quite real because I don't feel like I did anything specific and "diet-ish."
Also, I now need new clothes since most of my current wardrobe no longer fits like it used to. I have way more energy, I'm sleeping *so* much better, and I'm cold.
Yup, I'm cold. This realization hit me hard this week. I'm cold. Last winter, and possibly the winter before that, I wasn't cold unless it was extremely cold outside.
Currently I'm maintaining my weight loss. I figure this is good for me in the long run. I've read and heard that when you lose a lot of weight in a short amount of time, your body tries very hard to get back to a weight that feels like a right one.
So, when I'm not doing *all the things* I'm trying to find time for *me.* And finding time for myself has *not* been easy this last month. What I mean by *me* is taking some time to literally focus on me and doing some kind of physical activity to keep my body moving in a healthy way. It's frustrating because I'm trying to push forward and take better care of myself, and not let my own care fall to the way side because life is busy.
This morning I decided to grab the bull by the horns and go out for a walk. I haven't walked the circuit in ages, it feels. It ended up being a good morning and time to do so.
It was gorgeous outside.
The sun was behind me on this photo, so the sky isn't quite the beauty the above photo shows.
I think this is my favorite tree in the area. It is one of the first trees to change color, and it's this beautiful orange that gradually turns reddish.
I even stopped to admire the fallen leaves.
This is all that has kept me busy the last month.
Until next time, thanks for stopping by!
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