If we were having coffee ... the quiet time catch up

 

If we were having coffee ... It's been several years since I've sat down and had a "coffee date" on the blog. It's been a while since I've written and I don't have anything framed up, so to speak, so I thought it would be a good time for a coffee date.  I save this type of blog post for when I have a lot of little things, or when I feel the need to catch up. 

If we were having coffee ... I'd say that I felt there wasn't really anything interesting to write about the last month, give or take a week ... We'd been getting outside stuff ready and winterized ... nothing very interesting about yard clean up, making sure the coop is ready for winter, and that everything is in it's place outside.  

It almost looks like I felled a mighty giant and laid it down in the green house.  That's the new fountain. It was too tall to stand up by just a smidge. 

I'm sure there's still things I'm forgetting to do outside. It feels like I'm forgetting something.

So, yeah ... up until more recently, all my extra time was going to prepping for winter.  By the time evening descended I was pretty tired and not much in the mood to do much of anything.  Even go out for a walk on the internet and social media. 

Then the time change happened.  Is it just me, or is anyone else ready for bed at 5:30 p.m.? The chickens have been putting themselves to bed at about 5 p.m. It's crazy how early they put themselves to bed.  They aren't even hanging around out in the run or milling about on the floor of the coop.  Nope, they are up on the roost and waiting for me to tuck them in. I talk to them for a few minutes before shutting the light off. 

Back when I was getting the coop and run ready for winter, I took the solar lights from the garden and put them in the run, so they'd have a little bit of extra light when winter takes hold. 

If you were wondering what was hanging down, those are pine needles. They fall on the coop run and then hang down.  It's too much of a pain to try and keep the roof clear. 

You'd think the girls would appreciate what I did for them and want to hang outside just a little bit longer.  No.  They want to go to bed as soon as the sun starts going down. 

I decided to take the lights I previously had hanging on the run and move them over to the she shed, just to see what it would look like.  

Heh, right? It's something I sort of put up there as a temporary thing. Just to see if the solar panel picked up enough sun to have the lights going for a while.  Then we didn't get any sun for a few days.  I haven't had the opportunity to really see what happens when the sun is out for the entire day. 

If we were having coffee ... I'd share about the Christmas cacti I have.... They are blooming up a storm. 

I brought all the plants in from the greenhouse and they decided it was a good time to start putting out flowers. 

Earlier this year I had rooted some of the pieces that broke off one of the plants when it fell and those are starting to bloom as well. I did not expect that for the first year. I can't kill these plants. I had read they were hardy. I do not do great with house plants.  Christmas cactus, however, is a whole other breed and seeing those bright colors sure brings a smile to my face.  It also reminds me of this lone Christmas cactus my MIL had. In fact, I bought my first one sort of in memory of her. I have no idea what happened to her houseplants. 

Let's see ... what else should I mention .... 

If we were having coffee ... I'd share sky photos from over the last week. 

This was when I was heading out to the back 20 to collect SD cards. 

Photos don't do it justice, of course. 

That brings me back to deer hunting.  I haven't been doing any. I only have a buck tag and all those darn bucks are nocturnal right now. I'm keeping an eye out for anything that looks promising for daytime action.  

I liked the juxtaposition of the clouds and the light in the sky when we were driving to town one morning. 

Speaking of town ... 

If we were having coffee ... I'd share that the Christmas stuff has been up at Menards since before Halloween. 

Christmas will be here before we know it. 

If we were having coffee ... I'd tell you that we have our first snow. 😭

I don't think it will stay.  Temperatures later this week are supposed to hit 40 degrees F (5 degrees C). 

If we were having coffee ... I'd say the time change has been mildly kicking my butt.  Give me another week, or two, and maybe I'll feel like my old self. In the meantime I've been feeling like it's 7:30 p.m. when it's only 5:30 p.m. It's sort of affected my crafting.  However, when I was started writing up shownotes for my next flosstube, I realized I've got a lot more done than I thought. I was thinking I had slowed way down.  Not necessarily. My crafting direction has shifted a bit and I've been crocheting a bit more than anything else. 

I've been working on a granny square crochet-along.  It's mildly kicking my butt. 

If we were having coffee ... I'd mention that today, Nov. 10, 2025, marks the 50th anniversary of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald. My friend Becky did a real nice blog post about it. 

Growing up in the city where the ship last left port, I'm quite familiar with this tragedy. 

As soon as Halloween passed the Fitz took over Instagram.  Or at least it did my Instagram. 

Years ago I came across what I consider to be one of the best Youtube tribute videos made for the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. 

Well, that's all for now, I reckon. It's a quiet time for me right now, and I don't quite know what to do with that.