Weekend Wanderings

 I will let you in on a little secret... I have never had a "bored" moment in my entire life.  That's the absolute truth.  Instead, I have always had this feeling like there is never quite enough time in any given day!  This weekend, we packed our days full... in spite of the rain.

Friday was our last day of sunshine.  I harvested some of our extra herbs from the garden and hung them in the kitchen window to dry.

The rest of the weekend was entirely rainy. To me, it was absolutely perfect!  Soccer games were all cancelled, so there was no reason to leave home.  I love to watch my loves play sports, but it was also nice to have nothing to do.  Having a day that forces me to stay indoors is a delight - because, my list of things that I want to do is always a mile long, and having a little extra time to do them is satisfying.

The same feeling may not ring true for our animals, however. 

 

With the rain keeping everyone close to the barn, I am sure there was a lot of yawning happening... naps between meals and snacks.

The rain did not keep us indoors, of course.  We still had chores to do and a very active puppy to exercise.  We just put on our rain suits and hiked the woods like usual... both Saturday in the light rain and Sunday in a bit heavier rain.

 In fact, with the cooler weather, we hiked farther than normal, covering all of our trails through the woods.  The dogs had a blast.  I think that moist air carries scents so much better than dry, so there was much investigation happening on our hike.   Not to mention, puddles!!

We hiked the northern slope of our woods which provides a whole different ecosphere than the upper, southern half.  

Here, we found some interesting specimens.

This one must be tasty to some little woodland critter...

Turkey tail mushrooms...

False turkey tail mushrooms....

Crowded parchment leaf mushrooms...

Bonnet mushrooms....

and lots of orange jelly mushrooms popping up in the moist woods.

As for indoor activities, I roasted one of our butternut squash,

and turned it into a pumpkin pie to celebrate the arrival of Autumn.  (butternut squash tastes just like pumpkin)

I finally had enough time to make the orange calendula soap from the calendula (home grown) infused oil that I had started weeks ago.

I made several pieces of homemade paper, utilizing calendula blossoms and junk mail, 

which I will use for cutting strips to wrap and label the soap after curing.

I continued working on my cropped sweater... finishing one sleeve and starting the second.  Then on to the chest, shoulders and collar.

I baked a rosemary/sea salt boule of field grain sourdough bread (utilizing wheat, whole wheat, and rye flours) with rosemary from the garden.

The extra time at home allowed Hubbs to finish the last of his bird houses.... you might remember the robin that he built earlier this summer.  

We'll be finding homes around the farm for the final resting spots for these... goldfinch, bluejay, cardinal, and chickadee.

Exciting news:  two more (for a total of 5, now) of Forrest's litter mates have been located.  Thanks to Oakley's mom for doing all the leg work in locating the siblings!   We hope to have a play date with the group some time in October.  What fun!

Also, Ivy and Forrest have settled the detente that has existed for the past two months.  Forrest has learned to "leave it" where Ivy is concerned, and Ivy has come to trust his ability to ignore her.