Getting Ready For Hibernation

Happy Monday everyone! It is a frigid day here and it is looking, smelling and feeling like Fall! It kind of crept up on me being that just a little over a week ago, we were basking in the sun in Nova Scotia. 

We knew we had some work ahead of us this weekend and we were ready to tackle it! My brother and his family are gone and I have been enjoying spending some extra time with this fur ball when they are gone. It REALLY makes me want to get a big dog but we'll hold off for a while! 

We actually had to work on Saturday morning but thankfully Sam was able to come with us. We packed up breakfast and lunch to go and headed off. Sam was actually pretty fun to work with and it was just a quick job. 

I had pre-ordered my groceries from Walmart and so we swung by and grab them. I also had to run in to grab a couple things for my Sunday School lesson and Sam loved looking at the Halloween Costumes. 

Sam ended up having a dandy truck nap! We wore him out with the free child labor work he helped with! He slept HARD for about 1.5 hours. 

We stopped at Ryan's parents for a quick visit before heading home to unload groceries and then relax. 

Sunday morning I knew was going to be a busy day so I was up early with my coffee and to work! First I got about 1/4 of my frozen garden tomatoes simmering for a sauce. This is an ALL DAY process. It goes from this....

To this yummy sauce in about 12 hours...

It's a pretty plain tomato sauce base and I freeze it in batches either for spaghetti sauce or pizza sauce. I doctor the base with more herbs for spaghetti. 

We headed to church where I was the Sunday school teacher this week! I was pretty excited for my lesson and even though I only had 1 kid, we had a lot of fun putting the craft together for himself and some friends! Sam loved it too.

We got home for a quick lunch and then worked together in the garden pulling up the carrots. Sam loved this job. Once it was done he went down to sleep and we kept working and clearing out the veggie garden. It's a big task but a good one to have done before it gets too cold! We had such a successful garden. Virtually no waste and so many yummy treats that we'll enjoy all winter long. Our garden isn't very big but it gets us A LOT of fresh produce. And funny enough while I am glad to see it gone for the year and will like the break, I am already anticipating and planning for my 2017 garden.  

I got a text from my brother to go and pick some raspberries at his place because they don't want them to go to waste. So I headed over and picked all the ripe ones. I got a huge bowl full and threw them in the freezer for smoothies! 

I spent the rest of nap time making break and cookies for Ryan's lunch. I also started on cleaning and peeling the carrots. 

There were a few cool looking ones! You never know what is growing underneath that dirt. 

We had grown some regular and glass corn this year and used the stocks to decorate the porch. I also grew some squash and pumpkins just to use for decorating! 

The only thing I was missing was a square bail. So I texted my farming neighbor/friend and asked if they had any. And if so, if they'd be willing to barter. After supper (spaghetti, of course), I loaded up a basket of goodies to trade. Homemade bread, jam, pickles, a little knitted dish cloth and 2 company hats. It's nice to share some of your produce with great friends. 

And it was a successful trade! 

I was feeling kind of tired by the time we got Sam to bed so I opted to just chop and blanch the carrots I had already peeled, which was only about 1/4 of them. Hopefully I can get the rest done throughout the rest of the week! 

So much got accomplished around the house. I love that feeling on Sunday when you get lots of stuff done. I am glad the gardening season is over and now I can work on some of my other favorite hobbies during the winter months! 

How was your weekend? 

xo