halloween cake

I love this cake! It tastes as good as it looks. It is made of orange flavored buttercream and dark chocolate ganache. YUMMMY! Inside are lots of black (ie chocolate) and orange layers of cake/filling.

lack of a job

I'm getting a lot of spinning/knitting/sewing done. I need to post some pictures. Not much gardening this time of year, but I'm looking forward to next year. I thoroughly enjoy doing this and that, but sometimes I feel guilty that I don't have a job-job. I have spent so many years being a mom and having complete independence to set my own schedule that I am really chaffing at the idea of a job where I am told what to do all the time. Of course the extra money would be nice, but I'm not at all sure I'm ready to trade my independence for cash. Obviously this independence comes at the price of my husband's independence. I'm a bit befuddled on the whole subject. At this point in time I'm going to keep moving forward on the simple living and if a job pops up that seems to fit in, fine, if not, then I'll keep moving forward with what I'm doing. If I had things totally my way I'd be living in a LOT smaller house with a LOT fewer amenities. This is the trade off with having a family to keep happy. Their opinions matter, too.

progress

Just an update on how the gardening stuff is going. We put in a second compost pile/future garden bed. The white tulle over the top is just fly prevention. It's getting cooler so that probably isn't really needed anymore. The wood pile is from the dead tree in the front yard that we had removed. The gorgeous tree in the backyard will be removed. It is a beautiful tree and I'm going to remove it because it shades every hope I have of a garden. That gorgeous tree is going to be turned into a massive wood pile. I'm also going to chip/shred the twigs into garden mulch-compost starter. Lots of plans.

CSA

I'm all excited about trying a CSA -community supported agriculture- for the next growing season. Our garden is just in the beginning stages and while I hope to have it up and running next year there is no way it'll be fully functional. The twin cities are so advanced in sustainability issues! CSA is, basically, hiring a farmer to grow your food for you. If the eggplant crop fails you don't get any eggplants, but maybe you'll get a double amount of beans. It is paying someone else to do your vegetable farming for you. I want to eat the way I believe. I don't get to do that at the grocery store. I'm not ready to be a total vegetarian but after having raised chickens I really want the animals I eat to have a good life and a quick death. The CSA I'm choosing also has some meat available. I don't need much meat, but I do like to use some, it really adds a lot of flavor to food (meat as a condiment).

liquid soap

After getting out of the soap business I finally tweeked a recipe for liquid soap that turned out perfect. I'm very happy with it. It is in the closet "settling out" for a week before we use it, but it looks fabulous, like honey. Liquid soap was the one thing that I really struggled to make in my business, and now, that I'm out of the business, I finally figured out the perfect recipe.

my state fair is the best state fair

Shortly after we moved here we were informed that attending the state fair is not optional, you have to go. So we went. It was strange, but fun. I can't possibly do it justice but I will describe the three pictures I posted. Food on a stick. The state food. They will put anything on a stick. They deep fat fry it and people q up to eat. Animals giving birth, in public, in front of large audiences. VERY popular exhibit. The babies sure are cute, but the poor mommas that have to go through that sort of trauma in front of that many curious bystanders. Grass horses. It sounds like a rock band, doesn't it? I just thought they looked pretty. I'm not even sure why they were there.

Libby

Libby has entered the homestead. She's my brother's cat and, thanks to allergies, needed a new home. We have really missed our kitty friends and offered to adopt her. She has been wonderful. She came ready to love us and we were ready to love her. I am a cat person.