Fall Chores

 

There's something about fall chores.  They are the best kind.  Spring chores are really fun, because you've been looking forward to them all winter, but there's something about fall chores that's really satisfying.  Knowing you've got things buttoned up and stored away for the winter gives you a cozy feeling inside.

 

This fall, that feeling is multiplied with each thing checked off our to-do list, as we're still getting the yurt finished up, and preparing for our little yurtling.  Of course, that also means our fall to-do list is about 10 times as long as it was last year.  But we are getting there.

 

 

A before and after of my project last weekend; washing pollen, sap and yes, sadly even some mold off both sides of our window shades, and rolling them up nice and neat.  Some were pretty hastily put up in the impending heat of summer and never got re-rolled...

Leaves are especially a commodity this year.  We use them for the composting toilet, the compost piles, litter in the chicken coop, and for tucking in the gardens for the winter.  Good thing we've had a large supply :)

Greg got into the greywater system last weekend.  The frame he's started here will hold the gravel pile to the right in the bottom half, into which our perforated pipe will run, and dirt and a raised bed in the top half.  Greywater from the sinks and shower will run through the gravel, and some will be used up by the flowers in the top.  It's essentially a french drain combined with a raised bed, inspired by Anna Edey's "Solviva" book.  (Highly recommended!)

Some cosmos still holding on...

So nice to see firewood stacked and drying...  the chickens helped a bunch.

IT WORKED!!  I reluctantly started yet another batch of bread the other day, and thought of a couple more things to tweak.  I suspect the main problem was I was not kneading long enough, but there were several other things I did differently, like carefully measuring the salt, instead of tossing in a few pinches (for some reason I never measure salt-I feel like I know what a teaspoon looks like in the palm of my hand), and adding all the flour at once, instead of gradually.  I set the timer and kneaded to beat the band until the second it went off.  Lastly, I sent it into the oven with a quick prayer. "God, this bread is tasty and nutritious, even if it isn't pretty.  Thank you for it, and the means to make it.  I give it to you, and if you want it to rise, it will rise."  It ROSE.

 

Amazing what a little coat of paint can do to spruce things up.  The chocolate brown color looks sharp against the teal yurt; a lot sharper than moldy, natural wood did.  $2 at Sherwin Williams back in the mis-tint room!

 

The greywater system is done.  I have dumped my last 5-gallon bucket of greywater from the yurt!!!  Just need to plant the flowers back in the top.

 

 

 

And, one of our favorite things checked off the to-do list.  The wood stove is doing a wonderful job turning this house into even more of a home. ~