My Tireless Retirement - Week 81

 

Hello everybody!  We are on the last full week of October already and Halloween is next Tuesday.  Anyone else surprised by that?  I thought this month might go a bit slower, but apparently I was mistaken.

 

After finishing up on my HUGE photo project of getting all of my lose photos into albums I’ve embarked on yet another one.  This time I am working on digital photos and I can tell you I’ve got a boatload of those on my laptop as well as on a thumbdrive.  I am starting one year at a time and getting prints made of photos I want to place into albums.  After weeding through a bunch of files I filled up my Walgreens photo cart and picked up a pile of photos on Monday.  Then I began working to get those onto pages for my next photo album.  It is definitely a labor of love with this particular project.

 

I also pulled some more of my high school memorabilia out of my sentimental box and added it to the album.  I even purged a little bit of it while I was at it.  It was mostly awards, a newspaper clipping, my graduation program and some certificates.  The only high school memorabilia I have left in the bin now is the bulky stuff that wouldn’t make sense to add to an album.

 

I grated zucchini & carrots for the freezer

Our weather warmed up and we had no rain last week so I had no need to heat the house at all.  In fact, I was able to open the windows in the afternoons and let the fresh air and sunshine in.  I harvested more tomatoes and zucchini from the garden, but I can tell the plants are starting to get tired and it is time to think about putting the garden to bed for the season very soon.

 

Fall leaves have been falling

None of the grocery store ads were very tempting last week so I saved my grocery dollars and didn’t shop at all last week.  Other than picking up that packet of photo prints it was pretty much a no spend week for me.

 

My garden is still plugging away

I worked a whopping three days last week for a total of twelve hours, which included helping out at a senior citizen health fair.  I loved it!  The hardest part of my job right now is learning their software system, but I’m starting to get the hang of it.  To be honest, I am enjoying this so much it doesn’t really feel like a job at all.

 

My first big pile (of many) of Fall leaves

The fall chores have officially begun.  I got out the leaf blower and cleaned up a huge pile of leaves from my yard and flowerbeds.  I filled up three trash bins full of leaves giving one to the chickens to “process” into mulch for their pen area.  Once they get through those I have another bin full to give them.  They well turn the leaves into mulch which helps control mud and their droppings during the winter and spring.  It is a chore that I’ll be working on for the next several weeks until the leaves are off the trees or the snow falls.

 

The girls are hard at work

In the spring I will rake out the chicken’s pen and add that to the compost bin and give them another bin of leaves I’ve reserved for them to continue the process.  In the fall I will add the contents of the compost bin to my raised garden beds when I get them winter ready.  It is a process, but one that works really well.

 

Hoses have been drained and rolled up for the season

Are you raking leaves now where you live?  It is warmer than usual for this time of year?  This is pretty normal for us when they predict an El Nino winter.  Have you needed to turn the heat on in your house yet?  I’m feeling pretty fortunate that so far it hasn’t been necessary.

 

All cleaned up, but it won't last long this time of year

Have fabulous week my friends and take good care or yourselves!