Hello my friends! With the start of the new month it was time to gather up the Halloween décor and put it away and fondly get out the butthole turkey to add to my Fall décor that I put out in September. With that new addition I am now officially in Thanksgiving holiday mode.
I arrived home from work on Friday tired out and peopled out. I was feeling the need to completely decompress from the world and hole up in my sweet little home for a while. I ignored the phone, I ignored my email and I just hunkered down that evening and all day on Saturday enjoying my home, my projects, my own company and my critters. It was nice to have that break and recharge my batteries.
We got some rain overnight but I was able to go outside and work on some more of the projects on my Fall project list. I worked on the new garden bed for a bit and, after cleaning out the chicken coop, added more amendments to the older beds. I also got the garlic bed tilled and prepped for planting. I got done just in time for it to start raining again.
Inside the garage I got the feed bins for the kitties, bunny and chickens all restocked. Now this winter it will be easy to get all my little buddies fed and cared for this winter. I always love it once I’ve restocked and tidied things up out there. After that I swept out the garage and hauled all of the recycling out to the big blue wheelie bin.
Laying out the garlic to plant
With a break in the weather Sunday morning I headed back outside to plant the garlic bulbs I had picked up at the feed store a couple weeks ago. Once it was all planted I added soiled hay I’d saved from the bunny bins that I’d emptied to make a nice nutrient dense mulch layer. This is how I did it last year and since my garlic harvest was a success last summer I did it this way again. I planted a little bit more garlic this year and I’m hoping for a bigger yield. Fingers crossed!
Done! And covered in mulch
After the garlic was planted and that task was checked off the project list I headed out to pick up a friend and we went over to one of my coworker’s to go through her yard sale leftovers and see if either of us wanted anything. We got the bargain basement prices and I ended up coming home with a power washer, an electric chainsaw, a pair of loppers, a garden fork to use in my compost bin and two tarps, all in very nice condition, for only $40!
Monday I drove to work so I could stop at Home Depot on the way home and pick up a load of garden soil for the new raised garden bed I added to the backyard as well as some potting soil for a few plants I needed to pot up. I had $0 left in my 2024 garden budget so I redeemed some credit card points in order to get a $50 Home Depot gift card to cover this expense. After all was said and done I was very happy to check that all off the project list.
Tuesday was the day I was dreading, and not for the reason you might think. The tree company arrived to trim the sycamore and remove my poor dead maple tree. I was sad to see it go, but the deed is done and now I can move forward as I figure out what I will be doing in that area of the yard. It certainly looks different with that tree gone.
Guess what I got? Wood chips!
The maple tree did not go to waste!
I had Wednesday off to rest and reflect on my week so far while I puttered around the house and then I was back at work on Thursday which was a welcome distraction. Sometimes I think having this job helps me to not overdo it on projects at home. In fact, I know it does. I’ve even told my boss a time or two that I came into work so I could get some rest.
I was very fortunate with such a busy week that I didn’t have to cook last week. On Sunday I pulled out a frozen meatloaf and a container of mashed potatoes I had made as well as some asparagus I had blanched and frozen back in March. I put the meatloaf in the slow cooker to cook all afternoon while I worked on various projects and the rest I reheated in the microwave. That meal along with leftovers from the previous week kept me going quite nicely without much effort. Leftovers and meal prepping for the win!
Are you busy with any big projects right now? How is the weather where you live? Is it leaf raking season at your place?
The weather here hasn't decided to be Fall yet, so we are enjoying the A/C daily...looks like you have been productive and I loved reading the butthole turkey story (: I would have been sad at losing a tree, too, but now you get to decide what to plant there next!
ReplyDeleteI know. It is going to be a tough decision, but hopefully by spring I'll have it figured out.
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