Domestic Me

Not sure what's going on with me.  It seems every free moment I have I find myself preparing food.   My son and I went out and picked tomatoes and apples on Friday.  The orchard is chemical-free and I  have been taking care of it for a neighbor who has been deployed to Iraq.  Anyway, it is the same orchard where I have my bees.  I am thinking that one of the reasons the bees have done so well is because of the LACK of pesticides and such.  Anyway, the apples were pretty well picked over and we were left with the wormiest and smallest.  It's okay.  I'm really glad a lot of families were able to use healthy fruit.  There are about 28 trees.   

So I spent most of Saturday doing stuff for the animals, chickens and goats, and putting up applesauce.  

The applesauce would have been easier if we had been among the first to pick.  

My hands got all rough and cracked.  I only got 11 quarts for all the time I spent but the process was so...cleansing that I am sure the benefits extend beyond the nutrition and such.  Knowing that the ingredients are organic will surely make it taste better too.  The funny thing is that I've never really been an applesauce fan.

Today I'm making Italian tomato sauce.  I'll probably be freezing, rather than canning, it.  

I also made some green tomato salsa as well as some cheese. Actually the cheese takes a few days.  

I have included some photos of this weekend's activities and a few of the landscape after this season's first snow in the valley.

 Finally, a shot of my trusted companion.  Ebony's my walking-running partner.  She's a 5-year-old puppy.  She is as affectionate as kitten and as forgiving as a grandparent.  Not a flattering shot.  Good thing she's forgiving.

Season of Satisfaction

Everyone tells me Fall is their favorite season, and I can understand why. I like Spring and Fall, the in-between times, like dusk and dawn. I must say that I prefer Spring as it seems so full of promise.

I rode in the mountains today. I drove the Alpine Loop as well as the road between Sheep Creek (up Spanish Fork Canyon) and Strawberry Reservoir. The colors were breathtaking. I stopped and talked with some families who were camping together. I commented that it wasn't fair for them to be out sucking up nature while the rest of us were in the valleys fretting about our 401k's and the financial debacle our county is in.

Yesterday I harvested more than eight gallons of honey from my two first-year hives. How satisfying! It was a long process, about two hours longer than I had anticipated, plus I still have seven gallons to filter. But the satisfaction of caring for the bees and having them reward me with such a plentiful amount of honey is...singular. I took some video footage of the process. Perhaps I'll have to open a YouTube account or something. I'm not sure how much I can upload to this blog.  *Update: Click HERE to go to my new YouTube page. The feeling of working with the bees, interdependence, reminds me of an experience I had last month with my goats. I was called out on two consecutive fires and was relying on my son to feed and care for the animals. Doing so was out of his routine, plus he had to ride his bike twelve miles from Provo where he's enrolled at BYU. He either forgot one or more times or whatever: I'm not sure exactly what went wrong. I do know that the goats were very sick when I got back and I was sure I was going to lose them. I called the vet, who was not very encouraging but was willing to try a few things to the tune of $200 each animal. I declined and began my Reb-Tevianesque mono/dialogue with God. I blessed the animals and went to the feed store to look for ideas. Fortunately, I found a clerk who raised goats and whose grandmother in Idaho was a pro with natural remedies for animals. The clerk called her grandmother on her cell and I got the ingredients and administration instructions for two concoctions. Anyway, after 5 days of TLC Dot and Pinki were back on their feet and eating on their own. Their current milk production is back to where it was previously. What is most satisfying is my impression that they sense I saved their lives, or at least they know that I care enough to have tried.

I am living a charmed life in so many ways. I don't have enough money (who does or ever will?) but I'm having experiences that are priceless. A flood of ideas and insights come to me during these experiences, ides that seem to have broader application. For the present, I'll try to comprehend their personal meanings and bask in my season of satisfaction.