I thought it would be fun to share what I’ve been up to for the past week. It helps me to look back and see all that I’ve accomplished, especially when I have so much on my to-do list! I’ll be honest I didn’t think I was that busy this past week but now that I’m looking at it as a whole I think I was busy! But isn’t that the best kind of busy–where you don’t really know you’re busy??

Anyway, here we go! I taught a STEM class at my local library’s after school program. We made apple crisp and discussed measurements, seasonal produce, and how you take different ingredients, put them all together, add heat, and then come up with a completely different, and yummy, product. Of course we taste tested some apple crisp.

Anna and I got in a couple of walks this week. Not as many as we should have, but anytime we can get outside is a good time. It’s a good acorn year. I’ve been collecting and collecting acorns for my winter dyeing projects. I’ve also been collecting sumac and avocado pits. But it was such a nice day when we went for our walks that I couldn’t resist a little selfie. And the picture of Anna was her selfie except I had to take it for her..that whole opposable thumb thing.

We’ve spent some time lately enjoy the night sky and I was lucky enough to capture this sunset.

I decided that I needed a dedicated work space in order to get things done. And because it’s nearing the end of the fishing season I have access to some of the rooms that I don’t have access to during the season. Last year our work space was in one of the bedrooms upstairs, but I decided this year’s work space will be the old living room. It’s been converted into a bedroom but it’s largely unused during the off season. And what better space to work than overlooking the river?

I finished up my last farm market of the season. I was only able to attend 2 sessions (mostly because I didn’t know about the market until September). I loved this market. It’s small and in it’s first couple of years of existence. I met some great people and was able to get the word out about my business, what I do, the classes I teach, and why it’s important to me. And I sold some product in the meantime. I’m scheduled to vend at a pop up shop in November. I’ll update my list of classes and events with that information. Look at this view! This is what we see every time we’re at the farm market.

There’s been some great fall colors! Finally! We went yesterday and today and got our decorations that should last us through the end of November. The nights are cooler so the pumpkins should last a long time. I decorated the front porch and the fly shop/lodge sign. Of course as we’re walking around we see all kinds of examples of fall. I couldn’t help snap some quick pics of the moss growing on the back porch steps. And Anna needed to a part of that too! I love this time of year. The other thing I like about our decorations is that it all came from a local farm stand. It’s nice to support another local business (I wish I’d been able to grow those pumpkins myself, but alas it wasn’t in the cards this year. I got one tiny Jack-be-little pumpkin).

And this is the first time I’ve ever grown sunflowers! I don’t know why, but it is. I planted them in one of those grow bags from Tractor Supply. The deer ate the heads off some of them, but I’m lucky enough to have about 3 or 4 that are actually blooming! I had all the plants that I wanted to save-rosemary, sage, lemon balm, geraniums, and the sunflowers-on the back porch but after decorating for fall, and using some of the flowers in my decorations, I moved all the other plants to the side porch. I’ll take some more pics soon so you can see how it looks. It makes my heart very happy.

Other things from this past week: I had two coffee shop dates at two different coffee shops. We started our cash spending program again. I just think that makes more sense. We’ve been able to save a lot of money by being frugal and not spending a ton of money. We’ll use the next month to fine tune details on our cash spending. I’m afraid the decorations probably sent us over the edge but we’re shopping at the farm market weekly and only spending $20-30 on groceries. Our freezer is stocked with meat for the winter. I need a few pantry staples but we should be good to go. Oh. Speaking of, we’ve been eating really healthy. I’ve been doing a lot of the cooking from the Whole30 cookbook. I’ve modified it a bit but it’s been really good. I feel better. I’m eating good, walking, taking care of myself. It feels so good to be doing this finally. I’ll put the food in my highlights on instagram so you can see what I’ve been cooking up.

I’m still offering a discount code (restock15) good through 10/1/19 for anything in my online shop. I have so many ideas swirling around in my head about my little homesteading business. I can’t wait to work on things and share it with you all over the next few months. But in the meantime I need to make room so use the discount to buy a hat or a postcard or a lip balm or whatever!

That’s it. It was a very good week. Tell me what you’ve been up to this past week. What’s been good? What have you been struggling with? Is it fall where you are? I need to know!