Holding Hands through the seasons, through the projects, through the unknowns

 An evening trip to the land while the weather was still holding up was to wash the barn floor. I admit that I wasn't down for it....I mean, the only water source we have is across the prairie and I knew that floor was going to need several rinse downs. Can we wait until we move out there and have more options? Of course not! I can tell by the position of the sun that Summer has left us. It is funny how you notice things like that when you are working outside around seasons, weather, and time-crunches.

Woodchuck has been having me drive the tractor here and there lately, so that I don't forget how to do it. We decided that the only spot that we needed to wash today was where she was parked. 👇

That is fine, I'll move the tractor out...it gives me the chance to see the forest. I dislike being inside. 👇

The barn floor has various spots of oil and grease spills. The washing was only going to do so much now. With me being a former custodian, we decided that I would mop while he changed out the water. Before. 👇

Once the floor was mopped, we closed up, turned on the ceiling fans and went for a walk while the floor dried. You will join us, won't you? This is after, while the floor was still wet. 👇

I didn't catch a photo of the spider in time, but his front door to his abode was quite impressive. 👇

I continue to find at least one turkey feather on nearly every trip! But they are getting harder to see while mixed in with fallen leaves. 👇

Taking a break on the bench, looking at the foot bridge that grows ever more crooked since the trees underneath are starting to rot away. We still take our chances walking across it though 😉 👇

Something caught a feathered friend. I left these feathers, as I have more than enough and still need to finish cleaning and packing them away. 👇

We love looking at the black walnut tree! It looks kind of comical. 👇

Ah yes, confirmed second Tree of Heaven. It was dispatched. 👇

A kind of Aster. 👇

And a glimpse of a yet uncleared area. It is one of the areas I am most excited to see cleared because I know it is going to look completely different and will let some fabulous things breathe and grow! But for this trip, we are done and headed home.

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Woodchucks vehicle (only a work vehicle, I do all of the other driving) continues to need work. He puts things off as long as possible, but it always seems to need some thing all at once. He is nearing 300,000 on it, and I think GM needs to put a picture of him, and his car, on their wall! We dropped it off down the road at the local garage we use, went to the land, and then walked down there to pick it up. It's another one of the things that I will miss about living here.

We continue to try and do things together, but honestly, they are fleeting minutes, and I am beginning to miss him. Occasionally the loneliness hits differently. I finished making the jelly on my own, there was no way we would find the time to make another batch together. It was fantastic, and we are nearly almost out of it! The guys are eating about a jar a week. 👇

His annual medical testing continues to take up most Mondays, so another quick trip out to hang up no trespassing signs in the forest and around the property. I am grateful for all moments there, and with him.

He is almost always the first to reach out for hand-holding as we walk. 💚

And then we were surrounded by magick!

Even the kind of magick that is even more difficult to see. Leave the leaves! The insects/bugs/spiders need them to over-Winter in. (as I am typing this, my neighbor is once again out mowing hers over). 👇

What a cathedral to be standing before! 👇

And this church is full wonder, and hope, and peace, and acceptance. 👇

As the winds change direction now, the ponds is clear more often. 👇

This sassafras is silly. And honestly, nearly able to be toppled over with just your bare hands! But it continues to live. What a lesson we can take from it. 👇

The smallest of energy can be bring big joy! But our time here today is done again.

I wanted to share this neat game that I found on a resale shopping trip recently with a friend. Made in Germany in the 80's, in nearly perfect condition, and has all of the pieces! What fun! 👇

 

Enjoying Autumn

 As work wraps up on the cornstalks from hell (phragmite), I am relishing in the true Autumn that we are finally having, and the insects and animals are soaking up every last bit that they can as well!

I donned my trusty backpack, and played Dora for the day on my own while Woodchuck did some of his own things. We will meet back up when he is done and do some projects together. I got this backpack for $3 on clearance, and it has been the best damn thing! I pack it heavy, cram it full, set it in mud, hang it from trees.....and she's still going strong.

Being on my own lets me walk and observe in my own time without boring anyone with me. I can listen to the leaves as I walk through them, and watch them fall all around me. Intent only on them, and not having to have a conversation or think about other things.

I can honor Father Sun, and wonder about the health of the pond without making any future plans, just living in the moment.

Nature awaits me, and I usually enjoy it on my own. It's our own little relationship and my safe place.

So much to see and marvel at! Like this Ootheca's (mantis).

There is still a bit of color left to see!

Snacks to be had by the wildlife.

And seeds to blow near and far.

And now I have reached my office for the day and need to get to work. I know you can't really tell from these photos, but it is so much more open now as we remove the phragmite!

And that means I get to find more magick waiting for me!

Delicate fern moss? 😍

The tiniest little mushrooms with caps the size of my pinky fingernail!

And as I reach the border where we have rarely been, a very wide tree in what I would have referred to as a "glen" back in the day before I learned what land feature that was. I don't know what to refer to it as, but it feels magickal here.

Maybe I can make this an art or reading spot one day? With views of the classified forest to the South, and the watershed pond to the West. It would be a lovely spot for a picnic or photoshoot!

I could daydream here for hours, and squeal over the little treasures that I find, but work is waiting for me.

I know already that I won't get to cutting all of the berried branches off of the honeysuckle before the berries fall or are eaten and spread 😔But I have gotten some cut in areas where I am already working, and every little bit counts.

It is time now for Woodchuck and I to reconvene and get some projects done. The first requires me to be on the tractor, so that he could load the bucket up with the willow that we removed from the ditch that had been knocked over by the heavy equipment working on the pond edge.

Woodchuck required me to drive behind the barn, scraping the metal sides with willow 😱The way I do things takes longer and more physical effort, but at least I wouldn't take the chance of damaging the barn, lol. But it is done, the willow fence is filled back up properly, and the willow is up off of the ground so we won't trip on it.

A quick trip to a local discount warehouse looking for high-visibility poles they some times carry (even though they are pretty much the same price at the local home improvement store and he refuses to buy them there), found us on path with a sandhill crane standing in the middle of a country road. I always stop for wildlife! He quickly flew away and was not harmed.

With that work day under our belts, I would spend many more days here at home preparing harvest and getting ready for markets with my art. I boiled down the red grapes for their juice. It smells so fresh and amazing, and reminds me of my grandmother when she would make her jelly from her grapes.

While I could have made three batches of the jelly, I know our youngest likes the juice! So I left the juice of one batch for him to drink.

I made a simmering mix with the chemical-free apple peels from local apples, organic cinnamon sticks, cloves, etc. They are getting lots of looks at the markets, but oddly, most people that are looking at them don't know or understand what they are for. 

I finished a new art piece...that has also gotten a lot of positive feedback, but nobody pulled the trigger yet to purchase it.

The floating candles are turned on every evening! In hindsight, I would not have put the string of lights above them, because I feel like that takes away from their glow, but that string of light also provides some good lighting in the living room.

I also made soap on my own, and will do another batch soon. I rigged up my own system for mixing it right by where I stand. Woodchuck had it low to the floor on his side of the workshop, and I'm all about easy now with my messed up ankle and hip. It is not pretty, but it works really well! The two scents I made this time were Haeddre (Celtic for Heather) and Nag Champa. The workshop always smells amazing when I work on soaps! It is the one part of the current house I will miss the most when we move.

Stay tuned for more homestead things as we move closer to the holidays and Winter! 😍