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1. I am still harvesting some items from the summer garden, e.g., tomatoes and peppers, but spent lots of time harvesting/processing the pears. I can them up in a chunky sauce, which can be made into just about anything at a later date… jelly, leather, pie filling, drink mixes. While our weather is slowly changing, we in the mid-south don’t have the extreme cold and snow you have at your ranch. Our fall garden is growing well with winter veges and rabbit food. Come Thanksgiving time, some plants, like the onions, garlic, cabbages, sprouts and cauliflower will over-winter under a blanket of straw.

   Had the blower motor on the wood stove repaired; had the chimney cleaned last year so we’re good.
   We now have 5 cords of wood for the wood stove/fireplace. We only need to do twigs and slivers for kindling. I have a tall kitchen trash container full of cardboard TP/PT rolls stuffed with dryer lint with wax and plastic tote containers of paper and light weight cardboard from food packages. Plenty of matches on hand and new containers of both regular and long lighters, plus fire extinguishers. I’ve been making emergency candles for the folding stove burners and clay flower pot heaters. A tuna can with 4 cotton mop wicks puts out a lot of heat and is way cheaper than sterno!

   Various trips to thrift stores have provided a thick comforter for the big dogs when they need to come into the garage for severe weather, a 4×6 washable rug for the medium size dogs for the sun porch, a couple of fuzzy cuddly throws for the cats, two small dog beds, sweats and fleeces for cold mornings, yarn and dozens of fiction books to pass the dark hours.

   I ordered a paper copy of The Federalist Papers and a dz small booklets of the the US Constitution with the Amendments and the Declaration of Independence. I plan on sending them for Christmas gifts to remind my less-aware friends and family of how easily our freedom has been eroded.

   Have a great week.

   1. Could you expand on this? Thanks!
      “A tuna can with 4 cotton mop wicks puts out a lot of heat and is way cheaper than Sterno.” I understood tuna can and sterno 🙂

      1. Butch,
         For an explanation, see Patient Momma’s previous sentence. She has made emergency candles by filling a tuna can with molten wax, into which she has placed four wicks fashioned from strands from a cotton mop head. This four-flame candle may be used in place of a Sterno can in a Sterno folding stove for emergency cooking.

         1. Got it. Thanks.

      2. Butch, sorry for the delay in responding, really busy, like everyone.

         I melt paraffin and stubs of old wax candles in an old worthless pan used only for wax melting. A cotton swab mop head, like used in commercial cleaning, is nothing but twisted cotton and is great for wicks. I cut the thick strings off the mop and then cut the cotton into appropriate sizes for the tuna cans.

         For the folding stove heater I leave the mop string of 4 twisted layers together so they are thick and fat. I put a knot in each end of the 3″ length and drape the “wick” over a wooden skewer across the top of the can. The knots are to keep the wicks from pulling out of the hardened wax. Then I pour the liquid wax into the tuna cans and let them sit over night. When the wax is hard, I cut the wicks to 1/4″ above the wax. The heat from one tuna can with 4 wicks will boil water.

         For candles for light I do the same process but I untwine the 4 strands in the mop string and use only 1 or 2 strands as wicks, which gives off enough brightness for playing board games.

2. Canned 22 quarts of tomatoes in the past couple weekends. Pears are coming on gangbusters, wife has canned oodles of pints of pear butter. We’re in the middle of a major drought here in Iowa, probably won’t have to mow again this year!
   I had shoulder surgery 12 weeks ago and am finally getting about three hours of work done in the shop per day, it will be nice to generate some income again. The PT gals say my recovery isn’t “typical”. My shoulder blade won’t move so I have limited mobility in my left arm. It’s taking some doing to gain back my strength over my entire body as well. Looks like I’ll be seeing the PT gals for quite some time yet. Needles to say I haven’t been loads of help around here over the summer.
   I think I’ve worked up enough strength to hold a little single shot .22. Squirrels beware!

3. I’ve been busy canning dozens of quarts of tomato sauce, too. Brooksy, I do hope you will recover soon. Said a prayer asking the Father to watch over your healing moments ago. I know how difficult it is to feel helpless when your heart’s desire is to be useful to your family. I also understand the desire to “get those squirrels”. Had some raiding my box of sunflowers recently put out by the chicken pen for the chickens. Hope you are able to get back out and “get ’em” soon!

   1. Thanks Sarah, greatly appreciated!

4. Once upon a time in my wild youth I was a Wild land Firefighter and also having grown up in a logging community the threat of fire is of major concern for most everyone. I have seen first hand the destructive nature of fire and with the fires in the Pacific Northwest being particularly difficult this year. Now when, I read about the cutting of much needed firewood for winter so late in the season is still on going, I take pause and I pray that every precaution is taken to minimize the risks associated with such activities. Such as cutting early in the morning, having and making sure a spark arresting device is on your chainsaw and working as intended, having some form of fire suppression on hand such as a fire extinguisher or garden hose if you use a dedicated area close to a water source. Even posting yourself up as a fire watch for a few hours after you’ve finished using your chainsaw or hydraulic wood splitter if you use one to ensure that nothing turns into a fire. So please be careful, be vigilant and by all means only let that fire wood warm you only when you need it to. When cutting it and when you burn it.

   1. Dear A in Aloha,

      No worries, here. We’re no longer cutting trees in our woods. The gang cutting takes place next to the house with the chainsaw, between 7:30 and 9AM. Jim is splitting the wood by the house with the ax. Not only that, we water the meadow and gardens around the house daily so there is no chance of sparks setting off a fire, they’re too wet. Furthermore, even though we water the meadows and our campfire circle is in the middle of the meadow, we do not and have not had any campfires since the end of June, just in case an ember gets carried away by the wind into our woods which are not watered. Thankfully, the expected rains are due to begin after midnight on Sunday. We’ll be glad when they soak our dry land and begin to help to put out all the fires in our western regions. We do thank You for your concern. Many blessings to you and yours. Lily

5. We’ve been busy wrapping up the “garden” and canning. We canned a dozen or so jars of chicken. These are great for last minute chicken salad, tacos or chicken soup and the weather cools. Also tried our hand at harvesting acorns and making acorn “flour”. It is a long process and not one I am likely to repeat. However, it is a good skill to have if needed.

6. Ripened and canned 9 qt of peaches(had 1 qt glass fail),harvested lettuce seed and volunteer tomato seed(should grow great next year). Time to start prowling for end of season deals on fertilizer and charcoal and early salt.

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