December Days Around the Homestead

Frida Eylül 23, 2022

December is plugging along, and it's hard to believe the month is half over! Its early days were beautiful. Autumn arrived late and lingered longer than usual, so the color and mild temperatures were still here to enjoy at the beginning of the month.

Colby and my blueberry bush. The bush was late to
turn this year, and never fails to offer eye-catching color.

An evening fire in the woodstove was enough to warm the house.

Sam never fails to get a comfy spot in front of the fire.

The afternoons were lovely so I spent them outdoors gathering kindling

The girls come along to hunt acorns and choice leaves.

or raking leaves to mulch the garden.

First bed done. There's something about the contrast
between the brown and green that makes me happy.

And we do have plenty of leaves to rake.

Meowy in the leafy woods.

Then our first winter cold front came through and we got rain and ...

Snow! Two inches on the first day and more the second. But
the temp didn't get below freezing so it didn't stick for long.

We don't usually get snow until January! December is now more like its old self with lows below freezing and highs above. On chilly or drizzly days, I'm in the kitchen with the wood cookstove going. I'm making jam and jelly from the fruits I froze last summer,

Blueberry-fig jam in the making. I'm using my homemade pectin
in this one and find the slow cooker works well to cook it down.

and bone broth and soup from the frozen bones.

Bone broth. Next I'll strain it and can it.

Besides working on the barn, Dan took down the last of our two old oak trees.

We've trimmed away the dead branches over the years
but this past summer was the end of it. It's dead now.

Always sad to see old trees die, but they inevitably do. Lots of firewood tho.

But! New life elsewhere. In the garden some of my late planted seeds are starting to sprout!

Mustard greens seedlings

Spinach seedlings

Honeybee on radish flowers

Every time I see honeybees I can't help but wonder where they came from and if they didn't originate from one of my absconded hives.

We're eating lots of salads, and still have the last of summer's tomatoes ripening in the house.