Camping out in the living room

Well, we moved into the living room back in August, and I must say, it's getting old. With all our belongings packed into the garage, stored in the attic crawlspace, or jammed into the back of the closet, finding warmer clothes has been a chore. I'm hoping we'll be able to get one of the rooms completed in the next two weeks so we can finally move our bedroom back upstairs, and I can unearth my turtle necks and find my winter coat!

The October 30th snowstorm dumped only about 4 inches, but it was enough (combined with the wind) to knock out power. So here we are, still camped out in the living room, but with the trusty wood stove keeping us toasty warm.

I think Callie Lou loves this setup--she gets to sleep on the folded up futon, right by our heads. She thinks it's nice and cozy, and she doesn't have to negotiate the stairs.

Giant fall carrots

Curiosity made me go pull one of the carrots, just to see what we had going on down there, under ground. Once the garlic was harvested, John put more compost on the garden, and voilá. we have a nine inch carrot! There still in the ground, snow covered, waiting for me to pull the remaining crop. Yummy!

Fall potato and squash harvest

This is what they mean by a truck garden!

We've harvested nearly half the potatoes and most of the squash. The apples are really only good for cider or horses--we give them to the latter. Our best squash variety appeared to be the Marina di Chioggia", an heirloom Italian winter squash. I'm not sure if I dug the Katahdins or Kennebecs, but they seemed to have produced a better crop than last year. I've still got the Adirondack blues, a few remaining red potatoes, and whatever else we planted--Sangre de Cristos, I think. I left some of the butternut that weren't quite ready, and one Queensland Blue, still ripening.
YUM!

Squashes galore!

It must be fall

The morning chill was enough for John to dig out a turtleneck and for Callie to snuggle up in his lap for a little snooze. Fall is definitely in the air. It's time to attack the unsplit wood and start stacking! I've got 3 lbs. of green beans to put up, tomatoes to deal with, and a lawn that needs mowing. But first, since we're both on vacation, we need to go for a trail ride!

52 heads of garlic!

That's a clove a week for a year!

The new roof saga continues...

Reinforced ceiling and new shingles going up!

The house gets a new roof

And with it, new skylights! We first need to do a lot of demolition on the old plaster and lathing. The scary thing is seeing all that daylight through the old rafters! Yikes! I'm glad we're getting this done before another winter. So when we're done playing This Old House, it will be time to start in on the winter woodpile. Never an idle moment around here.

John taking down the Rose Room ceiling--what is that crap?

Down to the rafters. Glad I hadn't painted this room yet!

And the bedroom--Looks like it will need a new paint job!

It's a jungle of squash out there!

Our garden in Eliot overflows with squash. The vines are climbing right up and over the potatoes, snaking their way out of the garden into the grass, virtually taking over. Yesterday we harvested about half the turnips--another winner for the fair sits on the truck tailgate, even bigger than our last. The buttercup squash seem to be holding their own against the deer, but the French variety (little orange guys) and the delicata are battling against the damn squash bugs and deer depredation. I'm going to have to come up with a storage solution fast for this batch. Given that it's only August, finding a cool, dry spot may be difficult!

Giant turnip dwarfs the harvest!

Checking up on the Eliot garden--and look what we found!

Giant purple top turnip

The potatoes and struggling against the deer attacks and the spreading squash. There's an incredible amount of greenery snaking everywhere. If the potatoes make it, and the squash and turnips, we should be in vegetable heaven this winter! I put my boots next to the turnip for scale.

The Eliot Tractor Show is next weekend. I hope the weather holds so Dad can bring along the mower. We need to mow out at the barn, and maybe also do a pass around the garden.

Memorial Day planting

Dad came up Sunday to harrow the Eliot Garden. After nearly a week of rain, the soil finally dried out enough. He made numerous passes, setting all the rows, then we let the soil warm up in the hot sun.

We planted 5 varieties of potatoes, 5 varieties of winter squash, and 2 melons. Now, if we can just keep the deer out, we may have an awesome harvest!

I got another driving lesson--starting, and getting all the way into fifth gear. I even managed to put it in reverse--all without hitting anything. Good thing it's a large field.

Callie spent her time lying in the shade, slurping water, and panting--but have a great time none the less.