It’s about time. . .

For an update. GoodNESS!

I had a kick-ass Mix Tape lined out, but freaking YOUTUBE isn’t working right now. GROWL.

Anyway – I had really wanted to continue with my summer homestead series, but life has a way of kicking you in the balls sometimes and things have just been moving too fast.

I will tell you this:

The tomatoes did not survive the aphid attack. JERKS!!! In the move I knocked a branch off of one plant and stuck it in water. It is growing roots now. The only plant in my collection to produce any fruit was a “Green Tomato” plant that produced one tiny, round, green, tomato. When the frost started to hit, I snipped that branch and stuck it in water in my kitchen window and it is still growing and the stalk is producing roots. Success? Meh. I’ll take it!

The rest of the plants have been moved indoors for the winter season. Anything that produces something edible is in the kitchen – either in the windowsill or on the top of the fridge. A couple of larger plants have been strategically placed throughout the house and the rest are taking over my bedroom along with my fish.

My fish. . . So I planned to write a goldfish care post, and probably still will, but in doing the research for that post (and when I was planning their home on the budget of a poor person)  I learned that it is very important to change their water often. Therefore, I chose to do a 100% water change the first week. This worked great for five of the fish. Flopsy didn’t survive. At least I think that is why. Who knows? She’s a little fish in a new home and a lot could have gone wrong. At any rate – I woke up the following morning to see Flopsy doing the death [float?] sink at the bottom of the tank. I knew she was in trouble so I scooped her up in a a clean ice-cream bucket and put a little (and I mean a LITTLE) Epsom’s Salt in with her to ease her discomfort. I also shelled a frozen pea and gave that to her to eat. Ultimately she didn’t make it through to the next night. I know she was a little gold fish, but I was pretty sad to see her go.

The other five are doing just fine. I did wait about a month to change the water again for fear of killing more. I had to breakdown and change the water when I decided it was time to clear out the porch for firewood storage. But like I said – they are fine. They are happy and so super cute!

Even though my room seems like a crowded jungle, it’s somehow one of the most peaceful places I’ve been recently.

I tried to hatch a Monarch egg to no avail. I was excited to raise the little bugger and set it free, too. Hrmpf.

Oh. The vinegar was also a horrid fail. I need to find a way to be able to stir the apples better because I developed a mold issue and decided to toss the whole batch in the compost bin.

COMPOST!? Yep, success! I made legitimate dirt, folks! I’m super excited about it, too!

The seasons are changing and for the first time ever I am truly embracing fall. I usually hate fall because it means soon there is too much snow, not enough sunlight, and seasonal depression. A lot of people would say that there isn’t really a fall season in Wyoming, but they are wrong. I used to be one of those people, and I, too, was wrong! We don’t traditionally get the beautiful changing leaves and Stephen King-esque road ways with fluttering oranges and browns, et cetera, but there is a fall to be had if you want it.

There is wood to chop and stack, homemade hot cocoa to be enjoyed by the fire, game to track, hunting equipment to prepare, and animals to clean, cook, wrap, and freeze once game tags have been filled.

A year ago I started lining out my New Year’s Resolutions and sometimes, even though a few things have changed, I am slapped in the face with the reality that the situation that surrounds them has not. I think I’ll start a new list and get that out to you soon. One year of my life I might actually stick to these things.

I made that previous statement to color this point – this time of the year all I want to do is hole up in my personal oasis and figure out how to be independently wealthy so that I can just stay home and snuggle by the fire with my dog and a good book.

I’ve been toying with making some youtube videos to broaden this blog. But, maybe I need to actually be consistent in blogging first, no?

BAH! I’m getting rambly and I have a lot of corporate life work to do. BOOOO.

Enjoy!

xoxo

-S