The cold has come.

Boy oh boy!  And it showed up with a vengence.  They said on the news average temps for this time of year here are around 40.  So why in the world it it 3 degrees??  Along with a bitter cold wind chill factor makes it feel like -5.  Don't get me wrong these kind of temperatures are not unusual for us to deal with, we just don't usually have to start dealing with them until January.

Well this is good news for this blog!  This means more time spend indoors which means more likely to update on things around here.

Along with blog updating I also have a long "to do" list for the winter months.  Lets hope and pray for the motivation to get them done.

One thing that I did this harvest season because of my busy busy scheduele and my new toy(my horse) to play with I didn't have enough time to get to all the canning and jam making I had hoped.   So instead when I didn't have the time to properly store something I would throw it in the freezer with the idea come the slower winter months I could easily go back and take care of it.  Also it is much better to have the stove going all day long when the temps outside are below freezing than when they are in the 90's.  
I sauced tomatoes and chopped pepers for my spaghetti sauce, froze a couple gallons of blackberries for jam, a ton of peaches for jam and a few gallons of cherries for preserves.  So rather than dread turning on my stove and spending another day in the burning hot kitchen I am actually looking forward to spending a few days in the kitchen standing near the warm stovetop.

Winter is the time for long days in the kitchen, catching up on reading, sitting in front of the fireplace and any other activities that helps me avoid freezing.  Though don't you worry I spend plenty of time outdoors keeping my furry companions company.

I am also looking forward to getting back to cheese and butter making.  I have't made milk since my goat dried up this summer.  So I will start getting raw milk from an Amish friend.  And baking artisan bread again.  Since I finished doing the farmers market I have been kind of burnt out on baking but I think I am ready to get back to it again. 

Those are few things that you can expect to hear about around here :)