You know, it's around this time of year that I start singing my favorite Christmas song, "Let It Snow." It's the one that opens with the line, "Oh, the weather outside is frightful." (Apologies for giving you ear-worm for the rest of the day.) Old Blue-Eyes had no idea the song would work not just in winter, but also in these long, drawn-out end-of-summer days, which is where we find ourselves right now. It's frightful out there, no?
And let's not even talk about the next line regarding how delightful the fire is. The fires are not delightful. But you know what is? The fact that autumn is on its way!
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| Late summer gives way to... |
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| Early fall. |
In an effort to give summer the bum's rush out the door, I've been doing a little decorating for fall, even if it's a bit early. Since I don't need ANY new furniture (A fact that Big Ag points out several times a week) I've instead gotten into doing little tablescapes. And this week, autumn fell hard and fast around the interior of our home here, as we hit triple digits and the smoke rolled in outside from the fires down south.
In the midst of it, I've also started sun-drying tomatoes, which is something I thought I'd have to give up once I left California. But with the hot weather following me, turns out I'm in possession of a good skill set for the New Normal of climate change, as are most California-born, current Oregonians.
I've also been making soap, and still have a big wave of tomato canning coming, which will hit in another month or so. One thing I love about Oregon is that by the time it's cool enough to fire up the canner, the weather is cooler.
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| Last year's tomatoes coated with ash, under a firey sky. |
Last year I did all this in the middle of a terrible fire season, with no kitchen, and dealing with contractors coming in and out of the house in the midst of a major pandemic. So almost anything will be an improvement over that. Just like Ginger Rodgers having to dance the same dances Fred Astaire did, but backwards and in high heels; that's me with homesteading this summer. I've done all this stuff backwards in heels and can now just move forward, doing the same thing but in a MUCH easier way. I have a kitchen, I'm vaccinated and there are no fires near us. Much better.
We also had some bark blown in to finish our raised bed area and keep the weeds away. That's another lesson learned: save your money and pay someone else to move the 11 yards of whatever instead of breaking your own back as well as your wheelbarrow and doing it yourself. Sure you lose bragging rights, but you can also skip the post-event visit to the chiropractor.They were done in about 45 minutes and it all looks fantastic.
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| Before |
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| After! |
I think I'll continue to add a little autumn around the house here and there until most of the decor finds it's way from their storage containers in the garage into the house. In these troubling times, if rushing the season a bit helps your mood, I'd say go for it. I'm still working on talking the trees into turning, but so far I've only convinced a couple.
Hope everyone's late summer is seasonally warm (not hot) and enjoyable. I have a feeling true autumn and winter will bring with it the Lambda COVID variant, which is vaccine-resistant, so get out and see people while you can.
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| This white birch tree is convinced it's autumn |
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| The box elder, older and wiser, knows better. |
