October 17, 2009

Woodstove weather is here! It is time to relearn the fine art of keeping the fire going strong but small so as not to turn our shanty into a sauna, an act easier said than done. People often seem to worry that we won't stay warm in winter out here, but we are usually trying harder to not stay TOO warm. So, have no fear for us.

Despite having been through one frost already and with others soon to come, our garden is still bountiful. For lunch we had salads of fresh lettuce, spinach, basil, nasturtium leaves and flowers, ground cherries, snap peas and alpine strawberries. It was so pretty I had to take a picture.

We vegetarians are not the only ones experiencing a bounty of food right now. It is hunting season, which means that Lily and Wilson are enjoying a feast of fresh carcasses around the woods. They will disappear for hours at a time and then come waddling back and want to sleep it off by the fire. We learned our lesson the other night, however, when Lily about chased us out of the house with a bad case of carky butt. (Carky butt, a term coined by a friend of mine, can be defined as foul smelling intestinal gas due to gorging oneself on deer carcasses.) Until hunting season is over, the dogs will just have to be happy with a few extra blankets on the porch. On the bright side, I'm looking forward to lower pet food bills for the next few weeks.

1 comment:

canningmama said...

Are you sure those are ground cherries? I think you're putting Kix on your salad. : )