This week I harvested the last of the watermelons and cantaloupes. Nice wheelbarrow full, there are still a few left in the field but these will keep me busy eating for a while. Couldn't put any more in the wheel barrow without them rolling out. The cooler weather has set in so the green tomatoes are next. We had snow on our mountains surrounding the valley this weekend and there are more storms predicted. We got another nice rain.
This week I spent time in the kitchen making pots of soup, I love sipping hot soup on a cold day. I just took some tired looking carrots and celery from the frig before storing my fresh food and started them in a large wok with a little olive oil, adding onion and then water and vegitable boulion. There was also a bit of cabbage and about 1/3 cup of pearl barley. After that simmered for awhile I added a can of tomatoes, the remainder of the black beans I cooked last week and the remainders of of the brown rice. I added for seasoning, black pepper, celery seed, parsley and two dried red peppers. Turned out wonderful for sipping on cold days and so thrifty and simple.
My grand daughter and I went to the ark, a thriftstore that puts all the overflow items in the yard and sells it for about $3.00 a grocery cart. I love that yard and so does she. We always leave with lots of childrens clothes and kitchen items. Those carts can include furniture and appliances. I think it is a great way to recycle. I take my stuff in there too. I also took some magazines in to waiting rooms to leave for people to glance through after sorting through my pile of magazines and tearing out the few pictures of things I wanted to keep. That was a fun job to do in front of the fire with a hot cup of soup. I really enjoy the seasons. My seed catalogs are starting to drift in and I'm making plans for next years garden. I get out an haul some manure and straw to the new garden area whenever it's a bit warm.
I had my truck serviced this week after I had a flat tire. I got a new tire and oil change the same day so I'm good to travel for awhile. I'm looking forward to my trip to California in early January for my grandsons wedding.

Fireplace

My daughter and I have been talking about how nice woodstoves are in the wintertime. I have a fireplace but up until now it's just been a showpiece. I was afraid to light a fire in it. Yesterday I hired a chimney sweep and now. I'm cozy in my livingroom in front of the fire. Right now I'm using scrap wood from the scrap wood pile but when it warms up I will go out to the wash and trim some of the acacia's (cat's claw) It's like mesquite and makes a good fire. The shots below show my nice comfy chair I sit in and a shot of the mantle above the fireplace. I live in a mobile home and the living room is narrow but plenty big enough for me, it's just hard to get a picture of the whole fireplace.