Chickens in dresses. Cats is slings. Rooster hanging post mortem awaiting the pot. Oh and a nice pumpkin harvest. We have been having a busy ending of the summer. THere has been lots of food to process. We put up our peaches and have TONS OF JAM. I ordered the school books this week and have been easing us into the new schedule already. Last week was cleaning out closets like a madwoman and bringing bags to second hand store. I feel as though a great burden has rolled off my back. I think fall house cleaning is always way more involved than spring cleaning.

Goals for the fall include.

Getting to mass every Friday.
Continuing some kind of once a week hike at least until December or I am too fat, whichever happens first. Nature journals!

Oh and everyone now has a chore list, even Ben. I become a mad organizer when pregnant.

Pat on the back right when I needed it. . .

So a few weeks ago a nasty cop showed up at our door and arrested my husband and we went through a small town drama worthy of a vintage television sitcom. My husband is analoging the entire episode for posterity in comic form over on his blog so I won't say any more about that. But, needless to say, my attitude toward the outside world has been slightly embittered of late.

Today we drove out to an orchard to get our two bushels of peaches and there was a little old lady there. I am used to this kind of person fussing about my kids climbing on things (I always tell them that their father is a gymnast) or worried that they'll get dirty when they go to draw in the dirt or look for bugs.

She asked me if my children were home-schooled. The question surprised me as it is still summer vacation but I replied that they were. Then she said in a soft Virginia drawl. “Yep, I can always tell cause they are so well behaved.

WOW! Thank you, kind lady! You have no idea how that has made my day, well my month actually. A pat on the back to homeschoolers everywhere!!!

Oh and the peaches are really good too.

Well I'm not posting anymore pictures of the garden. While the bounty has been fairly plentiful, between breaking my flower pot, the great drought of '10 here in Va and the chickens its looking a bit like "the devastated vineyard". But as you can see Angelica has worked hard on a couple of cool projects this summer. The first of them is this set up made mostly from her little wooden figures and moss and such from over in the forest. She worked so hard on this that we kept it up for several weeks. I don't know if this is visible in the photo but my favorite part was that she made a little field for the animals out of hay from the mower and it looked just like a little field of animal hay.

I am stating to get exited for the time of year when I blow all the homeschooling money on sweet sweet german art supplies and gorgeous books and then end up scratching my head and wondering why there is nothing left to buy the math book with, Also fall hikes in the musty leaves and best of all APPLE SEASON!!

We have been making many foraging walks lately and brought in a bumper crop of elderberries. I have been inspired by reading Stalking the Wild Asparagus again and we have made many quarts of jam out of Blackberries and elderberries and even some grape jelly. (all sitting rotting on the vine and waysides right outside my own house. Who knew! With the elderberries I made jam and am turning the rest into Sambuca for my dad for Christmas ( I can post that because I don't think my father ever has really been online to speak of) Of course I am keeping some for myself to enjoy a cafe coretto once baby Hatke makes his or her appearance.

I am off to get peaches tomorrow so lets hope this preserving kick doesn't lose steam.

Oh and Ben killed the rooster. I made coq a vin and it was sublime.