The first snowflakes of the season whipped and raced through the air, while at ground level a wooly bear caterpillar made for cover. The wind was bracing, and there would be a rim of frost around the water buckets come evening. The duck patrol made for the big pond each morning now, as the small pond was low and already icing over. By days' end they gathered near the coop, fluffing into little duckie bundles and waiting for bedtime.

The time change has a way of making me feel metaphorically short-sheeted when it comes around each year. Spring or fall, it always feels like I'm just getting settled into a good rhythm with the sunrise and sunset, and then -wham, it changes again. I end up staying up later, but still waking up at my "old" wakeup time.

I'm not a fan of the early darkness in the evenings, but it is better than it staying dark well into the morning. If I had to pick, I'd stay with standard time and be done with it, though I do understand the various reasons folks like the time change.

We've had a mild fall so far, so much so that we didn't even bother to turn on the in-floor heat or make a fire in the masonry stove until the last couple of days. A little sunshine and the passive solar picks up the load, and if the sun failed, doing a bit of cooking and baking got the job done. With the low headed down to 20 tonight, it was time to go ahead and fire things up. There's just nothing quite like soaking up the radiant heat from a wood stove. I like drying my hair by it, too. It feels like it charges up my brain.

We cleared the greenhouse of heat loving crops this week, and got another three trays of green tomatoes and one of peppers and eggplant. The rest of the garden is also cleared and mulched for winter, and garlic planted. We didn't quite tackle all the projects on the outdoor wish list this year, but next year we try again. That's the promise of homesteading and gardening - you always have something to look forward to in the coming years.

This Week’s Resilience & Abundance Boost

As the days grow shorter and the nights turn crisp, it’s a good time to pause, take stock, and set a few small things in order before winter settles in.

• Tidy and restock your cozy corners. Keep a throw blanket, reading light, and good book ready for longer evenings.
• Check your winter warmth. Inspect wood, fuel, and heating systems; make sure you have kindling, matches, and backups.
• Stock a few extras. Add shelf-stable pantry items or easy meals for winter storms and unexpected holiday guests — it’s always nicer to share from abundance than scramble in a pinch.
• Tend the soil’s rest. Spread mulch where needed or mark beds that need compost next spring.
• Reflect and record. Note what thrived this year and what you’d change next — garden journals are seeds of next year’s success.

All our best to you and yours,

Laurie (and August IV, August V, and Duncan)

This week's featured articles...

I had a baking marathon on Friday, whipping up an assortment of recipes from Never Buy Bread Again to share with family and friends, and record some videos for those who are unfamiliar with the book.

With all the baking, there was plenty of day old bread to kick off my new holiday bread series with this Christmas bread pudding with vanilla rum sauce.

August was still sleeping when I started baking, but the aroma from the kitchen helped wake him up.

It's that time of year again - snow fence season! If you want one and don't have it up, now's the time to tackle it, before the ground freezes. We've used them for years to help keep our long driveway clear, so I put together a guide to show how to use them.

August put together this article on ways to reduce your electric bill. This article on ways to stretch your food budget has also been popular.

Note - Perfect Supplements is having their biggest sale of the year this week, so I'll be sending out more information on that soon.