Sunday Happy

Anyone else wake up wondering what time it was or what day, month, and or year it was for that matter? The time change happened last night so if you have a clock without smarts, well it is probably wrong if you haven’t changed it yet. As for the overall feel of time this year, well I feel like lengths of time have been displaced and lost this year so it is nice to get an hour back, even if I lost 6 months. HA!

We finished of the last week with the last days of October, and it was good. Did out last hurrah camping at Little River State park which was delightfully cold and gorgeous with very few people to be seen. We went for a long hike, ate hot pumpkin lentil soup, and spent a good amount of time sitting by the fire trying not to burn our faces off but trying to get close enough to not be freezing. Once the fire went down we crawled into the tent for bed and slept our last night outside. Then we woke up, I made the coffee, and we broke down camp for the last time. On our way out of the park, we noticed a lot of tiny leaves falling from the trees only to realize that it was not leaves, but snow! Within 5 minutes it went from flurries to a freaking blizzard and it was just AMAZING and I loved every bit of it. The mr, not so much. He isn’t ready for the cold.

Then back to it. The mr off on one of his many projects he has going on and I spent a good amount of time in the studio. We took Barb to look at used cars (no car yet), and I picked up the last summer farm share. (Winter share starts next week..phew!) And yes, we finally turned the heat on, although I think I could do without it for a little while longer. I prefer the heat of a thousand sweaters. HA!

And then all of a sudden it was Halloween. How was your Halloween? Ours was weird. We somehow forgot to carve pumpkins this year (I know we are not the only ones) and we knew we weren’t taking the littles out. We also decided against handing out candy cause well, you know. So instead we had the littles over and had a cookie decorating party. We ate lunch then let them get all sugared up and run around like animals all afternoon which is always a good time. Plus they still got a shit ton of candy and did so without all the work. So yeah, things weren’t bad for the littles this year. What was bad was the crazy ass mess they left me with. I know I have bitched about this before but, How the hell do they get sprinkles and frosting on EVERYTHING? There was even frosting all over the toilet. One thing I did learn though this cookie party is to never let them use tiny colored dusting sugar ever ever again. That shit spreads like fire.

Sunday. Welp, we are not camping (I’m feeling sad about it) but hopefully we are going to get out of town for a hot minute and walk into some woods. I know that the mr has a bunch of things he has to to today so I will probably be on my own for most of of the day. Not going to lie, I am kind of looking forward to it. I think I am going to grab a cozy sweater and a blanket, lots of hot coffee, and plop down on the porch and read for a while. Going for the next best thing. And hey, we are still going to eat pumpkin lentil stew for dinner so there is that.

One more thing…Make sure, if you haven’t yet, you get your ass out there and VOTE!!!!!!!!!

Internet from the week.

-'Dude, I'm Done': When Politics Tears Families And Friendships Apart. This has never been more true.

-A Japanese Forestry Technique Prunes Upper Branches to Create a Tree Platform for More Sustainable Harvests

- Eating seasonaly is the only was I eat and trust, it makes a workd of diference. This Hyper-Seasonal Eating Strategy Helps Prevent My Winter Colds

-Frozen Is Fine. Frozen is great as long as it is not garbage food.

-Need a yurt guy? The 7 Best Sources to Buy Yurt Kits

-Tiny Little Jars Contain Big, Bold Colors In The Forbes Pigment Collection. This made me smile became tiny jars of color. Yes please.

-Demand for Baking Goods Is Up 3400% as Shoppers Stock Up for Winter. Calm down, you still have plenty of time to get what you need. Just don’t be that prick who buys every bag of flour because you are worried it will be gone soon. Only get what you really need.

-Why Do Onions Make Us Cry? And How Do We Make Them Stop? I barely ever have issues with onions but maybe my eyeballs are just used to it.

-A debate worth having. Which Is Better: Showering and Dirty Clothes, or No Shower and Clean Clothes?

Internet from the week.

-C

Sunday Happy

We finally turned the heat on in the house a few days ago. Set to 63 and staying there for the rest of the winter. No more walking around with freezing toes. I got very sick of having to wear two pairs of socks to keep from freezing.  Got to love warm feet.

Besides Mondays wind storm which kept me up all night for fear of the world being blown away, we got some stuff done this week. The tile in that bathroom is down, grouted, sealed, and now we are all ready for paint which sounds easier then it is. Picking paint color drives me nuts, which then drives the mr nuts, and I am seriously just thinking all white again to just be done with it. Painting is the last things we need to do before we stick the toilet in and man, I want that bathroom functional. Then people can stop using the toilet upstairs and I can stop sitting in pee because little people don't  know how to aim. Oh the bathroom problems.  

We ended up taking  two littles out trick or treating on Halloween. The days plan started out that we were going to take Judah out, just for a little while, then hand out candy. I made a last minute run to the store, bought a bunch of candy, and then went to pick up the kid. Turned out that Miley was coming too. And ok, we might have underestimated their want for candy because instead of being out for a 1/2 hour like we thought, we ended up out for almost 2 hours. The loot those littles got.. oh man. I was even jealous and I don't even eat candy. After the long haul though the neighborhood, we got home, lit the pumpkins and nothing.  I think I ended  up giving out 5 pieces of candy All the trick or treaters had come and gone and I was left with a bowl full of candy.  I have since hidden all the candy and am dealing it out in intervals to the mr sense the next morning I came home from the gym to find him eating Twix and kit Kats for breakfast. I have the candy control. HAHA. 

And the camper.  You have seen the camper right, with one side ripped off and all gutted? We have been stressing about it for a while now about getting it out of the elements and being able to actually work on it. So we  moved it, side missing and gutted and  wrapped in a piece of plastic, from the back yard over to one of the barns in town to work on for the winter. The mr towing it with the truck, I drove behind him and watched as the wind damn near blew it away. It was especially scary when a pieces that he had in the camper fell out of the hole and I had to swerve to avoid hitting it. Then backing it up into a very narrow driveway and then getting it into the barn, those were no easy tasks. But the camper is out of the yard which is nice and it didn't fall apart, which is also nice, and we didn't get pulled over for driving around town with a dangerous, unregistered  half camper, half death trap on wheels. We are very successful .

What else. Oh, check out the new Christmas mug the mr picked out? (picture below) This years mug tops them all and probably will never be matched. And the t-shirt. (picture below).  Not only is a  freaking awesome shirt, it is made even better by the fact that our 80 year old neighbor who works at the church thrift shop found it and brought it home for him. She was so excited to give it to him. It was just the greatest thing ever. And now everyone will know his name too. Awesome t-shirt, lots of candy, and a new coffee mug...He did good this week.

Sunday plan is there is no real plan. Just not freak out when it gets dark out at 430. 

Internet that I puroosed this week. 

-What are your feelings on daylight savings. I have always kind of liked it. I think it partially stems from an episode of Pete and Pete where they used the extra hour of light as time travel... Miss that show. Daylight Saving Time Ends, But The Debates It Inspires Appear Endless

-How Cold Does it Have to Be Before You Bring Your Plants Inside? I finally brought mine all in. 

-Climate Science Report Contradicts Trump Administration Positions. And guess what, its us humans doing the damage. 

-I have been eyeing these overalls for a while. They would make for excellent outdoor wear. 

-Is 'Natural Flavor' Healthier Than 'Artificial Flavor'? Um, not really.

-These are the coolest puzzles I have ever seen. I would totally spend an afternoon attempting one. Jigsaw Puzzles Based on Geological Forms

-The Big Stories Behind Small Seeds: This Man Wants To Save Them All. This guy is doing 

-I guess I should never be an astronaut, I freaking hate elevators. Why Riding An Elevator Is Like Changing Gravity

-Puff, the Magic Mushroom. Not "magic mushrooms"

-This just feels like a big Fuck You. Tiffany & Co.'s Take on 'Everyday Objects' Includes a $1,500 Coffee Can

-Why we pretend to know things, explained by a cognitive scientist. But I really do know everything.. Hahaha, no, not really. 

Pictures from the week

Have a great week. 

Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Seeds

It's the weekend before Halloween which is the perfect time for pumpkin carving. We got our pumpkins last week and I have been so excited but have been waiting to carve.  Carving time to a pumpkin is crustal. To early and the pumpkin starts to rot and the squirrels will probably eat it but wait too long and you don't get to enjoy it long enough. 3-5 days before halloween, that's the perfect time carve a pumpkin. (I am right, right?)

And what do you get when you carve a pumpkin? A free freaking snack my friends. Pumpkin seeds. 

Side story here. About ten years ago I set my mons brand new stove on fire roasting pumpkin seeds. Long story short, I wanted really crunchy seeds and though if I broiled them that they would be just perfect. Well not so much. I stuck them in, walked away for a few minutes and the whole kitchen filled up with smoke. Opened the oven to a big old fire going on. Luckily once the flaming pan of seeds was removed, the fire in the oven was no longer but the stove did not make it through unharmed. The knobs and a little bit of the front of the stove melted a bit (Oops) and worst part, I charred the shit out of the seeds.  So the leason here is do not stick oil covered seeds under the boiler and walk away and not expect them to catch fire.

Anyway. So we carved our pumpkins (well I started carving mine and ended up helping Judah an So carve theirs) and got a shit ton of pumpkin seeds. I pre scooped mine out and baked (not broiled) them up to a nice crunchy snack. These are coved in cinnamon sugar to entice the little who might or might not really like them, but all the adults that where here gobbled them right up. 

The stuff. First you need to get the seeds.  You could buy them, but this is way more fun. 

Seeds full of goo, just stick them in water. The seeds float so you can scoop them out into a strainer.

Once most of the goo is gone, rinse the seeds and place them on a clean dry towel and spread them out. Try to dry them off a bit.

The seeds are going to still be a little damp so dump them on a baking sheet and place them into the oven. Turn oven on to 350 

While the seeds are spending a little time drying off get the other stuff. Coconut oil, cinnamon, sugar,and salt.

Once the oven is preheated, remove the seeds. They should be dry by now. Dump warm seeds into a bowl with coconut oil and mix around until they are fully coated.  Now dump the salt cinnamon sugar mixture in and mix until coated.

Place back onto the bakings sheet and evenly spread them out.

Back into the oven to get crispy.

And a half hour-ish later, the house smells all nice and cinnamony good and you got yourself a sweet spicy little crunchy fun snack.

Look at that fancy. 

Now it's your turn. 

---

Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Seeds

Makes about 2 cups which came fro one big jack-o-lantern pumpkin

• 2-ish cups of pumpkin seeds 
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 2 hearty tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Grab yourself a pumpkin, cup the top open ,and scoop out all the seeds. Save for jack-o-lantern.Place seeds in sink or large bowl and scoop the seeds off the top that float up. You might need to squeeze the guts to loosen the seeds. Place seeds into a strainer and once you got what you can get, give them a quick rinse. Dump the seeds onto a clean dry towel and pat them dry as well as you can. Place the seeds evenly  onto a dry baking sheet and stick them into the oven. Turn oven on to 350 and leave them in there until the oven is preheated.

once oven is preheated, remove seeds and place into a a bowl. Add the coconut oil and mix around until completely melted and the seed save all coated. in a small bowl mix together the cinnamon, sugar, and salt. Dump the mixture onto the oiled seeds and mix until coated. Dump seeds back onto baking sheet and back into the oven. Bake for about 25 minutes, remove and mix around, and back into the oven for another 5-10. Check for crunchiness by either tasting of snapping one or two in half. Once the seeds are crunchy, remove from oven and let cool on baking sheet. 

Dump seeds into a bowl ad snack away. Store left over seeds in an air tight jar.