Fall is on the way...Yippeeeeeee..... I love the smells and wonderous sights as the summer slowly,gracefully bows way to the harvest season. The woodlands change outfits from the deep,fertile greens to the richer hues and tones of fall as we gather and store against the coming winter. Grain heads bow to the sickle to later fill the dough bowls with rising yeasty goodness. The last of the herbs are hung some to heal and some to season with savory bite the winters stews. The wood-pile needs fattening with the downed trees in the woodlot.  The animals will be soon be gathered up to the barns to shelter warm in gossiping ,goaty groups.All this and more follow a rhythm we have danced since the dawn of time, and with joy ,I do.

later.....

I must say I love the busy summertime.. The garden is overflowing and storing veggies is a daily job. Right now it is lots and lots of green beans and squash. Soon it will be tomatoes to be stewed and canned and sauced and turned into ketchup and paste and all the other yummy tomato-ey things.

It has been a wonderful growing season this year..The Goddess is being so very kind to us dirt digging types.

The only down side to this great rainy season is the fleas ! Wee beasties from Hell !!!! I will be bombing the house tomorrow and bathing dipping and doing the flea -killer war dance.

Remember,  Life is what we make it ,honor the God and Goddess in everything we do and they will smile on our life.

I just spent the most magical weekend with the most wonderful people. I attended my second Wytchehaven weekend. It is right here in Arkansas ,better yet right in my neighborhood !

The people I have met there are the most wonderfully loving and honestly open. They have opened my eyes to the wonders of community. Hugs that touch your heart ,laughs from deep in very happy souls. All of this shared freely.

I can't wait for the next weekend.....

Remember : A hug in time saves a hell of a lot of therapy, so go hug someone today!

later......

I have a friend who get barrels of produce waste from the local grocery ,for her critters. As these barrels started rolling in we started going through them and I am appalled at the utter waste. I just finished putting up 2 gallons of stewed tomatoes all lovely Roma tomatoes ,red ,yellow and green peppers and crisp celery. Some of the veg has a few bruises and needs to be trimmed but it is FINE......I made a gallon of fresh lemonade out of slightly bruised lemons...who juice just fine.

People in our community and in the rest of the world ,go to bed hungry. But because some folks who shop in stores will only pick the best the rest is thrown away. The folks who run the store where this "waste" comes from would not give the "garbage" to anyone if they knew people would eat the still fresh stuff. They would rather see it go to a landfill rather then feed people ,at no profit to them. It doesn't even go to compost to rebuild the soil ,it just rots.

I am saddened by the "perfect" vegetable myth ,some folks don't even know how to trim the fresh produce ,folks seem to want things to be just like in a magazine picture.....

O.K. enough ranting......I know many more then not care about the waste problem in this country ,and it gives me hope to see articles about the freegans who also utilise a river of food dumped because it is not "perfect"

Remember....Sometime your karma account counts for more then your bank account.....

Later....

Wow ,did it ever rain and rain and then just in case there was a dry bit left on the farm ,it rained some more.The goat barn flooded and I had to play noah's rescue and drag the wailing ninny's to a dry building ,two by two. Then to top it all off we have no running water as the well stuff is under 4 foot of water. The plus side to this no water thing is teaching the kids how much water we use/waste in a day. If you have to haul water to wash and rinse dishes and flush potties and all those other things you really SEE how much you use.

Spinach is poking it's wee green leaves above the ground today...Yippee!!!! Still need to get the lettuce in as I did not before the heavens opened. Got my onion sets can't wait to get them growing.

Prepare for tomorrow ,before it sneaks up and rains on ya'.

Later.....