Autumn Harvest

I have been sticking fairly close to home this past week that I have had off of work.  It is hard to believe a vacation can fly by so quickly.  Yesterday I harvested some of the garden huckleberries.  I have way too many!  I only had two plants, but they are just full of fruit.  They both grew about 4 feet high and probably 6 feet in diameter.  I picked a large colander full and the plants both look like I never even touched them.  I've been researching how to process them and will write more on that when I do it.  They can also be washed and frozen, much like blueberries.  
While out in the garden I picked a few other things.  My first eggplant of the year, broccoli, hot and sweet peppers, and tomatoes.  Oh, and a couple summer squash.  I also harvested some seeds (from my beans, peppers and cilantro, aka coriander).  
With the pumpkin patch out behind the house this year, there has been a little traffic for the u-picks for the last week or so.  Thus the quaint signs pointing the way. 

Detour around the pigs on your way to some of the pumpkins.  They are getting quite large nowadays.  Like Mom said, if they knew what was good for them, they'd go on a diet.  Last year's batch survived to Oct. 30th.  I'm guessing this year's pigs will see a similar fate.
No news on the house yet.  The mortgage gal wrote today saying she is just waiting for the appraisal to come back to her.  I'm still packing and sorting things.  

I was tempted to make a trip to Grand Rapids today, but opted to stay home.  I've got stuff I should be doing around here.  Should is the key word -- guess I should get off the computer and stop procrastinating. 

The weekend

This past weekend, Mom and my brother came over for a visit.  We had a nice time.  Mom and I spent time shopping together and having coffee.  We walked around the garden and the farmer's market and took a nice cruise in her convertible.
It is beginning to look like Autumn -- just in time for the Equinox.  Most of the trees are still green, but the weeds are turning yellows and oranges.  The pumpkin plants are dying back, revealing some big beautiful gourds this year.  The weather has been cooperating.  We even made a small bonfire and all sat around it -- listening for coyote and watching the barn cats' antics.
I also wanted to give an update on the house situation.  We are still working on it at this time.  We have had a few frustrating moments with making sure all the paperwork is in order.  I think we have everything we need now.  We are just still waiting for the appraisal and closing.  I am getting anxious and have started packing some of the things that we don't use often.

I have this week off of work and plan on enjoying myself the best I can while getting more things packed and also going to the dentist and taking Sassy in for a rabies update.  I will try to blog more this week.

Harvest time

I took a few photos at the farmer's market yesterday.  There is a huge variety of produce right now.  I didn't really buy much - we have more veggies than we can use around here right now.  I go more for the atmosphere.  

After I got home I worked in my chunk of the garden.  I had a terrible mess with my tomatoes and yanked some of them out (next year I will invest in some real cages to keep things upright).  These baskets are from Uncle Dave and Aunt Mary's part of the garden.  Mine are much greener - this summer has had poor weather for growing tomatoes.
After Charlie got home from work we headed to Grayling, MI for a get together at his Great Aunt and Uncle's house.  We got there after everyone had eaten dinner.  Most of the guys were playing horseshoes while the gals and kids listened and sang along to folk songs on the banjo/guitar.  It feels like Autumn, even though we have a tiny bit of Summer left.

Found Apples

Charlie and I went foraging for apples and pears yesterday.  We braved a drainage ditch for the apples and I had to avoid bees to get to the pears.  It was worth it though.  I made an apple crisp with the apples and brought it with us to the Labor Day cookout at my in-laws.  Yum.  And the best part is that they were free!

The Grand Tour

We had the inspection on "our" house this morning - things went about as well as we could have asked for.  The inspector gave it a clean bill of health and pointed out some small things that we do.

I've attached a bunch of photos so you can see more of the house (especially you Mom).  Let's start in the basement...

nice work bench...
master bedroom - has two separate closets...

attached to master bedroom is a large bathroom - has shower and tub/shower...

another view...

The next largest bedroom, would be my craft room/office...

The guest bedroom.  I like the retro wallpaper and I'm torn about redecorating it.  The carpet has to go (the rest of the house has brand new flooring, this is the only room that needs carpet).
Mom, so you can figure out the layout of the living room/kitchen/pantry and dining room.  This is looking at the whole thing from the hallway to the bedrooms.  Behind me are the bedrooms and bathroom and a door to the basement.  I'm shooting from an open doorway between the living room and the dining room.  Directly to the left would be the front door.  Beyond the woman in this photo is the laundry/garage/half bath.
Here is another view.  You can see where I was standing during the last photo - the open doorway on the far left of this photo.
Here I was standing in the extra length of space in the living room.  This is where I would put some bar stools and a reading area since we wouldn't need to use it as a dining area (Mom, I'm thinking the roll-top desk would go nicely here along the wall to my back).
A view of the storage space in the pole barn.  I hope she leaves the lockers behind -- they are kind of fun, don't you think?
This is a photo of our inspector checking out the septic system.  It is torn up because the seller was having work done on it.  Good timing.  There are two septic tanks here - kind of unusual, but still look good.
This is a view of the front yard from the corner of the house.
This is another view of the front yard, just a different angle.

I hiked out back to scope out the acreage.  It has a lovely woods out back - something I would have loved as a kid.  I still see myself spending time out there, taking photos and foraging.

So, at this point we have a signed purchase agreement and a good inspection.  All we need now is for the bank to appraise it and approve our loan.  She'll get 30 days to move after we close so we are hoping to close as soon as possible.  Everyone - pray, send positive vibes, knock on wood - whatever you do that will help.  We love this place and can't wait to get settled in!

pickles and things

I finally took the plunge and bought the water canning equipment I needed to try my hand at canning.  I started with dill pickles - they seemed like one of the easiest things to do.  And they were!  I'm hoping they turn out tasty -- the recipe said to wait a couple of weeks before trying them.

I want to try bread and butter pickles, tomatoes, and tomato sauce, and perhaps some gifts to give away at Christmas time.  Next year I should be able to make cooked jam instead of freezer jam and free up some room in my freezer for other stuff (Charlie said he might take up hunting again if we get deer on our new -hopefully- property).

Here are a couple of photos from an art fair that took place in Frankenmuth a couple weeks ago.  I surprised myself and found the artist below to be my favorite.  Something must be wrong with me to like these fish so much -- my tastes are changing.  They are pretty cool though - don't you think?
This guy was making fire pokers out of iron.  I just like the photo.
And here is a photo from the garden.  I have harvested all of the onions and am putting them by.  I've heard that they can be put into panty hose for storage.  Just put one in, tie a knot, add another one, another knot, etc.  I'm gonna have to try it to see if it really works.
We are busy trying to buy the home that I wrote about on my last blog.  After our offer, their counter offer, our counter to their counter, and finally their counter on that counter offer - we seem to agree on a price for the home.  An additional acre is being added to the deal - so we will have 2.91 acres (that back acre is wooded).  We have to get an inspection now.  Well, actually, the seller has to sign our offer, then we sign and have 10 days for the inspection.  We are hoping everything goes smoothly from here (with the bank, etc).  It will still be a while before we can move in, but if things go smoothly, we are looking at the end of October or November (hopefully before snow flies).

I have to get going today.  We have to do laundry (oh, it will be SO nice to not have to go to the laundromat any more) and go to my sister-in-laws 40th Birthday celebration at their favorite pizza joint.  I am also trying to get together with a friend to see a movie tonight at the old movie theatre in Vassar, MI.

Update on "our house"

So that house we loved -- we withdrew our offer on it today.  We are disappointed about the whole situation to be quite honest.  I feel that if something is meant to be, all the pieces will fall into place perfectly (or with relative ease - at least).  Things just weren't working out.  We were having issues getting the seller to disclose information about the septic drain field.  This past Saturday, we got together with our realtor to discuss things and look at 3 more homes.  One stuck out to us - we like it so much that we put an offer on it.  

Let's take a tour... first is the living room.  Gorgeous bay window, like-new carpet...

leads into the kitchen.  The pantry shown here is my favorite part of the home...
There are some very "retro" looking things about the home.  It was built in 1977 and has the original stove and fridge (also, one of the bedrooms has the original carpet/wall paper - but is still in good shape).  Actual, the whole home is in amazing condition and is immaculately clean.

The basement is dry and unfinished.  It has a lot of potential.
The home is a ranch, newer roof, attached garage.  The soil is sandy and only has pine trees and birch trees.  I was planning to have raised garden beds anyway...
This is a three car garage which would give us an incredible amount of storage space...
And here is a view of the backyard (the front yard is very similar - it slopes down toward the road).  The lot is 2 acres and is surrounded by woods.  The little building could be used as a chicken coop, but it needs some help as it is (has a large hole in the roof).  
We are excited about it.  Mainly, we'd like to finish the search for the perfect home.  Just like the other house we put an offer on, there are things that need to be done here -- but nothing needs to be done before we move in.  This home just needs updating when it comes to decor.  The other home needed carpet torn out, basement dried out and sealed, over haul of the barn, window replacements, etc.  

We feel really good about this one.  Hopefully everything works out -- and I'm sure it will if this is meant to be.