We had a dry day with more sun than clouds and beautifully cool, so we got outside!

And then, as sunset neared, I could see snow topped mountains through my woods, so Emmett and I took a ride down the road…

The road home.

A lovely evening.

We played outside!!

It was a beautiful Autumn weekend: some sun, some blustery wind, some squalls …

We made the most of the sunny times.

And in between…

I am having so much fun making this blanket! This is early Saturday … the end of the first skein of yarn. I have 7 skeins altogether and I think that will be about right … 6 might be enough and if so, I’ll have enough to make a snood or scarf with the last … we’ll see.

The sun is out, but still … naps are necessary :)

It was a big cooking weekend. I had a lot of tomatoes from my local organic farm: roasted them with broccoli, cauliflower and carrots, then pureed and pressure cooked with some ghee and onion (Marcelle Hazan style). The roasting and the extra vegetables and then the pressure cook = my version of a Marinara sauce for soup and pasta bakes.

I also roasted a whole chicken: shredded the meat and made broth from the bones, etc. Most of the chicken and broth I froze for future meals.

… AND a small batch of beef stew. Some of it went into beef pot pie for Sunday lunch and the rest into the freezer.

I like to freeze meal components like broth, meat, sauce, veg. I freeze single/double servings and it makes it easy to make what I’m hungry for, fast!

Hot apple pie!! I have some wonderful Honeycrisp apples and have been making pie. That is a 5.5 inch pie dish so it makes 4 mini-slices … perfect for house of 1 human. BUT, Emmett LOVES the crust which is a flaky, all butter crust made from Erin Jeanne McDowell . It is not only the ingredients, but her technique. Her videos for Food52: Bake it up a notch are great instruction. I thought I made a good pie crust, but now … I make a GREAT pie crust!

The video link is for Erin’s puff pastry instruction which includes “rough puff”. The rough puff is the extra flaky version of her pie crust recipe. I make the rough puff, divide it into 8 pieces and freeze them wrapped in cling wrap. 1 piece (1/8 recipe) makes a single crust for my 5.5 inch pie plates, 2 for a double crust or 2 for a single crust in a 9 inch pie plate, etc. The rough puff takes me 10-15 minutes to mix and get into the refrigerator. It is ready to use in an hour. I usually use a bit and freeze the rest in the 1/8 pieces. It takes maybe 2 hours for the frozen pieces to thaw enough to use.

I use the same for a topper for pot pies: YUM.

So … it is Monday morning as I write this post and we are getting a slow start. It is dark, raining: everything from drizzle to full on downpour with thunder.

Autumn in Montana.

This post is all over the place!

First … from Friday morning … I went down the road hoping to catch moon set of the just past full moon. I was too late or ??? but…

… the valley was fogged in and it was eerily beautiful with the rising sun from behind me giving the hills to the west some yellow-orange glow.

The return trip was not too bad either with some sunrise glow on dying grasses … a real Autumn feel to the light and scenery. It was worth the trip.

The work day went off the rails late morning. I got a message from Windows that I was out of space on my hard drive. I have a 1 terabyte solid state drive which I should not get anywhere near filling as I keep almost everything in the cloud: photos, videos, work …

But, looking at File Explorer: full drive. I found a few things and over the weekend cleared up 50gb. I thought that would get me through the work week and I would do more research, ask my cohorts for advice … but early Monday, the 50gb disappeared.

I ran a full system scan. I got out my backup laptop and started the process of getting it up to speed. Both machines were displaying frustratingly slow progress.

So, I baked.

The baking went much better than the computer trouble shooting.

I threw in the towel and took both machines to my local system persons. I very much dislike the system stuff, plus I tend to panic as I really don’t know a lot … or I think I don’t know a lot … and then my internet speed for large downloads is abysmal. I prefer to hand off and pay for a true expert, who does it all the time, to JUST.FIX.IT.

Meanwhile.

Back in April, I think … when I got out my sewing machine and fabric and researched making masks … I got a bit caught up in thinking: “Oh, I should have some craft projects, because quarantine and everyone else is and…” Rather silly as I normally mostly stay home pandemic or not, plus my work was solid so I didn’t NEED crafts …

But, I bought some loop yarn as it and the blankets made from it, caught my eye. I’ve had the yarn for awhile … in the closet. Since I was sitting and waiting for my computers, I decided to get out the loop yarn.

With the help of YouTube, I got going on a throw blankie. It is SO MUCH FUN and goes quickly. I am kind of hooked.

And, ok … a couple of weeks ago, I also succumbed to an Instagram ad for a subscription kit to make a crocheted sampler squares afghan.

This actually works out well. The loop yarn is easier to work with on a table top vs sitting (lap). The crochet squares are a sitting down project. So, I have a stand up thing and a sit down thing and I’m feeling very crafty!!

The shop straightened out both laptops for the very fair price of $90 … and I didn’t have to watch progress and be frustrated … all done for me and all is now well and mostly, the issue was my own stupidity :(

No regrets: I have bread and rolls and craft projects – YEA!!

Also, the weather has been just gorgeous: mid-70’s and blue sky so there was also a lot of outside time:

This was Sunday afternoon … nap time. I woke up to see Emmett using Auggie for a pillow and both of them sound asleep.

Here, there and everywhere … and yes, I AM ignoring the news.

Right?

Good golly, I am mortified by the chaos of the U.S. political system.

I am also mortified by the behavior and attitude of so many of the U.S. citizenry regarding protocol for the COVID-19 pandemic. Honestly … READ the science, crunch the numbers for yourself. The scientific and anecdotal evidence says: MASK UP and keep your distance.

I have zero tolerance for not making an educated decision.

******

Okey-dokey. I wrote the above paragraphs on 10/1 prior to learning of Trump’s (President and Melania’s) diagnoses.

I started the post as during the week several things: a decision based on my own principals to NOT allow a person to cut my hair … this person having told me on 2 occasions that she did not mask unless required (grocery) and otherwise (small gatherings) did not. She has children in school. I REALLY wanted my hair cut by her as she is probably the person that has given me the best cuts ever and I’ve been cutting my own since March and GOOD GRIEF!!!, I really wanted a good cut.

BUT.

Even though we agreed to an outdoor cut at my home and both of us masked … I just felt … yucky … about it. I was accepting conduct that I found irresponsible just to get a good hair cut. What does that say about me and my personal convictions ?

Ultimately, I cancelled. In my cancellation email, I acknowledged every person’s right to make their own decisions, but that I felt hypocritical accepting the service. I stated that I did not mask out of fear, but out of respect for others … in case I might be asymptomatic. I also acknowledged that I was not altogether altruistic as I DO hope/plan to stay healthy via taking care of myself in many ways, including mask and distance.

I know that the message was not received as an offer was made to retrieve from town anything I might need … YIKES! I will go to town when needed, masked and distancing to protect others and myself. I would NOT trust this person with goods for me, even though I understand that the offer was made thinking it was for my benefit.

Paradox.

And now, a person(s): Donald and Melania Trump … neither of whom I respect … ill with COVID.

Another test of my principals, ethics and morality.

I confess that I struggled. But, ultimately, I do NOT want to behave as Trump and his family and his supporters have behaved. I want to be kind, respectful, thoughtful of others.

I want to take the high road. There is minimal traffic there.

It is hard to avoid platitudes … I devolve to generalities: I hope and pray that ALL who are fighting COVID-19, recover swiftly.

That is the best that I can do.

Now, this handbasket … can I get out or not ????

Emmett LOVES to play in the sprinkler.

And after some very cool weather, we transitioned back to warm days, while thankfully keeping very cool (GREAT sleeping) nights.

So, while the air is warm and clear:

Joy.