My favorite time of year!!

Cool nights, crisp mornings and apples. The pumpkins are ready to be harvested, and the cornstalks are being tied into bundles. We visited the apple orchard today, and bought our first apples of the season. The mums have been place by the front & back doors. Mr. Ghost and Mr. Pumpkin are lit up in the flower bed. The pumpkin candles have been burning each evening, filling our home with the scent of autumn. Extra blankets on the bed, freshly washed blankets on the corners of the couch.

This is my favorite time of the year.

My baby is six.

When did that happen? Last Thursday was my bubby's birthday, and this weekend we celebrated in our traditional fashion. We had a big campout at my inlaws house with all of our friends and family. All of our campers parked in our usual spots, bonfire roaring, kids laughing, glow sticks glowing, beer flowing. We boated and swam, sang and ate. We told ghost stories, which incidentally back-fired on all of us because all the kids were too scared to sleep out in their tent. We had SO much food. It was all awesome!! Old friends and new friends alike hung out and enjoyed the last hurrah of summer with us. As I sit here with my ginger pumpkin candles burning, I can't believe summer is over. Back to work, back to school, no more long weekends for awhile.

It was a good day.

Today we decided to make salsa, and can it. Believe it or not, we've never, ever canned before. It all seemed so overwhelming to us, so we just didn't do it. This year we vowed to go for it, and we did. Usually anytime a project is involved, Bill & I end up bickering, then arguing, then only one of us is doing a project. Sigh.

It is very time consuming, and there's a lot of prep in canning. We had a large pan for the jars, a small pan for the lids, jars heating in a roasting pan, and a large stockpot of salsa simmering on the stove. If you've never been to my house, I have a very, very small kitchen. Very little counter space, just not ideal for canning. But Bill's grandma lived here many years ago and canned every summer. So I figured we could too!

It was a good day.

We made 3 batches of salsa, and one batch of peppers. The first is just a regular salsa. The second was a black bean & corn salsa. The third, hot salsa. The peppers were a mixture of jalepenos, sweet, and banana peppers. When the peppers were cooking we could barely see because of the vinegar and pepper mixture! ouch.

It was a good day.

All of our jars are sitting on the counter, looking beautiful with lots of colors. I wonder how long they will last? We decided we will can each Sunday morning, until everything is gone. Our tomato plants are dying off, I'm assuming due to a fungus. The peppers are still thriving! And I cannot wait for pumpkins.

After all was done and we were cleaning up from our day, Bill dropped the glass lid to our stockpot. Holy moly, did that make a mess. So much for being "tempered" glass. It. was. everywhere. Yet, we still didn't bicker. I cleaned the floor while Bill tackled the sink. It took quite awhile, a few cuts, and maybe a beer, and all was done. So now Bill is relaxing in a jacuzzi bath, and I'm relaxing at my computer. There are clean sheets on our bed, and I'm looking forward to an early bedtime.

It was a good day.

Cell phone? What cell phone?

Sigh. My husband has had a cell phone for probably 8 years now. He has the worst luck with them. Always misplacing them, washing them in his pocket, accidentally dropping into a toilet, etc. Alltel must love him. We finally got insurance for him, after the time I had to pay over $100 for the cheapest, crappiest phone they offer. Sadly that one only lasted a short time as well. Last winter while plowing snow, he lost another phone, only to find it months later after the snow melted. So off we went to Alltel and purchased another new one, luckily at the discount price. Last night Bill comes home from job #1 at the road department and gets cleaned up for job #2 at the fire department. He can't find his cell phone. Drives over to work and looks in the trucks, looks around on the ground, nothing. Today he found it!! Well, part of it. You see, he was feeding limbs into a chipper/shredder, and apparently the phone got ripped off of his waistband and fed into the shredder. It did not survive. Thankfully that phone from the snowbank still worked, and is now safely on the charger again. I'd swear I was making this up if I were you.

My first blog post ever!

I'm new at this blogging thing, so I thought I would give it a try. My name is Wendi. I got my blog name from a friend of mine that thought it was funny to have a pitchfork sticking out in my yard. Sad thing is, to me, it's normal.

This past weekend I went to Buffalo, NY for the 1st Annual Run for Row. My friend Andrea http://andreareneeremembers.blogspot.com/2009/08/next-couple-of-weeks.html lost her husband Matt tragically last November in a work accident. So many people came out to support Andrea, her children, and Matt's family. It was an amazing experience-going with 20 of my friends, some I'd never met in person before. Many of the girls were new to running, some of us planned to walk and even jogged (me!) and many cheered us on. I'm looking forward to next year already.

School started Tuesday for my oldest son, Wesley. He is in 6th grade. He wasn't very excited, but seems to be happy to be in a class with lots of his friends. My youngest son Jackson starts Kindergarten on Friday. I cannot believe it's here!! My baby, going on a school bus to school. Sigh. Where did the years go? This is the only year that my children will be in the same school.

I've been cleaning up around the house lately. Minimizing, you could say. I'm really determining what "things" are important to me, and what things are just taking up space in my home & in my life. I packed up the desktop computer and the behemoth computer desk is out in the yard for sale. Next up is the old stereo system and the entertainment center. I'm anxious for less clutter in my life.

Last Friday night I went out with my girlies to see Hair Razor. http://www.hairrazor.us/ They are an 80's coverband that plays songs from the hair band era. Two of the guys in the band went to high school with me, and have been playing together for years. They put on an excellent show, it really takes you back!!

This summer we planted a lot of corn and pumpkins with hopes of selling some. Well has it taken off!! We are selling corn so fast we cannot keep up. The boys are great at picking it. Wesley drives the tractor to the field pulling a little wagon with Jackson in it. They load up & bring it back to the table to sell. I am excited to pick pumpkins and sell them, but that would mean the summer is over.

Until next time!!