I Took a Much Needed Break

 

   The picture above is from last year, but it is the same thing that is going on in my home for the past few weeks, with  yet more to come.  Apples, apples, everywhere.  What I am not making into applesauce from our tree, I have been getting from the local apple orchard for eating fresh.  We took Bradley and Isaiah up last weekend to pick apples for us and for their family since they had spent the Friday night with us.  I've also bee trying to keep up with the glut of fresh blackberries, squash and tomatoes that are coming out of the garden at the moment.  I must admit that I am failing miserably at it though.  So much produce, so little energy to deal with it all.

   Today I did make it out into the garden, despite being exhausted and sore from picking a gallon of blackberries yesterday, to harvest herbs to make my homemade herb salt.  I love this stuff and I use it as gifts too!  I also picked more apples off our tree, the ones that I could reach (I do not do ladders), to make yet another batch of applesauce tomorrow while Jeff is at work.  The herb salt is now going in the dehydrator and I have meatballs in mushroom sauce going in the crockpot for dinner.  I will just boil up some noodles and quickly stir fry some fresh green beans to go with them for dinner.  The kitchen is a disaster so Jeff will clean that tonight so I can bake bread tomorrow also.

   I'm currently sitting out on the back porch and there is the combination of smoke from the wildfires and the damp from the incoming rain (praise God for rain!).  The sky is getting darker and darker and the outside temperature is quickly dropping.  I am LOVING this.  Hopefully the rain will knock the smoke from the sky and put out any fire starts along with any ongoing fires.

   Today is the funeral of the former fire chief in Colfax, WA who our Chris got his fire training under.  Chief Krouse was an amazing man who helped so many young men and women get their starts as firefighters and EMTs.  After he retired, he continued to volunteer as a firefighter until his death of a heart attack while pulling line on a fire.  It was his 4th call that day.  His fellow firefighters and EMTs tried to save him, but they sadly could not.  He did go out the way he wanted though...fighting fires and helping in his community.  Our Chris is at the funeral, sitting with some of the men and women from his original crew that he worked with at the start.  Chris is now the interim fire chief for his local community and is taking this hard.  There is an outpouring of love and respect from all over the state and from other states as well.  Our governor even ordered that flags across the state be flown at half mast for Chief Krouse for his life long service.  Many firefighters and EMTs across our state and others got their starts under this remarkable and caring man.  Our family and community owe this man so much!

   The covid-19 numbers in our area continue to climb and Northern Idaho is in crisis care mode now.  The national guard, Pentagon and other agencies, along with a call for volunteers, have been called in to help.  Conference rooms have been turned into covid units at one of the hospitals about an hour north of us and even that is filling up quickly.  New federal and state mandates and restrictions are now in place in Washington state also and we are seeing events being cancelled right and left.  The day before the newest mandates were announced, I did a HUGE stock up shopping trip.  And yes, I wore my mask the entire time!  It's not just covid causing issues and shortages, but supply issues as well, so I wanted to get the things I needed while they were still there and before more panic buying occurs.  Luckily I have been stocking up all along, but they were still some holes in my pantry and HBA cabinets that needed to be filled.  The last thing on my list is to go and get bloodwork done so I can get refills on al my meds and hopefully they will do a 3 month supply for me on one of them and then just send the the one they can only refill monthly through the mail once more.  My prescriptions are totally covered under my health insurance so I don't need to worry about paying for them out of pocket.

   My task this upcoming week is to organize the pantry once more and continue to harvest and process the fruit and veggies from our garden.  Hopefully I can also get in to get that bloodwork done ASAP also.  The weather is cooling way down to more Fall-like temperatures, so that is a huge blessing when I am trying to get things done.  Regulating my body temperature is a HUGE problem for me with Fibro and the cooler temps do help with that.  Jeff will also be picking up some items that I did not find or forgot to add to my cart when I was out earlier in the week, so that will also help.

   I'm going to head inside and check on dinner in the crockpot and on the herb salt that is going in the dehydrator.  I think I will also lay down for a bit as I am really sore at the moment.  Be blessed, stay safe and stay healthy!