Thanksgiving.

I spent the Thanksgiving holiday in Texas with my family. It was a nice visit filled with queso, rellenos, margaritas and breakfast tacos. I also got a couple runs in there too (thank God!). I'm back now and feel the need to make a to do list that I'm going to stick to. I've just been getting things done willy-nilly the last couple months and I need to get some structure back in my self-sufficiency dreams.

I made a large outline calendar of skills and accomplishments I hope to achieve that spans five years and includes things like "Learn to use sewing machine", "Make a soft cheese" and "90% vegetable growth" by 2013. This one might be a little out of reach, but I'm setting my sights high!

Anyway, I only have a few things left on my list for 2010 that I haven't done yet. They are:

• Learn how to use sewing machine
• Sew something
• Research organic pest control

I can definitely track down a copy of my sewing machine model's manual and I can definitely research organic pest control. Actually sewing something within the next month might be a little much, but maybe I can try to make a throw pillow or something. Gotta keep on track!

Winter is upon us.

I woke up this morning to a frosty landscape. Kale covered in ice crystals.

Frosty leaves covering the winter garden.

Our dirt.

We made dirt. This used to be bits of onion and stems of broccoli and eggshells and squash innards. Now, it's black gold! Thanks, worms.

First Fire.

We got the fireplace all fixed up just in time. Chance of snow tonight and lows in the 20's this week. Brr.

First Frost.

It's getting cold! There is a call for snow in the valley on Monday! Yikes! And my garden is sitting out there exposed. I don't have any sort of cold frame or cloche; I am woefully unprepared. I'm not too concerned about it though. Frankly, the winter garden is pretty sad anyway and I'm seeing this as a good not-so-scientific experiment to see just how long I can grow things here without protection. I think the kale and cabbage should be OK and they are the two crops that are actually growing well and I would be concerned about losing. In fact, kale is supposed to sweeten after going through a frost.

I'm hoping in the next couple weeks to make a real plan for next year's garden expansion and maybe even get myself a some cover built by next spring for early crops.

The Bathroom: Epilogue I

It started pouring in Portland at some point during the day. I work in a room with no windows, so I wasn't privy to the whole thing, but I do know that it was raining when I went to lunch and it was raining the whole way home. For some reason Portland traffic gets exponentially worse in the rain, which doesn't make a whole lot of sense since it is raining all the time. It took an hour today to make it from the office to the vanpool drop-off. Then I had my bike ride home ahead of me.

I invested in a new cycling rain jacket this summer and this was the first time to wear it in a heavy rainshower. I'm glad to say when I got home and took off my rain gear there wasn't a drop of water on me! I'm also glad to say when I got home that the vanity was installed in the bathroom!! Mike had told me earlier in the day that he wasn't going to have time to get it installed like he had planned, so I certainly wasn't expecting it. It was a great little surprise.

Now, just to get the baseboard trim and maybe paint our wall cabinet to match (but I'll take my time on that one).

Workday dinners.

One of the hardest things I have had to adjust to with working again is trying to still cook from scratch. I simply don't have much time and I have certainly not had the motivation to prep in the mornings. I have a hard time waking up before the sun does. On a good day I get home by 7pm. Today is one of the good days. I also managed to actually find a quick recipe and it utilizes ingredients that I need to use and have on hand already. It's the merging of all three elements. Fresh Tomato Lentil Soup with homemade whole wheat toast:

After so many nights of getting home in a frenzy and rushing to get dinner on the table by 9pm or getting stuck in traffic and not even getting home until after 8 with no chance of a homemade dinner it's a welcome relief to be able to put fresh garden produce (tomatoes, onions and herbs) on the table in a half an hour and still have time to play with the dog in the backyard.