Shortly I will be heading outside to the garden to cover up the remaining vegetables. Their time is short, but the Brussels sprouts, kohl rabi, and broccoli are still a bit short of maturing. My husband brought in what was probably the last of this year’s peas this morning and then shucked them so they would be part of dinner tonight. The temperatures are dropping and it is expected to get down to 34 degrees tonight. Our little microclimate is a few degrees cooler than most, so it will most likely freeze. We cover the garden with a large sheet of opaque plastic wrap. That should protect the plants until we get a really hard freeze. The daytime temperatures are still in the 50’s so the plants will continue to grow.

Tonight’s dinner was so good and tasty. We had salmon steaks, steamed carrots, zucchini, fresh peas, and fresh, sliced tomatoes. On top of that we enjoyed a glass of raw milk. Everything was organic, tender, and delicious. I know that milk is an avoid for us O’s, but I needed to buy at least a gallon of milk to get the organic and non-homogenized, non-pasteurized, chemical free cream I needed to make butter. So, we are enjoying the milk that was left over. It tastes wonderful and it has been very much a rarity for several years.

Yesterday I made butter from the milk’s cream and when I was finished, I added some herbs, and garlic and onion powders. It will taste wonderful on the vegetables this week. I did put some on my carrots. Heavenly!!!

The trees have really turned colors this week. As our area is filled with aspens and cottonwoods, the trees turn a lovely shade of yellow. We also have some birch, but they also turn yellow. When the sunlight hits the trees they shine like gold! It is so pretty. But, almost every year, about two weeks after the trees turn to gold, a big wind and/or rain comes and the leaves are scattered on the ground. I’m never in a hurry for that to happen. Winter will be here within a month, possibly the first week of October.

The ravens and crows have returned. That is another sure sign of winter. We counted 16 crows at an intersection a few days ago. Crows are becoming a common sight now. For the first 15 or so years that we lived here, we never saw a crow. Ravens, yes, but no crows. Ravens are delightful and I’ve enjoyed watching them ‘dance’ in the air during windy and very cold days. They were delighting in it. I, however, was bundled up trying to stay warm.

I haven’t done this for a while, but we had a total daylight today of 12 hours 44 minutes and 36 seconds which is a loss of 5 minutes 31 seconds since yesterday. Sunrise was at 7:36 a.m. and sunset is shortly at 8:21. The state’s extremes were 64 degrees at Annette and Klawock for the high and a low of 27 degrees at Gustavus.

Well, this is all for tonight. I’m really tired and am going to relax for a while on my new massage chair before bed. Take care. Till next time……