SQUASH, SQUASH AND MORE SQUASH...

     We've got  more squash in our house right now than you can shake a stick at.  I'm not sure what the number of squash is that you can longer shake the proverbial stick at, but we've got a pile of them.  It is certainly a pile to people not accustomed to eating much squash.....yet.  We have Butternut Squash, Acorn Squash, Spaghetti Squash, pie pumpkins, and something called a Carnival Squash.  So, we are trying to learn about squash.  Becky baked a pumpkin pie out of the puree of a pie pumpkin that we got from our CSA.  She googled the "how to" of the procedure and we went to town.  It turned out really well and I believe that everyone who came over to the house on Sunday enjoyed it.  It was really quite easy to do too.  Tonight for dinner we had Spaghetti Squash with some of our homemade tomato sauce that we canned.  Delicious!!!! The kids, except for Brodey, protested and had leftover tacos instead.  Becky saved the seeds from the squash for me and I'm laying them out to dry so that we can plant them next year.  I'm excited.  I had seconds.....and thirds.  As I write this I am literally standing at the island in the kitchen because I'm baking another pumpkin pie.  We still had some pumpkin that was pureed and needs using.  I'm freezing what I don't use tonight in this pie. 

     I have been sprinkling some scratch grains and and pumpkin guts in the garden and the chickens have been tilling it up quite nicely.  I'll be planting garlic on Saturday and the chickens will have prepared the soil for me ahead of time.  I shouldn't need to do much at all before planting the cloves of garlic.  It makes so much sense to let the animals do most of the work for you.  They work for you and love doing it.  It's great.

     Above is a picture of one of our favorite fishing spots at the Norwalk Reservoir at sunset.  Beautiful!! We didn't get in nearly as much fishing this summer as we did the summer before.  I think I'm going to have to get up and go for a couple hours as a last hoorah!!!  Maybe this weekend.  Although fishing for bluegill and catfish will be out until next spring, the cold weather brings with it the Steelhead making their annual spawning run into the rivers.  Bring it!!! I'm ready.