A Wee Bit Cranky

Since the election in the United States has been beaten to death online, I am not going to share my thoughts, except to say that I truly hope, now that it's over, the citizens of our neighbour to the South can overcome their differences and work together to find reasonable solutions to the problems their nation is facing. (Just one tiny suggestion, though, before I move on - would someone please get Donald Trump the psychiatric care he so desperately needs! Isn't the first sign of a psychopathic serial killer cruelty to animals? He obviously needs help - murdering all those ferrets, dying them orange and gluing them to his head!)

Moving on.

No, wait, I can't move on yet. Please, I implore you, stop the cruelty! As his hairline recedes, he is certain to move on to larger animals! The beaver could be next and, as a Canadian, I will have to stand up and say "Enough! Leave our national symbol alone! Canada is a peaceful nation, but beware of waking the sleeping polar bear."

While I'm on the subject, I must also say I take umbrage at being referred to as the People's Republic of Canada, as Wendell Potter so charmingly put it. Our national medical system may not be perfect, but it's a darned sight better than the financial ruin many sick Americans face.

Hmm, guess I didn't do such a good job of not sharing my thoughts.

Winter has come early to the ranch and it's making me a little cranky.

Photo Finish Friday - Snowed Under

It snowed early in the Bag Lady's world.
Not only was it early, but it meant business. The leaves weren't even all gone off the rose bush by her front steps. Yes, there are steps under all this snow....

 The sky finally cleared, making for some pretty pictures.

The Bag Lady really doesn't like winter all that much, but as she watched the destruction wrought on the east coast by Hurricane Sandy, she was reminded yet again that the area where she lives is pretty darned good. Although it gets cold in the winter, her chances of having to contend with a natural disaster of the magnitude of Sandy are slim. And for that, she is grateful.

Photo Finish Friday is the brain child of Leah at the Goat's Lunch Pail.

Still Preserving!

 The Bag Lady is still busy with summer's bounty! She went to town on the weekend to a "pie-making" party. Friends of hers have a single apple tree in their backyard. It produced 4 bags of apples. Two of those bags made 48 (yes, forty eight!) pies! The Bag Lady brought the remaining two bags of apples home and is in the process of making even more jelly and applesauce (Applesauce Cake... yum!)

Nothing from these apples is going to waste. The Bag Lady gave the peels and cores to a few visitors who were camping out in their trailer in her yard....

The visitors only stopped overnight on their way to (*cough* the abattoir *cough*) their final destination.

Photo Finish Friday - Blue Jay

During the preparations for Thanksgiving dinner, someone noticed this blue jay flying around in the Bag Lady's sun porch. The Bag Lady had inadvertently left the door propped open and the poor bird was trying to fly out through the windows. He stunned himself to the point where the Bag Lady was able to pick him up and hold him until he regained his senses. (His beak remained open like that for quite awhile - think of getting punched in the solar plexus - probably the same thing.)
Isn't he pretty?

Find the Chicken!!

Prairie Chicken!

Excuses

Yes, the Bag Lady has been absent from blogging for a very long time, but she has an excuse. Several excuses. Pick one.

She has been busy with her garden, and canning the produce from said garden, and with the ranch, building fences and helping with the harvesting. A friend brought her a huge box of apples, so she's made pies and jelly.... on top of all that, she recently started a new job.

 Harvesting the oat crop...

 Close-up of the grain coming out of the auger...

The Bag Lady misses her blogging friends, and hopes they understand that, contrary to popular belief, she is not superwoman and with how busy this time of year has been, something had to give, and it happened to be blogging! She'll be back when she can, really.

Beans!

The Bag Lady has been pickling! She has a bumper crop of beans this year, and has been working at preserving the bounty. Mustard beans, dilled beans (both green and yellow) and dilled carrots.... so far. She still has some beans to put up, then more carrots.
The zucchini is growing, too. Mustard pickles using zucchini sound good, don't they?