A Good Fall Day....at The Farm

I finally got a chance to get to a local farmstand last week to pick up some produce before the Winter sets in here.
It was a nice sunny, albeit chilly, day.
I hit a roadblock, literally, before I got there.  Seems PENNDOT also thought it was a nice day and chose the intersection of the road the farm is located on, where I needed to turn onto it as a great place to repair and replace the asphalt road...ugh!
So I had to find a new, scenic route to get to the farm.

But with only a short detour I did hook up with the road I needed to be on.
Usually by the end of October our trees are well past the fall peak color time and naked due to the winds.  But there have been little wind or rain this Fall, so there was some pretty foliage, like this tree I saw on the way....

It was much more striking in person I think.

Our destination is up ahead....

They have a big enclosed Pumpkin Pen here in back of the farmstand, where you can choose your squash.  That part is geared toward the little kids and it's decorated and there are things for the wee ones to do.  In order to draw the customers in, you have to cater to the kiddies....

Oh look!  One of those rare "squash-epillars"!

I hear they are hard to find in captivity....

Here's a "Self-Service" Pumpkin grader.  Find the hole your gourd fits through and pay that price.
I was in search of pumpkins for pie making so I got a wagon and help picking out my selections in a different section of the pen.  Can't you just imagine me pulling a red wagon loaded up with orange gourds?lol  I needed a nap when I got home...ugh

Instead of guessing the weight on this bad boy, they should have had a "Guess How Many Pies He Will Make?" contest. lol

After procuring my batch of pumpkins, a bushel of onions, a big batch of apples and red peppers, it was time to go pet the baby animals....

This guy let me snap his photo but wasn't interested once he found out I didn't have a snack for him.

Another standoffish customer.....what's this world coming to when the petting zoo animals are worldly and jaded?

This calf was very friendly though....and so soft since his long shaggy winter coat was coming in.
His horns were sprouting too so I don't think he'll be in the petting zoo again next year.lol
They also had a brooder of baby chicks.  Oh, to be able to bring a few of those home to raise my own eggs.  Someday......

And here's the brains of the operation....the one who keeps everyone in line and keeps things running smoothly--the farm dog.
This old boy followed me everywhere and then sat keeping guard on my car until I was ready to leave.

Business started to pick up for the afternoon as I left.  I was glad to see more support for this local farm!
I opted to take an alternate route home since the PENNDOT guys would still be stretching out the 2 hour asphalt job for the rest of the day.

Just some scenery I passed along the way home.

Not much color now but it sure beats staring at the 4 walls in the house, right?

There's nothing like a leisurely drive down a country road on a sunny day to clear your head.  Especially when you know by next month, the weather will be keeping you homebound for the forseeable future.
And the bonus is that you can bring home a bunch of fresh local produce that's a more frugal deal than buying the stuff the grocery stores truck in from much further away!

Now who's coming here to help me make pumpkin puree?

Sluggy

Garden Harvest....Picking Before the Hard Frost

I had Hubs go pick what was still left in the garden, except for the Collards on Sunday morning.  We experienced the first frost of the season this past week so all the plants(besides the collards and eggplant)are dead.
Here is our next to last harvest for the year.....

That's a mess of jalapenos, some green bell and Italian roasting peppers.
The vine holding our last lone butternut squash had a surprise baby squash on it.  The baby is only about 4 inches tall so we'll see if we actually get anything edible from it once it's peeled and all.lol

I had picked about 14 tomatoes, the last for the year, in between this harvest and the one mid-October.  I used some when I made a batch of fresh pasta sauce, but things got away from me here and I ended up letting some of them go bad, so back into the garden bed they went with the rest of the compost.  I'm not counting those in the garden totals, nor the ones that went into the sauce since I didn't think to weigh them first.

Update on the Eggplants....
The plants are still alive and kicking.  Since the temperatures have dropped significantly here in the last few days, I'm not sure how much more time I've bought those eggplants to grow but anything helps, right?

I'll be picking them in the coming week I think, along with the collard greens.
*Update*
I just went out to check on the eggplants and the temps. last night did the plants in so I had to pick them.  More on them in a day or so....

This Harvest----
56.4 oz.
TOTAL....3 lbs.  8.4 oz.

Garden Harvest Weight Total to date....91 lbs.  3.02 oz.

Sluggy

You Are on My List Rite-Aid....

And that is not the GOOD list!
I just got off the phone with Rite-Aid Customer Service and I am one annoyed customer.
The "Diabetes Buy $30, Get a $5 +Up Reward" Deal advertised in this and last week's Sales flyer, as well as the Nov. SCR Directory is the issue.
Seems when you purchase qualifying items for this +Ups they don't "track", meaning you can't buy some things this time and more things next time and the computer keeps track and spits out the +Ups when you hit $30 anytime during the 3 month qualifying period.
Na na na!
You have to purchase all $30 worth of qualifying items in ONE TRANSACTION!
Now, I don't MIND having to buy it all in one fell swoop BUT.....
it would be NICE if Rite-Aid would make this RULE CLEAR, wouldn't it?

This +Up Reward Deal is promoted in the November Single Check Rebate Directory.....page 10, go check it out!
First of all, I don't know WHY it's in there as it's NOT a SCR but it is....
Nowhere does it state that qualifying products must be purchased in one transaction!
In fact, this quote from the directory seems to infer that you do NOT need to buy it all at once.....
"Your +Up Reward will print on your Rite-Aid receipt after $30 purchase requirement is met." 
Nothing about, "Must purchase items in same transaction." or anything to that effect.
Misleading at best, deceitful at worst.....

I'm so cranky and annoyed at the moment that perhaps I need to go return every stinkin' one of the $41.87 worth of items I bought that qualified me for that +Up Reward!

1 little $5 +Ups and I'd be a happy camper Rite-Aid, continuing to promote your brand and shop in your stores.....
But nooooo!

Ya let me down Rite-Aid.
What can I say?

Sluggy

Buy Coffee, Support The Troops

One of our favorite gifts to buy here at Chez Sluggy during the Holidays is bags of coffee.  Hubs as well as most of his siblings love coffee.  My kids love coffee too.
A bag of good coffee is a great gift for folks like the mailman or my favorite PO clerk.
Think teacher or co-worker gift too.

Though I am NOT a coffee drinker(imagine that!), every year I darken the local Dunkin Donuts store's door and buy lots of bags of coffee for gifting.

I just saw that Dunkin Donuts is running a promotion from November 1st until November 14th.
For every 2 1lb. bags of their coffee you buy either at a Dunkin Donuts store or through their online store, they will donate 1 bag to the US military through the USO.(up to 100,000 lbs.)
Now if DD will start their seasonal deal of a special price on the bags of coffee they run every Holiday Season, this could be a sweet deal for everyone.....more coffee for your dollar and free coffee for the troops!

Go check it out HERE.

Sluggy

Simplyfying the Holidays....What I am Doing or Not Doing

So last time we talked about making a Plan.
A conscious decision on what and how we plan on celebrating during the upcoming Holiday Season.
Cutting back and just partaking in those rituals and activities that we have the time and money to afford, and that we truly enjoy.

Here is my Prioritized List.

Traveling to visit with Family.
Sending a few Holiday Cards.
Shopping for and exchanging gifts with family.
Cooking Christmas dinner.
Charity.
Baking cookies and pies.
Christmas Tree.
A Christmas eve meal and show or movie.

*Our actual plans(if we are traveling or not mostly)are still up in the air at this point in time but to me, the being with family & friends at Christmas is most important. 
*So I will reach out via cards this year to those I can't physically be with during the Season.
*While we aren't all about the getting stuff, we do exchange gifts and I, er...I mean "Santa" fills everyone's stocking with goodies.
*If we don't travel, I'll cook Christmas dinner and host the meal...if we travel I'll help whoever is cooking or provide edibles for the meal.
*We'll donate time/money through some organization as we do every year and hopefully we can get the kids involved since they are in more need of a life lesson than us grownups. ;-)
*The baking will be a multi-person activity and not just me thundering around the kitchen complaining about all this work and that no one is offering to help me.
*The tree will be put up but the extent of 'bling' also strewn about the house will depend on how the travel plans mesh out and if anyone else here is interested in helping out with that.
*On Christmas eve we have a tradition of a meal out together and then a family activity.....going to a show of some kind or a Holiday movie.  If we can't find something to agree on we'll sit home with some of the cookies we baked and didn't give away and watch a Holiday movie on the tv/dvd player.

I don't have young children, so there are no additional activities like Taking them to Talk to Santa, school/friend's/organizations kid parties, buying teacher/classmate gifts and such.  Not having to contend with all that sure cuts down on the time/energy/money commitments at the Holidays.
And I don't work outside the home so I don't have office parties, gift exchanges, etc. vying for my time/money.
Add in that we aren't big party throwing people either and we don't have church affiliated activities to contend with.
The list I end up with is a pretty modest one of stuff to get done by Dec. 25th and I can easily fit it all into my regular weekly "To Do" list without driving myself insane with the added work and stress if I plan ahead and work it all in to the next 7 weeks a little bit at a time.

So are you motivated to make a "To Do" list and make it a reasonable length?
If you find you have just too much to accomplish and not enough time/energy/money, try cutting down or cutting out just one thing that you have to do this Holiday Season.
What would you cut out of your "To Do" List this year and why?
Speaking of stress, next time we'll talk about the Cost of the Holidays and ideas on how to lower the expenses that pile up during this Season.

Sluggy