A Busy Week!

Hi again, everyone!

Whew—I’ve had a mighty busy week since my last entry! The local meteorologist warned that we were about to get hit with some mighty cold weather, and I had lots to do to get ready. First, I wanted to make sure that my house was sealed up tight to keep us toasty warm inside. With that in mind, I set out looking for any drafts that might let cold air leak in. I closed all the doors and made sure all the windows were shut tight. Then, I walked around each room with a lit candle. Whenever the candle flickered, I knew I had found a draft. Luckily, I only found a few trouble spots, so fixing ‘em was easy. Once I located the source of the airflow, I cut a sleeve from an old jacket, stuffed it with cotton padding, and stitched it closed on both ends. Then I laid this insulator against the area where the air was coming through, and voila—no more draft!

I was just about finished checking my whole house for drafts when I noticed my throat was feeling a little sore. I didn’t want to be laid up by a sore throat, so I crushed one clove of garlic and put it in a large glass of water, then mixed in 1 tsp. of salt and a tiny pinch of cayenne pepper. I gargled a glass of this mix right away and another later in the day, and my throat was feelin’ fine by nighttime.

And to top it all off, I had meant to cover my veggie plants with paper grocery bags (my favorite form of frost protection), but I got so busy with my draft-location project that I plumb forgot! Well, come the next morning, my fall crop of veggies was covered in white, glistening frost. Shirley thought our harvest was down for the count, but I knew just what to do to save the day. I ran out to the garden before the sun was up, and started sprinkling the plants with a gentle spray from my garden hose. By the time Ol’ Sol was shining bright, my veggies were perked up and rarin’ to grow a while longer! Of course, I made sure to cover ‘em up with the paper bags the next night so I wouldn’t have to be up and at ‘em quite so early again. And, now that the cold snap has passed, it looks like we’ll be able to keep our fabulous fall harvest going for several weeks to come!