Well, we had another busy Fall weekend–and I wanted to tell you all about it yesterday but I was stuck in the Sprint wifi technical support automated service underworld for 4 hours and still haven’t solved our network issues. Turns out they can’t access our account without our 6-10 digit pin number (what pin number is 6-10 digits?!) and Mr. Fix-It can’t remember it and the only other option is for him to go to the Sprint store in person with 3 forms of id and see if they can help him. I’m still trying to figure out why it’s an extra special security bonus for us that Sprint can not access our Sprint account. Are we worried that Sprint technical support is going to hack into our Sprint account and do…what, exactly? Fix it maybe? That would be a tragedy for sure!

But I digress….

This weekend we sold a couple of our meat ducks and the folks that bought them came out to the farm to process them with us. The “folks that bought them” happen to be friends and egg customers as well, so it was a fun visit on Saturday afternoon too.

I’ll save the harvesting details. Erin, who bought the ducks, blogs over at Chopstitch and is planning a post to share the processing as well as the cook! Last week she also shared a great post comparing duck eggs and chicken eggs–they get both from us! I think her post is great for new eggs users, but I also think it brings up an important point…everything about homesteading and “real food” involves experimenting and trial and error. We don’t do this knowing how everything is going to turn out, or how everything is going to taste, or how everything can be used. It’s a constant learning process. You can’t let what you don’t know defeat you!

After processing the ducks, Mr. Fix-It worked on cleaning up the garage and Sunday we were out there again, working on building re-usable side rails for our trailer.

Much like everything else around here, our flatbed trailer has earned it’s keep many times over for every purpose under the sun, from hauling hay to Christmas Parades. This year we’ll be offering hay rides at our church’s Fall Festival and Food Drive and, in the interest of no one falling off, Mr. Fix-It and the munchkins set to work building sides, a step-stool, and a handrail.

This time we decided to construct something that could be saved and re-used. Storage is always an issue, but these rails are coming up more and more as well, so it seemed like a wise investment. Plus Mr. Fix-It scored a pallet of “scratch and dent” (I don’t remember the term he used) salt-treated lumber from the store and he’s handy enough to have made it all work out exactly like we needed. (That’s why we like to call him Mr. Fix-It.)

The kiddos are each getting a “job” to help manage the hayrides on Saturday. The Ladybug will be our tour guide. The Cowboy will be our safe boarding and disembarking personnel (and step-stool manager). And Speedracer will be the ride safety monitor–“Keep all hands and feet in the wagon!” They’re all quite excited. The Ladybug is on the hook to help as part of getting to camp again this summer, but our family would be helping anyway. {smile} I’m glad to see that she’s taking her contribution seriously though and was outside helping all afternoon.

If you’re local, you should stop by–it’s going to be great fun all day! A cake walk, fall crafts, squash bowling, squirrel scramble (a game involving acorns and tweezers which is probably going to be hilarious!), leaf piles to play in, food, and hay rides, of course!

All things family, fall, and fun!

Is it terrible to say that I’m glad soccer season has ended? I’m ready to have Tuesday nights and Saturday mornings back. I enjoyed the season, but I’ll enjoy the off-season as well. Tuesdays weren’t our latest evening of the week, but mentally the kiddos were pretty much finished when they got home and having an hour or more of homework waiting for us when we got home was…painful. I’m ready to settle in and relax and look forward to the holidays.

I am determined to ignore the media and retail barrage and not face Christmas until after we enjoy Thanksgiving. This year we’re also both committed to focusing on having an intentional, but low-key and low-stress holiday season. I’m sure we’ll be busy, but that’s nothing new around here! {smile} And yes, we’re doing a little slow and steady Christmas shopping and meal planning. (We also have two little boys having birthdays over the next 2 1/2 months!) But I am not going to get carried away in the Christmas clammer and chaos!

Have you started thinking about the holidays yet?

Have you seen the Frazzle Free Christmas series from Families with Purpose? Getting it in my inbox each week is a big help to me!