Into fall!

What a nice fall this has been so far! I have been so thankful for the extended warm weather so far! Looks as though we can scrounge up enough money to put some oil in the tank at the end of this month. Sweaters until then! Since my hubby is an apprentace electrician he was able to get a couple of used ceiling fans from clients who were throwing them out. It has made such a difference in keeping the heat in our drafty old rental! If I use the oven at all the warm air gets circulated down and keeps the house at a good temp for a long time! The mornings have been down to 2 or 3 degrees here and there but if we keep the fans going , a space heater turned on for about half an hour takes the chill off. The coastal weather just has that damp chill to it.







Our littlest guy turned 5 on monday! What a big boy! ( he even tied his shoes for the first time the day after!) The relatives sent lots of playmobile for him and he felt like " the luckiest kid in the world!" ... we couldn't afford a present for him, but he didn't notice at all .... it all kind of got lumped together and because my grandma sent some money for something special we got to go buy it together. We made a delicious cake though!

( photo courteous of Kate Mahaits Photography! Thanks Kate! http://mahaits.com/ )

The week before was kind of crappy because number two bonked his head again and got concussion number four. Then we all got this nasty cold and flu bug after. Still recovering a week and a half later! The emerg doc was amazing though. He had a five year old son as well. The funniest part was when he said that A was " socially advanced"!! LOL. Both of the kiddos are suspected to be on the autism spectrum( Aspergers) but we haven't had a formal evaluation because we really seem to be doing well on a gluten free diet, they don't need a special education plan because we homeschool..... overall things are positive rather than a struggle all of the time. The little guy though, at the moment ( my oldest was similar at that age but has since gained some much needed social skills) " hates babies" and little kids, panicks when he sees them and spends his time hiding under the furniture growling if they are anywhere in the vicinity. Hence me getting a giggle out of the " socially advanced " comment. Being under the weather at all makes the autistic behaviors so much more pronounced though... so this week of being sick has been trying. Another kiddo asked " what is wrong with him" about my oldest. Actually the first comment from another child. He was a little extra flappy and stimmy and running around in circles than usual though.... maybe the cold is going into round two. Could be the asthma meds too cause they always make everyone a little crazy.

Good parts this time of the year though.... free fruit like crazy! We made oregon grape and salal jelly on the weekend. Pear butter at the beginning of the week. Apple ,pear chipotle hot sauce.... my idea worked beautifully! I have a huge bucket of pears to deal with today as well as more appples. I will make pear butter and maybe some chutney. I think I have enough ingredients to swing it. Maybe I can get extra jars off freecycle. 8 days until payday with only enough money for gas for my hubby to get to work! Maybe I can sell a piece of jewelry in the meantime!
I have been trying trying to get it together to do a Christmas craft booth. I will try to swing it iin time but it costs a bunch to rent the table space and organise display and make business type cards and packaging... plus I need to purchase more material and findings. I am going to play it by ear and see if I can swing it because we NEED the extra bit of cash. Crappy because I know it would sell but I can't seem to get it together! Funny to be in the position of needing money to make money! Hubby put in some heaters for a friend though and he was traded some beautiful plum wood, some dogwood and a couple of pieces of cherry. An older woodworker in the neighbourhood brough me a gorgeous thin milled piece of yew that is really large... so pretty! Oh well.... I do have faith that it always works out. ... always does! I sound like a downer! lol.... really not. So many thiings to be happy about really!