"The tragic reality is that very few sustainable systems are designed or applied by those who hold power, and the reason for this is obvious and simple: to let people arrange their own food, energy and shelter is to lose economic and political control over them. We should cease to look to power structures, hierarchical systems, or governments to help us, and devise ways to help ourselves." - Bill Mollison

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

A Day In The Slow Life

I have been invited by Laura, curator of The Modern Victory Garden to participate in a "meme" called A Day In The Slow Life created by Tony over at Backyard Feast. That said, I carefully attempted to record the events of Monday October 18th, a day both my wife and I would be home and able to devote the day to working in our gardens trying to finish up our harvest. As Mrs. H had just returned from a trip to Nevada we wanted to spend a relaxing day working together and enjoying the sunny weather.

As a brief introduction to us and our lifestyle, I first met my wife, a true kindred spirit, while we worked for a now defunct Italian telecommunications company many years ago. Long story short we are now happily married and have over the years slowly and deliberately entrenched our lifestyle into one that revolves around growing and gathering our own foods, truly attempting to live the "slow" life. We have chosen to live this way as it symbolizes our freedom from so many of the things of man that we no longer wish to be part of, choosing instead to live simply and reap the whirlwind of benefits fresh air and healthy foods deliver to us.

The vast majority of the foods we eat come from our gardens where we plant, grow, tend, and harvest on a continuous basis 12 months a year. It is what we enjoy, what drives us to keep moving forward each and every day. To us, it is most empowering endeavour to grow, gather, and consume one's own food. Below is a fairly typical day in our slow but active lives.

5:00 AM, on the dot, Mrs. H's mental alarm goes off and she gets up, starts the coffee, feeds the cats, turns on our oh so slow dinosaur of a computer and then returns to bed for another hour or so of sleep.

5:15 AM I wake up and open our porch door to let the cats and dog outside. We have been keeping this closed as our porch is currently full of tomatoes that we have slowly been bringing inside to ripen and I do not wish either raccoons, skunks, or the cold to damage our produce. During the summer months I leave the door open so the cats can come and go as they wish. With eyes still half shut I manage to find the coffee, stagger over to the computer, and wake up while reading different blogs, articles, and news from the Internet.

6:30 AM finds me bright eyed and bushy tailed after reading all of your fine blogs and drinking a large cup of strong black caffeinated coffee, I holler at Mrs. H to rise and shine as it is another glorious day in Idaho. She hates it when I am all cheery so early in the morning, especially on rainy days...but what can I say, I'm pretty much full of it all of the time.:) Mrs. H, the true highlight of my day, eventually wanders out with coffee in hand and sits down next to me. She squints her eyes and says good morning.

7:00 AM, I leave Mrs. H to finish waking up and head out to with a few scraps from a squash we cooked the other day to feed and release our ravenous flock of red headed chickens with Rowdy the wonder dog glued to my side. Rowdy is supposed to comb the perimeter of the entire chicken run and make sure it is safe from varmints but seems to have once again forgotten his duties preferring to say hi to the girls and join them at breakfast. While the animals are eating I flip the straw and dirt under the chicken roost with a pitchfork and head back in for a shower and more coffee.

It's 8:00 AM, we are dressed and headed outside with cups now full of home brewed tea...time to walk the dog. Mrs. H opens the large outside door to our basement and starts a load of laundry. As our basement/root cellar is also our laundry room we try to run the wash machine in the early mornings this time of year to help keep the temperature at around 40°. It was 46° this morning but 29° outside. When we returned from our walk it was 43°. Our goal is to get it under 40 °and keep it there until spring so that our produce won't start sprouting.

8:10 AM, I grab my daily apple to munch on and we walk Rowdy in the park. He almost always gets to run free and often has the opportunity to play with other dogs during this time..but not today as we were the only ones there. We walked and played frisbee with him for almost an hour before heading home.

9:ish, back from our walk Mrs. H pulls the towels out of the washer and I shut the basement door to keep the cold air in and we proceed to hang the wash on the outside line to dry. As temperatures drop we often have to leave the clothes out overnight, barring any rain in the forecast. Later in the year they will be dried on racks in front of our living room fireplace.

9:30 AM finds us back in the house. Mrs. H feeds the dog while I turn the runner beans that are drying by the fireplace. We were only able to harvest a partial crop this year before the frosts hit. They will dry by the pellet stove for a few days before being shelled and then stored away in gallon jars. We are fortunate to still have an abundance of beans left over from last year and this year's fava bean crop did very well. I hope that next season is a better one for dry beans.

I also take this time to put a few of the potato and Giant Cape Gooseberry seeds that have finished drying into envelopes for future use. If you ever want to save the seed off tomatillos, ground cherries/cape gooseberries, or potato seed just toss a few really ripe ones into your blender (or mash them) with a little water. Give them a whirl and then dump the contents into a small bowl. The good seeds will sink to the bottom and the rest of the pulp can be carefully poured off leaving the seeds.

At 9:45 AM we eat breakfast. We often eat late this time of year skipping any type of lunch altogether, preferring to work outside when it is warm. This morning's entree consisted of leftover squash and cooked kale greens that I made into a stir fry and served with pear sauce & sauerkraut. We always eat breakfast at the computer allowing us to read a few blogs together and discuss the days schedule. We really love it when you post videos so that I don't have to type and eat at the same time. See Laura, we share the same habits as you when it comes to breakfast.:)

10:30 AM, breakfast is over, dishes are washed and put away and I have shut the pellet stove off for the afternoon. I pull out our containers of sauerkraut to check on them. We like to clean the lid/weight and stir everything up every third day in order to prevent any scummy mold from developing...it must work as I have never had any issues with that. While I do this Mrs. H works on putting another mix of tea together for the week. Her tea consists of 15-20 different ingredients many of which we have collected from the wild during the summer months...strange things like gum weed and prunella. I don't question her about these things and simply do as I am told and drink up.

10:45 AM, the sun has almost reached the gardens and I am giving the chickens clean water under their favorite tree for the day. I brought an empty bucket along and having watered the birds headed straight to the salad garden to collect some parsley seed that I keep forgetting about. Speaking of parsley, I also dug up some Hamburg root parsley and put it in pots that will eventually end up in the root cellar. This is the first year I have grown root parsley and I think I might just like it...we shall see how well it overwinters both in storage and the ground outside.

11:15 ish found me uncovering our covered rows so the greens within do not overheat in the sun. I also opened the greenhouse that still houses some of our pepper and tomato plants. Some of our hot peppers are starting to change color...yay!

11:30 AM, Mrs. H and I work in the sun, so nice to have it on our backs this time of year. We dig up, clip the greens off and pack into pots our Belgian endive that will be forced during the winter months to provide us with another source of nutritious greens. While working on the endive roots we hatched plans for harvesting soap wort, we need to do this before the ground freezes...which will be pretty soon. Rowdy assisted by digging up the old potato row next to us in search of voles.

It's around 2:30 PM and we are hauling our filled pots to the root cellar. Keeping track of the time like this is hard...I keep forgetting.:)

3:00 PM For tonight's supper we picked celery, rutabaga, carrot, a small forgotten delicata squash, onion, chicory root, parsley, sorrel, and kale to create a homemade veggie broth. Rows were covered back up and the greenhouse was shut to keep the warmth inside for as long as possible. We only get about 4 hours of sun in the garden this time of year as it sits so low in the sky hiding behind the trees that surround us.

3:45 PM Mrs. H has cleaned up the veggies and started a broth cooking on the stove while I snack on some homemade cabbage salsa that I made the previous night and chatter in her ear about the day's events while re-starting the pellet stove.

4:15 ish, with broth simmering we head out for another walk (spoiled dog). We often let him play in the water but our lake is full of poisonous blue green algae this time of year so Mrs. H and Rowdy checked out the construction going on near the docks and then we played frisbee on the way home. We take our time as it is a relaxing day and we are not in a hurry for a change.

5:00 PM (I'm rounding off all these times by the way, we are not this prompt) We both worked on cleaning and then roasting parsnips, onions, and garlic for tonight's dinner of parsnip and pear soup...hence the vegetable broth we have been working on. Oh, and we fed the dog again. He gets a serving of homemade dog food twice a day and we always keep his dry food bowl full.

5:30 PM Mrs. H made a fabulous apple crisp while I worked on an orange tomato sauce to be canned in the morning. The other day I made lovely black and orange salsa so I thought why not an orange tomato sauce too? The orange and black tomatoes are so sweet and flavorful that I hate to mix them up with the reds. It seems we have worked on a canning project of some sort almost every day for the past two weeks and our pantry is quickly filling up.

6:30 PM and we added the roasted vegetables along with a few pears to the broth, eventually turning into a nice soup. Mrs. H drew a bath and relaxed while I watched the news and worked on bruschetta that will accompany our soup. After a drizzle of olive oil I topped the homemade bread with garlic, onions, pepper, tomato, and cheese. The soup might not look like much but it sure tasted good.

At 7:30 PM we cleaned up the kitchen and while Mrs. H set the table Rowdy and I headed out to count and lock up the chickens. I also gathered the eggs at this time, all three of them. Rowdy confirmed that everyone was in for the night while I scolded the girls and told them a horror story about chicken soup before leaving. I can see stars in the night sky and the moon is starting to fill out again helping to light my way.

8:00 PM found us finally sitting down to eat. We watched "Dancing With the Stars" on one of the two channels that we get since being forced to hook up to government TV. Mrs. H likes this show...I endure it.

9:45 PM and we are too tired to stay up any later, we clean up the table, prepare coffee for the morning, brush teeth, tuck in the dog....good night everyone!

I would like to invite, without any obligation, my friend Heiko all the way from Italy via Path to Self Sufficiency and homemaker/animal husbandry expert extraordinaire Ohiofarmgirl from Ohiofarmgirl's Adventures In The Good Land to consider participating in this meme when time permits...but only if you wish to.

For those of you, like me, who do not know about such things as memes here is a very good explanation given to me by Laura -

"A meme is a way to get a broad group participating in posting about a particular topic - each adding their own take and information to the main topic point - part of the protocol is to do a courtesy link back to the one that invited you to the party and then invite a few more people to participate who you think would be interesting to read their posts about the subject providing a link to their blogs at the time."

You can see Heiko's Day "Day in the Slow Life" here and the Ohiofarmgirl's here. Thanks for participating.:)

44 comments:

Kumi said...

Hello Mr H.
I've been following your blog now for a while with amazement every single time you update your blog. Your blog is very informative, inspiring and a joy to read. I just wanted to drop a note to say thank you. :-)

You Can Call Me Jane said...

I absolutely loved this post and the glimpse into a day of your amazing life. Thank you so much for sharing:-).

Ayak said...

Mr H. What a thoroughly enjoyable post. I really love to know how people spend a typical day, and when you accompany it with photos, it's even better!

johnnydesoto said...

You two are certainly fortunate to have such a healthy and sane lifestyle.

One thing I find really striking about your post is how growing our own food as we do really puts us into a different sphere of being. Leandre Poisson wrote something, and I'm paraphrasing, about how consuming the food we grow makes a part of the land which produced it: roots us in it. BTW I highly recommend his book "Solar Gardening" as a good read.

A perfect example of this I think is demonstrated in how you use your produce in such unconventional ways. Pear and Parsnip soup! I doubt I would have dreamed up that combination unless I only had those ingredients sitting in front of me. I used to be a pasta hound. For years it was a quick and easy way of using up all the produce and wild foods I grew and gathered. I got quite good a never making the same pasta sauce twice, using up whatever was at hand. But I had to moderate my carb intake and over the past couple of years I've moved more in the direction you seem to be going. Reading this blog since the spring has been a great inspiration toward that end. Thanks for putting it all out there!

I'm almost afraid to ask but curiosity has got the better of me: What is "Government TV"?

Mike said...

That's a busy day!

Leigh said...

What a great post. I have loved getting some peeks into how others spend their day. I found myself smiling and appreciating so many things you wrote. What a great example of how productive the slow life can be, and without the stress of the rat race.

I'm definitely inspired to go plant those parsnip seeds I bought!

Heiko said...

I loved this, thank so much for letting us participate in a whole day with you. It's just like Big Brother! And thank you for the explanation on what a mene? neme? one of them thingies is. I shall have a go at doing this one day soon. Many other things came to mind, like I hope those chickens got to sleep after their horror story.

meemsnyc said...

"A slow day" huh? LOL. You two are amazing!! You do so much in one day, wow!! Admirable! Question for you, how do you grow crops all year 'round, like in the winter months? My husband and I have been thinking about what more we can do for growing in the winter. We are thinking about a hoop house and cold frame, does it grow things through the cold cold winter months?

Geno said...

A wonderful insight into how simple and full a simple life can be. I am glad there are people like you paving the way for us wannabes!

Jeff Vandiver said...

Great shot of Rowdy and the frisbee! My Jude would be jealous....

Ms. Adventuress said...

I'm so glad you two did this. Love it.

(The sprouts were easy to grow in hemp bags. I'd like to place them in better light next time. I'm now curious about using the canning jar method for some reason, but I understand this limits air circulation. Maybe I'll try 16oz. wide mouth canning jars and take more photos, too.)

said...

This was fun to read. I often wonder how other people go through their regular lives.

The Barracuda fell in love with Project Runway. I have no idea how he found it. We endure it and now have become completely addicted. Before you know it, you might even be voting for various dancers and waiting eagerly to see who is voted off :)

Diane@Peaceful Acres said...

Well....I'm tired after reading all that and I'm going to bed!!!

I too eat my breakfast and read blogs!! This time I'm checking in before bed since my day was full running hither and tither. Got my little calf dehorned and all the goats hooves trimmed. We're finally drinking some of our white gold and it's delicious and creamy!!!

But really you make me tired!!!

Mrs. Mac said...

You did a nice job of 'a day in the slow life' ... you have inspired me to try and extend our growing season and store away more and more as the years go by. Thank you :) I have resorted to using my clothes dryer again as we have quite a lot of laundry and not enough time to get it air dried this time of the year. Hope to see you guys around the lake one of these mornings :)

kelli said...

i really enjoyed reading about your day! i think i'd love hanging out at your house, though 5am is a wee bit early.=)

Sense of Home Kitchen said...

Sounds like a perfect day! Plus I would just like to say you both must be some of the healthiest people alive the way you eat, a good example for the rest of us.

-Brenda

Malay-Kadazan girl said...

Hi Mr. H, My husband and I are counting the days (years???) of when we can also be like your family growing food by ourselves. I really enjoy your post.

randi said...

what an enjoyable read Mike! The M&M team is a dynamo and this post was a dilly..thanks from ever frostier Vt!

Mr. H. said...

Kumi - I'm glad that you have enjoyed ready my posts and find them to be interesting. Thank you so much for stopping by to visit and for your nice comments.:)

ThyHandHathProvided - I must say, it was an interesting project trying to keep track of the day. We did learn a few things about ourselves though...we eat way to late and have a very spoiled dog.:)

Ayak - Which is exactly what makes your blog so very interesting as you take us along on the journey (adventure) you and Mr. Ayak have undertaken.

Johnny - You are so right. What we actually cook was one of the more interesting facets of becoming food self-sufficient. For the most part we find ourselves creating many a meal without any type of recipe and in doing so are allowed to experience a huge new spectrum of food combinations.

I just looked up that book and it does sound like something I would enjoy reading, especially since it seems to include cold climate gardening under cover which I can always use a few more tips on...thanks for the recommendation.

As to government TV.:) That is what I call it because we still have two older sets that require a government sponsored analogue-digital converter box to be hooked up. This box has taken what used to be 3 fairly clear local stations and reduced them to 2 that often don't come in at all...to many mountains and trees around here I guess. It's also like watching one of those old Bruce Lee movies as none of the words match the mouth movements. It's better than nothing though...I think.:)

Mike - It was a really nice day, especially since the sun was shining...something that I am going to start missing pretty soon.

Leigh - It was a pretty productive day, certainly not one of our more exciting ones but it was indeed a curious read to record the events and look back on them. I think perhaps this post was more work than the days events.:)

Ohiofarmgirl said...

Ohmigosh! me!?! hee hee hee okey-dokey then.. but I'm warning you, its non-stop hijinks here.
;-)

ps we hate the whole digital tv too.. this summer we got exactly 3 channels. grrrr......

Mr. H. said...

Heiko - Actually, with that Government TV converter box of ours we probably really are on "Big Brother" and do not realize it...hmm.:)

As to the chickens, they have become quite a lazy flock of birds and had better start sharing a few more eggs with us...it's in their contract. You should get some chickens?

Anyway, thank you so much for considering participation in this meme thingy.:)

Meemsnyc - With a hoop-house, coldframe, or covered row you can keep certain cold hardy plants like kale, spinach, turnips (greens and roots), and many, many others growing longer into the fall and earlier in the spring.

During the winter months these plants are pretty much dormant but with a cover are protected from the elements such as wind, rain, and snow. It is not so much the cold that damages these plants as the constant bombardment of weather that breaks them down. You would be amazed how many plants can freeze and thaw numerous times without and negative effects.

Check out Eliot Coleman's book "Four-Season Harvest: Organic Vegetables from Your Home Garden All Year Long" for some good insight into this..and of course I am always more than happy to discuss what type of veggies we grow in the winter with you.

Geno - Thanks, everything happens in time and someday soon I will see on your blog a plethora of vegetables displayed in your own gardens...I can't wait.:)

Engineeredgarden - I have a feeling that Jude and Rowdy would hit if off pretty good. Can you believe that he just figured out how to catch the frisbee a couple weeks ago...right after we had given up on him.

Ms. Adventuress - I'm glad we did it too, I think.:) I'm thinking of growing out some extra brassicas for seed next year so that we can do some serious experimentation in the sprouting department...it will be fun.

Granola Girl - I feel better about it now that I know you watch something similar.:) Last season I actually rooted for a couple of the "stars" but this time I just want it to end...none of them intrigue me. I'm not sure what Project Runway is but I do hope my wife does not find out about it.:):)

Diane - It is a bit of an exhausting read, I get a headache just trying to scroll down to the comment section.:) So there is a few of us out there that leave crumbs all over the keyboard...interesting. Enjoy that milk!

Mrs. Mac - It does take a little time and practice, especially with our short growing seasons but things like carrots, beets, and potatoes are pretty forgiving in storage if the temperature is cool.

Yes, it can be a bit of a challenge to get clothes dry this time of year, especially on days like today...it's raining out.:(

Kelli - I used to work nights so 5:00 AM is actually pretty late in the day for me.:) I always try to be outside just before the sun comes up as watching it rise is my favorite part of the day...unless it is raining out.

Brenda - I hope that we are healthy, we sure feel like it. I suppose that time will tell and if I am still blogging at 100 I will know that this is the "good life".:)

Malay - Kadazan Girl - I hope that you get there sooner than later and enjoy the freedoms of such a life as much as we do. From reading your blog it sounds as though you are off to a very good start. Just the fact that your child will grow up knowing where a vegetable comes from is such a good thing in this day and age.

Randi - I bet it is getting to be quite chilly over there and envy you your beautiful fall colors. Also, our 2 giant kangaroo apple eggplants seem to be fairly cold hardy as the frost has yet to affect them...very interesting.

Mr. H. said...

OhioFarmGirl - Yes you! It doesn't sound like you or Heiko are too mad at me so that is a good thing.:) Have fun with it and I am very much looking forward to reading about a day in your life.

It's nice to know that we are not the only ones who hate digital TV.

foodgardenkitchen said...

You are a very wise man indeed...don't question the woman and drink up as told :) I love it.

What a great day and yes, your dog is well taken care of. Thanks for sharing!

kitsapFG said...

Well, I am late to the commenting party! First, a big thank you for taking the time to do this post. I know it actually takes a considerable amount of time to actually "think about" the day, record some notes, and then actually do the blog. But I am so glad you did. You and your wife lead a very inspiring life. So much is revealed by the choices you make in what you do - and don't do.

I feel vindicated that so many others eat at their PC. I still try not to let my techie husband see me do it though because I swear he is going to have a stroke when he does! LOL!

You really do combine your produce when cooking in ways I would never think to do. I am still very much a product of my "meat and potatoes" upbringing I think - because while our home grown produce is a substantial part of our daily eating - it is nothing in comparison to how you two eat. Something to continue aspiring too.

Again, big thank you for sharing a day in your interesting life.

It's me ...Mavis said...

I can't believe you two watch dancing with the stars ... that made me laugh out loud!

Mr. H. said...

Foodgardenkitchen - Yes, and with that many strange and unusual ingredients going into her potions it is wise for me to be very nice to her as well. Who knows, a little to much of this or that added to the tea and I could be in trouble.:)

Laura - I'm happy that you encouraged me to partake in this insightful meme and I had fun recording the days events.

As to the food we eat, sometimes I think it would be nice to have more structured meals rather than the "fly by the seat of our pants" combinations we so often come up with. In the end though I suppose what really matters is that you and I both consume good portions of the healthful foods that we grow and are more healthy for it.

Now I can sit back and enjoy others day in the slow life memes as they seem to be spreading fairly quickly.

Mavis - Oh come on, you know that you watch it too.:) Trust me, I can't believe I watch it either. But hey, as I type, Sponge Bob is playing in the background so what can I say...they out number me 2 - 1.

Razzberry Corner said...

What a great day I was able to share with you both! thank you so much for inviting us into your lives!

Kelly said...

This was so much fun to read, I love getting a peak into other people's worlds. I should also add that I am now hungry, and will be running to the fridge for some veggies asap!!

Mr. H. said...

Razzberry Corner - Glad you could join us.:)

Kelly - I'm glad you enjoyed it and hope you found a nice pile of veggies in the fridge.:)

Silke Powers said...

Dear Mr. and Mrs. H.! What a delight to read about your day - I love it!!! I feel like I lived right alongside you two (or three - shouldn't forget Rowdy). Your day sounds so fulfilling and that soup looked delicious!! It all reminded me of summers while I was growing up - I'd often spend them on the farms of family friends and loved the rhythm you develop in tune with mother nature. Thank you for this!! : ) Silke

Mr. H. said...

Silke - Speaking of which, I was just reading about German (and Irish)immigrant farmers in 1800's. I was surprised to learn just how very many of the people that make up our diverse population in the U.S. are of German ancestry and what a huge influence German immigrants have had on American society.

https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/beaumont/www/In%20Depth/German%20Farmers.htm


There is 51 million people of German ancestry and roughly 36 million of Irish ancestry in the U.S. ...that's a lot.:)

Joyti said...

I'm envying your lifestyle, the 'slow life' in this post. It sounds lovely, productive but not rushed.

said...

Hey Mr. H ~
In reference to the dish soap, from everything I have read it is vegetable glycerin which will give you the gel-like soapy texture which comes from liquid soaps.

The citric acid is supposedly what takes away any kind of filmy residue and it react when it has contact with water, so I think you could use it as a powder and then add it to the wash basin to make soapy water, but not mix the water in before to create a liquid.

The vinegar reacting with the baking soda does quite a bit to remove residue as well, so the citric acid may not be needed if there is some combination there. I don't know, you'd have to play around with it.

Let me know how it goes,
Granola Girl

John Going Gently said...

greetings from a very smallholder in north wales UK
my allotments look like a childs garden compared to yours!!!

best wishes
john G

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful place and blog you have! Enjoy!

Mr. H. said...

Indie. Tea - We are trying, each day brings it's own challenges but in the end they are all very fulfilling.

Granola Girl - Thanks for the information, I hope to get a chance to mess around with some of these things this winter. I'm going to take a closer look at vegetable glycerin too.

John Gray - It's really not how much you grow so far as having the knowledge to do so if you ever had to.:)

Pam - Thanks for stopping in for a visit.:)

LynnS said...

Very nice post, Mike-- thanks for taking the time to share. You and Micki have such an outstanding life and a fantastic lifestyle. (Except for that Dancing show, that is....lol)

You cracked me up with the government TV. We have one of those non-working boxes, too.

Stay the course, my friend.

Mr. H. said...

Lynn - I think that those boxes are a perfect example of what happens when we allow the government to control our lives...a big mess.

Anonymous said...

A little late to your site, but I'm really pleased I found you. Your dog looks so gorgeous and healthy I'm definitely going to give your dog food recipe a go as soon as we have a freezer. Ours eat a third meat, pasta and blitzed veg but one of them has a ph problem, probably caused by too much pasta, so I shall give your recipe a shot.

Mr. H. said...

Contadina - That is great, I think your dog/s will really thrive on this diet, ours is. I love that you are already feeding many of these things to them. Anything is better than the canned food from the store you know.:)

GetSoiled said...

All I can say is: my hubby and I would like to be legally adopted by the two of you guys. The paperwork has just been placed in the mail.

Mr. H. said...

Getsoiled - That would be great as we could use a couple more strong backs to help us out...especially in the spring. We work all of our adopted children very hard but do provide three meals a day and adequate amounts of sleep.

Actually I have an even better arrangement. You all come and stay at our house and we at yours in Florida this winter.:)

GetSoiled said...

Mr. H. Oh. Little did you know we'd accept the offer/suggestion/challenge.

Just tell us when and where and we'll be there! Hubby and I both love cold weather...but are you sure you want to exchange your huge gardening grounds for our oh-so-very-humble-And-SMALL-lil' garden??

Yeah, didn't think so! ☺ (plus, hubby and I also love to eat, so you take a huge chance of coming back to a home with zero edibles.

Mr. H. said...

GS - OK, point taken. We will stay here, huddled in the snow, with as many carrots and beets as one could want...brr.

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