Well I finally got all my herbs and tomato puree dried and they are tucked away in canning jars in the freezer. I did end up with a little bit more than I was expecting – so now my goal will have to be just how in the world I’m going to use them all.
I also had a chance tonight to make a type of soap that I haven’t made before. One of my soaps that I want to seIl is called ‘Dirty Paws’. It’s a soap that you can use when your’e working in the garden or wherever when you end up getting your hands pretty dirty. This soap is kind of an experiment and once I tell you what’s in it – well I’m guessing you’ll agree! It has the normal oils in it like Olive oil, some coconut oil, and this recipe calls for vegetable shortening. For the fragrance I add some Orange, Spearmint, and Eucalyptus. Again, not that uncommon. The stuff that makes it help get your hands clean is corn meal and here it comes – washed walnut shell powder. You didn’t see that coming now did you? I’m just hoping that when I’m able to try this soap in a couple of weeks is doesn’t feel like sandpaper or something! But the soap did turn out well and it seems like it’ll be a good hard soap that should stand up. Humm.. maybe it’s the walnut shells in it?
Next ? Well I promised that I was going to post a picture of my ever so cool new chicken house thing. It does need some love and I’m thinking that it’s a winter or early spring project. My original first thought was to use it to display soap next spring, but Daryl mentioned really fast if I was going to hang it. So now I’m thinking if I don’t use it for soap, wouldn’t this look really cool hanging outside of a shed with flowers in it? 
And the next couple of pictures are of our trees that we’ve planted for our parents. The first one is my Dad’s tree and the leaves are really turning the pretty fall colors. I think it’s a red maple tree, but I could be wrong. I just kinda guessed because of the red leaves 🙂 and it’s too bad that my dad isn’t here to help me because he was awesome at knowing the names for just about every tree that there is. 
And this other tree is for Daryl’s Mom and Dad. This tree stands by the road and to me it seems like it’s watching over the farm. These leaves haven’t started to turn much but maybe in the next couple of weeks they’ll start. Without this tree turning it’s hard to tell what it is. But my guess? Another red maple.
The last photo is something that Daryl has been working on. He got the cow yard cleaned out for the winter months coming up and all the hay and round bales put away in the sheds. The cows had gotten a fresh bale of hay with a bale of corn stalk bedding. Yup, life if pretty good for them right now. These bales are just waiting for Daryl to tuck the into the shed for the winter. 