Sledding in October, and other Shenanigans

Do you see this?  This is snow in October.

Granted, it's over 5,000 feet above where we live, but it's snow.  Sleddable snow at Washington Pass, an hour's drive away from our house.

When after many days of non-stop rain, one day of sun was promised in the weather forecast, my friend who also homeschools her kids came with us for the trip over the mountain.  The sun felt foreign but lovely.

As soon as we arrived at the pass, fog descended.  So we sledded in the fog, and later kept driving East over the other side of the mountain, where clouds obscured the precious sunshine.

No matter.  The fall colors were still lovely, the coffee well roasted, and the company great.

With all the rain, you can imagine that we are spending a lot of time indoors, which is the opposite of what happens the rest of the year when we practically live outside.

In order to stay more or less sane, I engage in knitting therapy.  What else am I going to do with my hands as I sit around the kitchen table waiting for the kids to figure out a math problem, or waiting for Eva to finish her ballet lesson, or very soon, sitting in the bleachers while my oldest son does Basketball practice? (The sports thing is totally new to us.  I'm nervous, mostly because it involves a lot of driving.  More on that in another post).

Here's what I've cranked out in the past month.  A sweater for me, a hat for whatever family member wants it that day, and two more colorful hats that I might sell, or maybe not.

Now that it's getting colder, darker and rainier, it's time to create meals from the abundance of root vegetables that abound this time of year.

As part of my monthly column at Grow Northwest magazine, I wrote about some of our favorite recipes, namely Butternut Squash Galette and Sweet Potato Cake (gluten free, no refined sugar).  It's a good thing I had to submit pictures to the magazine as well, since that meant cooking up a bunch of food, which my happy family got to devour.  

It's only fair, because they were the ones harvesting the squash for the Butternut Galette.

Talking of food: Our friends at Forest Farmestead host an annual pig roast, where they harvest one of their pigs, roast it whole, and then invite the community to celebrate with them.  (They sell weaner pigs, if you are looking for some).

There's always plenty of good food, many animals to pet, and wonderful friends to catch up with.

Plus, the location is out of this world.

I will leave you with fall scenes of raging creeks (have I mentioned that it's been raining?), fishing, huge Big Leaf Maple leaves, and ripe kiwis on our vines.

How's your fall going so far?