Defrost Time

Okay, I confess the freezer hadn't been cleaned out for four years.

It took that long to want to clean it out.

Large chunks of ice rimmed the interior and that didn't seem to fit into any energy-saving category, so they had to go.

I dredged up from my memory bank just how I went about cleaning up last time and I remembered using the hair dryer to defrost; turned  on and left  dangling closed inside, once all the food items were pried out.

The hair dryer only took a few minutes and then I got busy with a paint scraper and carefully chipped at the slabs of ice that fell quickly to the bottom.

Here's the debris at this point. A few food stains and a lot of scattered blueberries but it didn't take long to clean it up. It would have taken longer if I had been a bit taller but my reach wasn't that good.

In fact, you know those ducks you see in the pond? The  ones that spot a goody at the bottom and they bob down with their rumps and birdie legs sticking up in the air?

Well, I did bear a fair resemblance..

Here we are with a carefully edited bunch of stuff returned to the freezer, like with like, orderly and organized.

And a lot fewer blueberries.

The stuff in the  basket is mostly hot dog and hamburger buns; I'm hoping to foist them on my daughter-in-law with the three teen-agers next time she drops by.

In case you wonder, the freezer is draped with a skirt because I keep it in the family room, to save heading down the basement everytime I need a package of peas.

Now that I know how relatively painless it was, I may not wait so long for the next time.

Unless I shrink some more.

The mirrors

There are mirrors hanging on every fence in my garden. I pick them up at

Habitat where they were once part of  shower enclosures. They disappear from sight during the lushness of summer and reappear as growth dies down

Morning glories didn't get into gear this summer. Not enough rain.There are one or two blooms at a time but they are shy. The mirrors help the illusion that there are more of them, although at this moment they are sleeping in.

Cow stands guard over the too-lazy-to-chop-up compost pile stashed behind her. By spring this pile will be flat as the proverbial pancake, and I may hide that with another mirror.

Potato Harvest

 

This is my second barrel; I harvested the first one a few weeks ago and delayed with  this one  in hopes the potatoes would grow larger. That hope didn't pan out but they are lovely little things.

They will be divine steamed a little and finished off in the skillet with butter and seasonings.

I'm just finding my way planting seed potatoes in barrels; next year I'll experiment and add two or three layers.You plant the first sprouts near the bottom and cover them with earth and as they grow, you continue to add more earth. That's when I'll add more sprouts, during the topping-up process.

The garden space is too small to accommodate planting them in the beds.

The great thing about gardening is you are learning forever; it's very much like experimenting in the kitchen with an often-cooked dish, finding ways to to add variety.

Next  year.....