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![]() Mark and I are enjoying
our blogging vacation...and yet, I couldn't resist sharing some
intriguing, store-bought fruits with you! ![]() We got to explore a
Hispanic grocery store on Black Friday, and I of course gravitated
directly toward the produce department. I didn't try any of the cactus
leaves that were available in several different forms, but I did sample
one of three kinds of cactus fruits. ![]() Much tastier, in my
opinion, were the papayas. I was spoiled on papayas by eating them for
four months in Costa Rica, and I've turned up my nose at grocery-store
papayas ever since. But the ones in the Hispanic grocery were big and
delicious (although my fellow taste testers were less impressed,
suggesting papaya may be an acquired taste). ![]() Anna and I talked about the
future of the Walden Effect blog this weekend and have decided to take
a blogging vacation to
to decide if we have enough homesteading activities going on to keep
the blog alive. ![]() In addition to being
wowed by the combination mechanical and human-operated sorting system,
the biggest takeaway from our
tour of the local recycling facility was what was best not tossed
in the recycling bin. ![]() With those caveats out
of the way, here's what I shouldn't have been recycling: ![]() Anything smaller than a
business card tends to get lost in the shuffle. That means shredded
paper is a no-no. Plastic bottles should be crushed then the cap should
be screwed back on. ![]()
![]() All of that said, a
non-profit like our local recycling and trash pickup facility manages
to salvage 91% of the materials that go on the assembly line, finding
buyers despite the fact China no longer wants our waste. Great work,
Athens-Hocking Recycling! We celebrated National Recycling Day by taking a tour of the local recycling facility. ![]() Jenn and I celebrated
our one-year friendiversary with a visit to Old Man's Cave. ![]() Well, okay, I'll be
honest. I meandered so much peering at mosses and liverworts, rocks and
roots and rushing water that we didn't make it to the cave in question.
But we saw just about everything else...so I supposed that oversight is
just an excuse to go back! ![]() Despite temperatures
hovering around freezing, the park was crowded with sightseeers. To me,
this staircase says it all --- so many people have trod here that the
standstone steps have worn away. (The flat ones have been replaced with
concrete.) ![]() There was still plenty
of beauty despite the crowds though. This shot almost captures the
grandeur of the rock formations...but not quite. Our first snow of the year brought
a new flush of shitake mushroom fruiting.
![]() Fall flirted with us for
three glorious weeks. Then the barely-almost frosts disappeared with
multiple nights in the 20s --- our first hard freeze. Installing a small window to
increase the natural light costs about 50 dollars.
![]() The biggest reason I
rushed to harvest
my carrots is because I had that spot earmarked to turn into a
flower bed. Two bags of crocuses have been waiting for months to go
into the ground there. So as soon as the carrots came out, the crocuses
went in. ![]() Huckleberry "helped"
with the project, which means he sat on the carrot tops and made it
difficult to use them as mulch over my crocus bulbs. I eventually got
the job done anyway. I almost forgot to run the Honda mower dry before she goes into Winter hibernation. Didn't check back soon
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