I am welcoming November with a hot mug of honeybush tea, watching the birds flock about outside the window where I sprinkled some seed for them. The dark eyed juncos have arrived, which means winter is on the horizon. Here on the homestead, we are on the homestretch of putting up food for the winter and making sure we have provisions for any hard times to come. I said that in September too, but you know how it goes. There’s always more to do! Along with getting things ready for a holiday release in the shop, this month will also be a bustle of festive activities. I love the collide of holidays that November brings. We’re strictly a no-Christmas-before-Thanksgiving kind of family, and I like it that way. The anticipation of “Christmas decorating day” the Friday after Thanksgiving is thrilling, and will always be one of my favorite childhood traditions.

I mentioned in my September To-Do List that we were on the hunt for a freezer. With the panic of Covid in the beginning of spring, freezers have been sold out for a while. All glory to God, we finally got our hands on one and it’s being delivered in a few days’ time. So I have a large meat order to make as well as some freezer fries to put up. We don’t have a root cellar, so I’m getting creative on ways to store potatoes long term. I’m really praying for the best, but we simply don’t know what our food supply chain is going to look like in the coming months, so I am exercising the virtue of prudence (Proverbs 22:3). The worst thing that happens is all is normal and we simply don’t have to go to the grocery store much for the next few months. I will be making a seperate post about the value of a prepared pantry, so stay tuned for that! Here’s a look at some of my priorities this month:

Dip beeswax candles
Make body butter
Clean up gardens and put them to bed for winter
Take down and bring in garden decorations
Collect and save seeds
Plant the cold frame
Put away outdoor dining set
Organize the spice drawer
Wipe down kitchen cabinets and walls
Render more lard for Thanksgiving pies
Bake pies for Thanksgiving
Large meat order to stock new freezer
Make homemade freezer fries
Keep bird feeders filled
Rake leaves
Decorate for Christmas after Thanksgiving
Make sourdough cinnamon rolls
Begin purchasing Christmas gifts from small businesses
Flannel sheets on the bed
Put screens up and storm windows down
Harvest the last of the carrots
Strain Fire Cider

“you would think the year was resting too, its work done. and i whispered to myself that i too would begin to rest.”

— c.s. lewis, till we have faces

As the cold inches closer and closer, I’m in full-blown nesting mode. Making the house cozy with candles and lanterns, layers of blankets on the beds, and delicious aromas coming from the kitchen. This time of year it seems like there is always something simmering on the stove or baking in the oven, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Thankfully November will still render us a few fair days where— with a sweater and boots—we can finish cleaning up the yard and garden beds before the snow comes. I will miss my zinnias so. They hung on for so long, but alas, it is time for the earth to rest.

What are you up to this month? Do you have any favorite traditions that bring you joy as we watch the final golden embers of autumn turn into the pale ash of winter? I’d love to hear all about them.

Be blessed,

Kaetlyn