And another busy week.....whew!

It's been an up and down week so far, and I don't mean the thermometer ;)

The salmon project is done for a year, and it's likely the best we have ever done. It has great texture and flavor and the jars look marvelous-I am thrilled to have them to enjoy and savor this coming winter, yum :)

Monday I went back to work, by myself for the rest of the winter. It turned out to be a very busy day with customers and numerous phone calls-which is great, I do prefer being busy, to being bored! Part of the busy work was determining that my trusty old HP machine, which copies, faxes, scans and prints, wasn't working. This was after replacing the keyboard which also had decided to just bite the dust.

So Tuesday the boss got me a replacement unit out here, and in late afternoon I started hooking it all up. Put the power to it after unpacking, then popped in the CD to load the software. Hmm, seems the CD thingy isn't working either-try again. Again. And again. Hunh? Rats, off to the HP website I go, to find the download. Luckily this website is fairly well organized so I find the right download in short order, and try to download it. After a while, it becomes obvious I am going to be running late so I check in with boss and home.

At 6:30 I gave up and went home. Wednesday morning after a flurry of business things, I had time to think about this. So, after one more botched try (stalled at 94%) what seemed like forever, I unstalled the partial and the previous software. I managed to fax what I needed to, and did some house cleaning on the machine before leaving for the evening.

This morning when I arrived, after tending to customers, I went back to the website and began a new download. It was on the machine inside of ten minutes, and full install was completely successfully inside of 40, total. Wow, what a difference! So now I am back up and running here and I can print from my computer, woohoo! Small triumph but oh so annoying when you can't, lol

On the horse front, everyone is doing fine. Reba is getting better by the day, but I know we won't make real progress until she sheds her false sole and we can get her frog back in contact with the ground. It's easy to see by looking at the hoofprints in the snow, that she is still toe stubbing-but is much improved with just two trims a month apart. She was much better about the trimming too, than previously-she is getting accustomed to the hoof jack and is figuring out none of this hurts her. Next appointment is the maximum interval-six weeks out-but I will call if I see too much toe on her, as we need to establish balanced hoof growth. Of course I could roll the toe myself, but I feel more confident in Gisela's ability, than my own, haha If the weather does not permit and it needs doing, I'll do it of course. It's been a treat, watching her personality emerge the better she feels and the more comfortable she is. While not quite a Wingnut, she is friendly and curious and interested, yet respectful-can't ask for better than that!

Yesterday we got a fuel delivery at the house. For the first time in a couple of years, I didn't have a stroke over it, lol The wood stove looks like it will pay for itself in about two years at this rate-even with the price down about $1.30 a gallon from this spring. It's a lot of work and does require regular attention, but there is nothing quite so nice as walking into a toasty warm house and warming in front of the stove. I haven't managed to get a fancy trivet for it yet, or even a fireplace tool set, but that's okay-Christmas is coming.

This weekend is milk test, and we are going to do Thanksgiving on Sunday since my hub will miss it this year. I am so looking forward to the meal with all the trimmings. We are pretty traditional and at this point, I only make what I know everyone really loves: The bird and dressing, smashed potatoes and gravy, rolls, one vegetable. And of course, pumpkin pie. I have a nice little sugar pumpkin waiting for me to cook up, a big hit. If you haven't tried cooking your own pumpkin, I do recommend it, its lovely.