Adding to the Apple Orchard

Costco had apple trees in stock yesterday. I am glad they finally figured out that the first week of March was too early to sell fruit trees in Montana and bumped it back to the first week of April. Most of the varieties they were selling were ones we already have, but I did get one called Wolf River. That apple is new to me. I asked Susan—our local apple expert—and she provided information from one of her books. Wolf River originated in Wisconsin in the mid-1800s, although there are competing accounts of its development.

Apple purists eschew Costco trees with root balls wrapped in sawdust, but Costco trees have done well for us. My State Fair tree came from Costco, as did both the Honeycrisps, the Red Wealthy, and the Golden Delicious—all consistent bearers. I put the Wolf River sapling out in the greenhouse in a large pot until we have time to get it into the ground.

More tomato seedlings have popped up, including several Blue Boar Berry. That was the variety from which I had forgotten to save seeds, so I used seeds from a tomato that had fallen last September and spent the winter on the ground in the garden. Nature is amazing.

I got enough ground beef on sale yesterday to make chili for the pie social. I cooked the ground beef when I got home and will make the roaster pan of chili today. That will go into the freezer until we need it at the beginning of May.

I also finished the little zipper pouch:

It’s cute! I’d like to enlarge this pattern just a bit.

And my blouse pattern resurfaced. It was with the fabric, as I had suspected. I’d like to get a muslin made soon, but I just made a to-do list for next week and it’s not looking promising for any sewing time.

I am struggling (again) with maintaining boundaries around my time. I have over a dozen tasks on next week’s list, only two of which have anything to do with my professional life. Every other task on that list is something related to volunteer activities such as church or the homestead foundation. This was why the Word of the Year last year was NO. If I am not careful, the tail starts to wag the dog. Some of that stems from the assumption that Janet doesn’t have a “real job” and some of it is because I am sitting on a unique toolkit of abilities. We need a video for our church website that will aid us in finding another pastor. Guess who is going to dust off her iMovie skills and make one?

[I’m whining, but it’s my blog and I pay for the privilege of having a place to whine if I want to. 🫅🏻 On another note, one of the YouTube sewists I follow said in her latest video that she got a rude comment from someone who didn’t like the way she spoke. She happens to be German but does all her videos in English—an accomplishment in and of itself—and I find her commentary to be utterly charming. What is it with people that they feel the need to visit such nastiness upon others?]

So much needs to be done and it is all important. The key part is making sure that it isn’t all done by me. I am asking for help and delegating where appropriate, but not everyone knows how to build websites or render videos. Or has a greenhouse. Or can play the piano.

And now it’s time to eat breakfast.