Goings on

Last night it hailed and stormed and hailed and stormed complete with thunder and lightning which is sooooooo rare around here. My husband and I sprang out of bed at one point last night just to turn on the light outside our bedroom to see how big the pellets were! They sounded HUGE and it was dumping!!! Very fun for us Californians who nary get a peck of solid weather :)

This morning the boys and I headed out to see if we could find any residuals and they got to play in this one little pile hidden on the shade fabric which is protecting my seedlings. (all the seedlings were just fine!)

Even the snap peas, who didn't have much protection, were just fine.
Since it was such a cold and rainy (and sunny, sometimes) morning, of course I just had to bring in some flowers. Such a juxtaposition this time of year is. It's cold and hailing outside, but the fall/winter garden is gaining and growing and there are still flowers about. I even still have sunflowers!

I started sweet peas much earlier this year. I usually wait until late December.
Baby chicks! Born this morning. This one is just breaking though her shell.

And look! Thanksgiving turkey, oh so fresh. Last year I brined and then we bbq'd the turkey and it came out great. I'm going to brine for less time this year (12 hours, 1/2 cup kosher salt and 1/2 cup sugar or other sweetener per quart of water, plus all the herbs you want... go BIG on the herbs so they don't disappear in there, that's my advice ;) and we are going to do it in a clean cooler instead of buying a special brine bag.