Kitchen day for me. I started to deep clean the kitchen, looked around, and went at all of the produce on my counter. So far, I've got...

*roasted pumpkins, pureed (in the Vitamix!) and cooling to go into the freezer,
*roasted peppers and tomatillos in the freezer
*tomato-zucchini sandwich bread cooling on the counter
*and I cleaned leftovers out of the refrigerator- ready to mix up a breakfast quick bread with leftover carrots, canned pears, and oatmeal, the other half of the zucchini, and four stalks of rhubarb I got from the garden. Plus a brown banana I just found in the fruit bowl.

And the kitchen is clean, except for the floor which eldest son just said he'd mop for me when I'm done.

Here's the bit that I feel best about- Something has shifted. A year ago, two years ago, I was hanging on to these seasonal rituals around the garden and food preservation for dear life. They kept me connected to myself (if that doesn't sound too corny).

Now it's just a lovely part of the flow of the year again. Lots of things are still really hard, but not the same way. It feels good and homey.