October Randomness: Part Two

As October continues, my to-do list grows.  I wish I had days at home so that I could spread my list out over the course of the week rather than trying to cram it all into the weekends.  I would like to have a chat with the person who invented the five day work week.  

Now for the rest of the October random happenings...

We are still working away with our one little bee hive.  The bees in the hive seem to be doing well as far as we can tell.  We found a couple of emergency queen cells but were told that this is normal (you can see it on the right side of the frame in the picture).  They have used most of the honey stores they had put up, so we are feeding them a 2:1 sugar syrup right now to help them prepare for winter.  We will definitely be investing in a few more hives come spring as well as splitting this one.    

On a completely separate note, I decided on a whim to enter a few items into the county fair, and was so excited to win a blue and red ribbon for these pickles and this apple butter respectively.  I also entered a jar of green beans but didn't win anything for those.  I was so surprised as I had absolutely no hope for winning, but it was so much fun I think I'm hooked.

A wall of canned goods at the county fair

I had one jar of apple pie filling left and decided to make a pie with it the other night.  I had four of these pie crusts in the freezer, so I thawed one and used it as the bottom crust.  Then I spread a jar of this pie filling into it before topping it with a crumb topping made of 3/4 cup flour, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 1/4 cup packed brown sugar, and 1/3 cup butter.  I cut the butter into the dry ingredients using a pastry blender until it resembled coarse crumbs.  I then sprinkled it on top and baked the pie at 375 degrees for 50 minutes.  It was easy and yummy although I do wish it had browned a little more.  Again, I'm blaming this on my horrible oven.  Let's just say I can't wait to get a new one.  It did make me realize that I need to put up more pie filling as it makes for a super easy dessert when you're short on time.  

I have plans this month to make pork stock from some bones I've had in the freezer since spring along with some apple butter and pie filling from apples we got back in August.  I also want to plant some fall pansies and kale outside, and I'll keep you posted on the chickens and bees.  Happy October!