Peel, Slice and Dry on Repeat

November has come with buckets of rain and cloud cover quickly ending our hiking season and leaving us with the same daily tasks. The day to day now is tending to the chickens and pigs first thing in the morning. Speaking of pigs, we've added Mister and Roger to the homestead. Camel and Roger were quick friends. We got him from the neighbor, hints the name of 'Won't you be my neighbor...' Mister not pictured yet as we only got him today.

Roger and Camel

After the animals are fed, we collect the previous days dried persimmons. We've been at this endeavor since October 2. Every day it is peel, slice, and dry the persimmons. That means we have to package about 1 - 3 kg of the dried persimmons. Thankfully we've invested in a vacuum sealer and bags. Game changer for us and our storage. What do you think of the name VeriTrueHarvest for the brand of all the products we pick or produce here at the homestead. Veri means North in Albanian.

In between rain showers we did collect and squeeze more wild and sweet pomegranates. We added a few more liters to the freezer. And

The other sunny days we had the chance to fly over our little town.

Bajze, Albania

The end of the month 360 of our corner.

Homestead Albania

We did have the chance to celebrate Thanksgiving with a group of expats that live in Shkoder. It was great to put faces with names and the pot luck had all the holiday staples. Plus the conversations shared truly were a blessing. We loved listening to their reasons for picking Albania and their first impressions of this glorious country.

In the garden we've been busy picking the remaining peppers, eggplants and tomatoes. The onions, garlic, collard greens, kale, spinach, basil, and parsley are still growing.

The Orchard Guard Tower had a few guests this month and we've marked a new country that has visited this year. So far that makes 26 countries. If you are heading to northern Albania consider staying in our little tiny home. It's great all year long.

OGT

We did pick our oranges and lemons this month. And the loquats are still blooming with a few bee visitors.

What we've learned during the start of the cold, rainy and dark early season is that it's important to find an indoor hobby. So far Art has begun reading more and I have done more writing. I hope next month I'll have a publishing update for those that have followed our writing careers.

And let's not forget we had a few returning visitors.

See you next month.