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In the last two weeks, we have made four rounds of plum jam, plum preserves, grape mushti (grape juice with a kick), grape pekmez (molasses), fig jam, dried hundreds of figs, and today a batch of thana (cornelian cherries) raki. Never a dull moment on the homestead. The grape pekmez made for a very sticky situation. We've made it from mulberries over the last few years but never tried to make it out of grapes. IT WAS THICK! We picked the ripest grapes, smushed, strained and slowly simmered down to a thick honey texture. I enjoyed the flavor. Art enjoys the mulberry pekmez a bit more. We only made about six small jars but a worthy experiment. And taking full advantage of our grapes we made some mushti. We picked nice juicy grapes and smashed into a small barrel. We let it rest for two days and then strain into a pitcher. It was taste sweet like grape juice but has a bit of a kick. We've gone a bit plum crazy here this year. It started with 5 kg of plums. Then another 5 kg and another 5. After three rounds of jam we preserved another 3 kg of plums. And just this afternoon I picked up another 6 kg. I called not my jam. I'll update next month on the jar count of plum related items we have stored for the winter. Side note, we have several plum trees that aren't quite mature, so hopefully next year most of the plums come from within the walls of our garden. And the figs! It was delicious season for our figs. And Art tried several different versions of drying with just the sun vs a new dehydrator or a combo of both. The fresh figs sliced in half placed in the dehydrator took about 18 hours, dried evenly, but I enjoyed the texture of the whole fig for two days in the dehydrator. It's a soft chewy instead of a taffy tough chew. After drying, we bag and freeze for another 24 hours. This helps prevent any pests that may have burrowed there way in from living. We place the dried figs in jars with a bay leaf and store in our pantry, which is filling up really fast. We do share a fair amount with my sister-in-law here. And the jam was a success. We've tried a few variations of fig jams, with lemon juice, without. And this year we choose without lemon. It's yummy! We walked through the orchard to inspect the pomegranates. Art picked one and it's sweet although pretty small. I would say we are weeks away from a bountiful season of juicing coming our way. In between all the brewing and canning we took advantage of the cooler temperatures to enjoy the lake. The Bar Restorant Syri i Sheganit is about a ten minute bike ride and the views never get old even with the addition of a few quacky ducks. It adds to the ambience of one with nature. The garden is still producing peppers, tomatoes, eggplants, watermelons, cucumbers, beans, and pumpkins. The cabbage, leeks and brussel sprouts are progressing along. Cooler temperatures are in the forecast plus a bit of rain. Our trees that are pick ready: apples, figs, plum, kimchee, and a few olives. Next up the pomegranates, quinces, persimmons, orange, and lemon. Vine to wine season in the next few weeks. Cheers!

August always comes in with a variety of colors and changes throughout the homestead. Our fig trees are on a daily full five gallon bucket harvest mode. We are attempting several versions of drying our figs to keep up with the vast bounty. It takes two days with our little dehydrator and about three days to sun dry. The garden is still producing peppers, eggplants, cucumbers, tomatoes, okra and beans. We've picked a few apples and we even harvested a second round of mountain tea and lavender. Pumpkins and watermelons are still ripening. We even popped our first round of popcorn from the corn this year. We have a few stalks that need to ripen but the rest are drying. Art and I collected the thana (cornelius cherries) for raki. They will ferment for about 45 days or so before we can distill. The pomegranates have doubled in size during the last month. The orchard looks more like trees and less like bushes. We have about forty trees with fruit this year. Next year we should see that number to be around a few hundred. The walnut, olive, plums, persimmon, quince, dates, orange and lemon trees are still ripening. Our daily walk around the garden includes taste testing the various grapes ripening throughout the vineyard. We have the luxury of living close to many beautiful sites like the Albanian Alps, the beautiful Lake Shkoder, but we also live near the border of Montenegro. We enjoy the view of Montenegro mountains from our front porch. Montenegro is a small country with less than half the population of Albania. They have several coastline towns and villages along the Adriatic Sea. We've visited a few places over the years like Kotor, Port of Montenegro, Ulcinj, and Budva. Last week we stopped by the Port of Montenegro to visit family and we were treated to a view of Montenegro via sea. We spent the day cruising the coastline and checking out the beautiful villages, old churches, forts, and castles that still remain. Day trips from our homestead add variety and the options are endlessly dreamy. I love living where I can experience new food, culture, languages, ancient villages, and still sleep in my own bed. Has Albania been added to your must visit bucket list?

July was crunchy hot. So we turned on the irrigation to water the trees and the garden and headed north a few times this month. First up was Theth. The valley of Theth sits high in the southern end of the Malesi e Madhe region of Albania. We've been near Theth a few times but finally crossed over and snaked our way down to the Theth valley. The road is new so the pavement was great but it's a bit narrow. So why here, you may ask? It has family owned guesthouses, rivers, waterfalls, blue eye spring, and many mountain trails. A popular hike is from Theth to Valbona or vice versus. It's a long day hike connecting the two small valleys with amazing views. We've not completed the trek but it's not off the list. If you go to youtube and type in Theth or Valbona there are hundreds of videos of hikers making this trek. We visited the blue eye but overall agreed it was a bit to crowded. Cross at the top before the switchbacks on the way down between Boge and Theth. And this last week we made two trips north to Vermosh and Lepushe. The drive there is MAGICAL. It never gets old. The trip is about an hour and half. When you climb up from our valley you pass through the village of Rapshe and stop a scenic lookout. It over looks a canyon with a beautiful a river snaking between the Albanian Alps. You literally drive down parallel with the river as you wind your way through stunning small villages. If you come through in early spring or late fall the waterfalls are countless. Including one we've admired from the road and finally stopped to get a closer look. We've nicknamed the spring fed waterfall the Crying Giant. In Vermosh the hike of choice was summiting Mount Jeshnic, a grazing valley high in the Albanian Alps. A steep hike with incredible views and lots of shade to rest and take it all in. His family stayed at the Peraj Guesthouse. It's family run and they served farm to table AMAZING meals. It has four little cabins, areas for camping, RVs, and even a few rooms in the guesthouse. We met several travelers from Germany and Netherlands. All who were very impressed by Albania. And a few days later we made the drive back up to Lepushe. Art, our nephew and four of our nephew's friends hiked to summit Mount Vajush. We completed this hike two years ago and I decided to sit this one out. I stayed back at the guesthouse Bujtina Lepushe. I worked on my fourth book in the Ember in Time series and enjoyed the beautiful views and cooler weather. Art and my nephew captured some incredible footage of their hike. Back here at the homestead. We are sauced out! After a week of picking, chopping, cooking and canning we have 47 jars of sauce. We made several varieties but my favorite was heavy on the garlic and basil. We are still picking tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, cucumbers, a second round of mountain tea, yellow pod beans, watermelons and even picked a pumpkin (10.7 kg) yesterday. We pulled the last of the bush beans and will be picking the chick peas later this week. We have figs, grapes, and thana (cornelius cherries) are ripening daily. And yesterday we picked the last of the pears. And the apples, sugar plums, pomegranates, oranges, lemons, quince and persimmons are still progressing nicely. The orchard had a second round of growth in the last month. We have three different varieties: davedishe, hicanzar, and wonderful. And the hicanzar (a Turkish variety) are pretty full with new fruits. Compared to the other two varieties that peaked with less than five fruits. And Art and I did a mini excursion at the beginning of the month to the south of France and Barcelona, Spain. We enjoyed exploring Nice, Monaco, Cannes, Marseille, and Barcelona. And Barcelona has topped my list of my favorite European city. It was extremely easy to get around, cost was reasonable for food, hotels, and it has something for everyone. The sea, beautiful parks, amazing architecture, vibrant live music, beaches, and the food all so good! Highly recommend second to our little corner of the world. A few shots of our walks around. Hello August...we hope you are cool.

After a week away and several jars of sauce, pickled peppers and eggplants completed by my sister-in-law and Art's mom we returned to harvest the potatoes, bush beans and the rest of the onions. After a full day of braiding the onions and pulling potatoes we've encountered a storage capacity issue. We have more than doubled last year's production and are exploring using the new pig chalet (we haven't moved them in yet) for food storage until we complete another option. A new building to replace the crumbled one in the back is getting higher on the to do list each season. And today we pulled the ripe pod beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, okra, peppers, eggplants and pears. It's about to be sauce central for the next few days! The watermelon, popcorn, and pumpkins are still growing. We will have huge pumpkins this fall! The thana (cornelius cherries) are ripening to a bright red and the apples, kimchi (dates), lemon, orange, persimmon, plum, pomegranate, and quince are holding steady. What's next on the eat now calendar? Figs! The vines are thriving and we expect a sweet wine season. We have a few very hot days coming up and hope to finally get up towards Theth for some cool mountain air. The photo below I snapped with the drone last night. The highest peak is mountain we summited a few years back but the small hills to the left are on my list to explore. Who's game? Check back soon for a sauce update.

It's beginning. We have buckets of fresh peppers, cucumber, eggplants, potatoes, yellow pod beans, and tomatoes coming from the garden daily. We've picked the last of the chamomile, lavender, mountain tea, and pull the garlic. We laid down the stems of the onions and slowly picking okra. Pumpkins, watermelon, squash, brussels sprouts, broccoli, and cauliflower are still growing. Our bush beans and chick peas are grown and maturing. Our meals are fresh and filling! We are picking pears daily and our fig seasons are right around the corner. The spring figs are ripe now. DELICIOUS! The vines are thriving under and the quality this years is amazing! And the pomegranates in the garden and in the orchard are doubling in size nearly every week. And this week we were blessed six additional chickens. We made quick day trip this week and discovered a new corner of this beautiful country. Stopped by and visited a new business and did some drone work. Blue Beach Restorant is has 101 umbrellas/lounge chairs on powdery perfect sand leading to the clear water of the Adriatic Sea. It has a full service beach bar and pizzeria coming soon. Free shaded parking and Wifi. A little corner of paradise. And then we popped over to explore Cape Rodon. It's been on my list for a while. And it gave me serious New Zealand vibes. The rolling hills backdropped by the blue Adriatic Sea. We stopped for brunch at Saint Michelle. It's building new villas with some absolutely stunning views. We have earmarked this area for future stays. And then we made it to the tip of the cape and hiked to the Rodon Castle, explored a bunker café and the Saint Anthony church. And then made it dinner with some family at lovely seaside resort called Arbeni. It was a long 2.5 hour drive home but SO worth it! Are you considering a trip over? No, let me give you a few reasons to add it to your bucket list minus all of the above. Visa free entry for US citizens for 365 days and 90 days for EU/UK. Easy permanent resident visa process if you choose to stay. Hiking or admiring breathtaking, mountains, waterfalls, roman era ruins, canyons, beaches on the sea, lakes, rivers, castles, bunkers, and it's a tenth of the cost compared to our neighbors Greece and Italy. Still no? The culture of hospitality surpasses any country I have lived in or visited, the language is beautiful but fun fact, most kids under the age of 40 are fluent in English and Italian. And the WINE, so GOOD. So pack a bag or three and pop on over. I promise it will not disappoint!

The garden is providing us healthy hearty meals everyday. We spend our morning tour picking cucumbers, peppers, onions, eggplants, potatoes, beans, basil, spinach, green lettuce, tomatoes and the fresh eggs from our hens creates a wonderful breakfast omelet. A combo of the veggies is added to a lunch/supper soups and a fresh salad. And it's officially pear season! The spring pears are ripe and crisp. And we got a little sticky this week. Collecting several buckets of our white and black mulberries to smash and strain. We made another around of pekmez aka mulberry molasses. And we handpicked a few mulberries to attempt preserving via drying along with some pears, an apple, and a banana. After 10 hours they were still plump and not dried at all. But the pears, apples and bananas were fantastic. We may try once more but we are on to other projects. I am dubbing this as the 'Pig Chalet'. Art poured the foundation a few weeks ago and this week we put up the walls. He plans to keep a side of it for storage and the other side as a new shelter for the pig (our current one backs up to the building we are knocking down soon). The roof, interior dividing wall and doors are still a work in progress. The grapes in the vineyard seem to be doubling overnight. We are anticipating quality and ample size grapes this fall. The other fruit and nut trees are progressing along well. We have a collection of tea in the garden this year including a native mountain green tea that we've foraged while hiking over the last few years. It's second attempt grow it and it's blooming. Even the bees are enjoying the bounty. We look forward to our 'breaks' in the hammocks under the vines. It's a great chance to relax and recharge. So we purchased a third to share with anyone that may want to stop by and join us. And drum roll please! We have two new mama hens with a total of 16 baby chicks this week alone. That brings the total of new chickens to 26. Art built two chick condos to accommodate the hens and their flocks. We have a third hen scheduled to hatch her flock at the end of the month. So a third condo is on the to do list. And for the first time in ages I am writing again. Guide Time Inside, Book Four in the Ember in Time Series on progressing along. No expected date of release so far but fingers crossed I'll have it ready before Christmas. Happy Summer days here, stay cool and well my friends.

We are officially in our window of 95 (35°C) and sunny everyday for three months. Now that's tolerable most days because of the low humidity. So shaded areas aren't too suffocating like our hammocks under the vines. We also have more bounty ripening every day in the garden. The cucumbers, peppers and potatoes are garden fresh and super tasty. So the sun isn't all bad. And we have over a 100 tomatoes ripening so bring on the salsa, sauce and canning recipes. Our food forest continues to grow including a new addition lavender. This was our third year in a row trying and this year it was successful. The northern regions of Albania are major provider of medicinal and essential oil herbs. There are fields of lavender, sage and other herbs all through our area. I have been monitoring our garden's growth each month with a series of shots taken daily or everyday. Check out the progression of last month alone. And the vineyard is thriving. The grapes are the size of the tip of my pinky and growing. The orchard has new blooms and blossoms. We are doing weekly watering and have lost count of the fruits. So fingers crossed we will have some new pomegranates from the orchard. But our pomegranate trees in the garden are FULL. And the bees are so HAPPY. Mulberries are juicy and plump. We still have another week or so to shake and collect. And our project mode is in full mode. Art is building a new piggy pin and two baby chick condos. We have two mama hens sitting so more baby chicks soon. And we released two audiobooks: Castle of Teskom and Art's book Northern Albanian Folk Tales, Myths and Legends. He narrated the entire audio. They are available today on your favorite audiobook platform or on our publishing website www.KimMalaj.com. Plus the anniversary second edition of Recover or Yield dropped with new content including new cover, chapter art, fantasy map and more. Hardcovers coming soon!

The mulberries are ripe and ready for picking. We laid down the plastic and my husband Art climbed up the tree. My sister in law stopped by later that evening to collect the bounty. It's the first of many times we will shake the one of three mature trees over the next few weeks. It's a sticky everything situation but oh so worth it. What do we do with all the mulberries? Over the years, we have fermented for raki, smashed and strained to make pekmez (mulberry molasses), squeezed for juice and frozen a few batches. We are still deciding how we will use this years harvest. What are your recommendations? In orchard news...we have cut the hay and inspected the pomegranate trees. And we have a few duds but we have a very happy with the growth over the last two years. We have three varieties: davedish, hicanzar, and wonderful. And so far the bounty of our buds are coming from the hicanzar varieties. It's a sour-sweet variety native to Turkey. Wonderfuls are catching up quickly. My, oh my the garden! We are seeing the fruits of our labor. We are currently eating loads of onions, garlic, strawberries, salads, and spinach. Tomatoes, cucumbers, beans and peppers are almost ready. And we are collecting chamomile about every other day to dry for tea. We planted more tomatoes, brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, pumpkins, and basil. The first week of May... Last week of May... Third week of May. And the trees in the garden have exceeded my expectations. We have new fruits and nuts growing this year including walnut, orange, lemon, blueberry, aronia berries, and a new variety of plum. And our mature trees are hanging in there with the rising dry season. Here is the latest blooms, fruits and buds. And last but not least we have grapes! The vineyard is thriving and the shade for the hammocks is nearly covered. The beginning of May to now you can see the fill in within weeks. We are loving this season and the bees. Our little green wonderland. And in publishing news. Art recorded his audiobook for his book Northern Albanian Legends, Myths and Folk Tales. It will be published in the next thirty days. And the Castle of Teskom Audiobook is hitting shelves on June 1st. It is narrated by the talented Amy J. Johnson, a true performance of the book and brings life to the characters. If you are not in the market to buy, put in a request at your local library. And the second editions for the Ember in Time Series have started to roll out. We have two of the three published versions out. Check out the new covers for the Castle of Teskom and Recover or Yield. The new editions include chapter art, a fantasy map and more. What do you think of the new covers? https://amzn.to/3qr025Q

We wrapped up April with a very green garden with hundreds of plants in the ground and THRIVING! I asked Art if he thought we had enough room to store all of the food we may produce this year. And without hesitation he said 'nope' and I believe him. We will be daily picking come June through October. We already have garlic, salads, onion and celery ready to pick. Our planted list for the garden includes the following and 45 varieties: Bay Leaf Brussel Sprouts Bush Beans Cabbage Cantaloupe Celery Chamomile Chickpeas Climbing Beans Cucumbers Eggplant Garlic Green Tea Hithra (tea) Hot Peppers Lavender Leeks Okra Onion Parsley Peas Peppermint Peppers Popcorn Corn Potatoes Pumpkin Rosemary Spearmint Spinach Spring Lettuce Squash Strawberries Tomatoes Watermelon So yeah, if you're hungry come see us. And if you have preserving tips, tricks or recipes send them our way. Thankful we have the irrigation hoses laid out and several sections covered in plastic because weeding and watering would quickly become a full time job during our HOT dry summer days. We've counted six turtles, one lizard, ten baby chickens, eight hens, one rooster and one pig in our garden. We also have lots of bees and birds that fly in and out. Plus a few spying sheep on the hill behind the house. In the pomegranate orchard we are waist high in grass and will be cutting for hay in the coming week or so. Art has noted that we have a few duds that will need be taken out. Thankfully we have cuttings from several trees and he has several starters that are taking off. And our vines are huge and already need to be cleaned up. We start from the bottom and snap off new growth sprouts. Then we reduce the shoots to the one closest to the vine. This quickly becomes a task you can get lost in and one that I actually don't mind. And when you need a time out the hammocks we are almost in the shade. Art also added a row of blueberry bushes and aronia trees between two vine rows. The trees in the garden are full of fruit and we still have several trees nearly ready to blossom including the newly planted orange and lemon trees. Plus the pomegranates, persimmon and olive trees. And our batch of persimmons that fermented all winter is ready for the still. We will be brewing up some raki in the next week or so. In other news we visited the newly remodeled Syri Sheganit Bar and Restorant over the last week. We often bike to here during the summers. It has an extended deck with additional outdoor seating and the interior got lots of glam nautical themed updates. We love our little corner of the world and can't wait to share it with friends and family. So when you are ready to cross the pond let us know!

Art and I have started our spring ritual of morning walks around the garden to admire the new blossoms, fruits and veggies taking off. It has been a beautiful turn from dull brown to bright green with pops of colors from all the flowers. We are thankful that this transition happens in mini stages giving us time to appreciate each tree, vine and veggie plant. One of our apple trees from bud to blossom: View of the hills today: Versus March: It's truly amazing to live the brilliance of each day. Check out the quince tree for the last two weeks from buds to blooms: So after smelling the blossoms we have tackled the garden over the last two weeks with more sweat equity post the spring showers. We lined six sections with fertilizer, an irrigation line and tarped before planting. Over the last three days Art inserted 90 tomato plants (four varieties), 60 peppers (three varieties) and 60 eggplants. Before and after: Last week he dropped seeds for squash, cantaloupes, watermelons and cucumbers in the freshly tilled dirt in the pomegranate orchard and over a hundred spinach seedlings into a fresh bed. Several hundred seedlings have been started for additional peppers, chickpeas, tomatoes, eggplants, bush beans, climbing beans and okra. We ordered additional seeds for popcorn corn, brussel sprouts and pumpkins. So our food forest is growing nearly everyday. The potatoes, onions, garlic and herb garden planted in March have really taken off. Art has started a tree nursery from cuttings of our trees here in the garden and the orchard as standby for trees that don't take off or to sale. The hammocks are back out and we are enjoying the afternoon breaks from the garden or writing with the accompanied tunes from the baby chicks and the spring birds surrounding the vineyard. We have eleven baby chicks and keep the mama tethered to their chicken condo and sunshade for hawk and evil cat protection (we've learned our lesson from previous attacks). And here is a preview of the fruits that are already popping up! From left to right: thana (cornelius cherries), kumbulla (plum), mana (mulberry), dardha (pears), fik (figs), and rrushi (grapes). How are you enjoying the spring?

So for anyone that lives in an area that is not very generous with rain during prime growing season you get the pains of watering. And after four years of planting a huge garden we are planning irrigation from conception of the garden! It will still require some manual intervention i.e. turning the well and valves on for certain sections, but overall zero dragging and kinking hoses in my future this summer! We have planted twenty kilograms of potatoes, eight kilograms of onions, and several veggie seedlings are already starting to sprout. And despite some freezing temps at night we have had several of our fruit trees blossom and several more nearly there. We have three varieties of plums sugar plums, green plums, and wild plums. The ones pictured below are the green plum variety. Our peach tree had some frost damage but this did not stop the bees. I found one this morning going to town. The pear and quince trees are in a race to blossom next. The apples, mulberries, and cherries are slowly showing additional signs of life. The kiwis, persimmons, kimchee, persimmons and pomegranates are still dormant. Art has been busy cleaning up the pomegranate trees in the orchard and he is taking clippings to grow new trees as back ups if we need to replace any next season. Again working smarter. And drum roll please... We officially have a spring mama chicken! We are averaging about six to seven eggs a day from our hens and one that is almost always double yoked. So we have ample protein to start our day! This week we also took a less than hour drive to a small valley town called Boge and had lunch. It was a beautiful setting and the food was great! Have you ever visited northern Albania? Reason number 800543... to witness natural beauty. Just saying. Cheers!

It's nearly here. Spring. Our garden is popping with little bits of color and more are nearly ready to blossom. In order: Plum Flower, Cornelius Cherry Flower, Peach Bud, Plum Buds, Blueberries Buds, Cornelius Cherry Flowers And our hens have snapped out of their winter moods and are producing fresh eggs again. We had three roosters and that's a problem when you only have seven hens. And we are finally down to one rooster. This last week we had a heavy rain that turned out be a lot of snow covering the peaks again. Art took a time out from trimming trees and the vines to capture this while I was editing, Who Is Maggie. My latest project, a mystery novel that is coming out March 1st. Who Is Maggie The blurb: A series of bizarre events lands Rozanne Rayvern in the emergency room. Gage Auburn, her lifelong best friend, steps up and pays a debt to help Rozanne. A headline in the local paper the following day unravels one of the bizarre events connecting Rozanne to a century old cold case. And by nightfall they find themselves at the center of small town gossip and immersed in a search for a missing girl. But to everyone’s surprise it all circles back to another closed case. Can they find the root of all the chaos before it ends an already broken Rozanne? Available to order online here: https://books2read.com/u/b5XBB7 Art has built new raised beds inside the garden for our herbs and strawberries alone one side and built a new trellis for the vines that needed some additional support with materials we had onsite. Loving how the trellised grapes turned out last year. This year should be picture perfect with loads of shade for the hammocks. Art also spent the last week cleaning up the trees. I heard the chainsaw...I came out and found half of one of the pear trees cut down. It was just the beginning, we spent the next two days chopping up the tree trimmings and stacking for mulch or the fireplace. It's quite an impressive stock pile of wood. And we did attempt to start on the garden but after two passes our dom dom decided to lost the clutch. We've taken it back for servicing. After the rain passes again, we may start manually working the land like we have for the last few years. We are also going to be starting some seedlings soon and will be planning the layout of what and where everything will go this year. What are you planting this year?

Art and I have upgraded our scythe/shovels to a dom dom (tiller) with various attachments. It was in large part due to maintain the grass between the pomegranate trees in the orchard. And a new microphone to start the process of producing audiobooks for Art's book, Northern Albanian Folk Tales, Legends and Myths and my fantasy series, Ember in Time. We (mostly Art) have been busy trimming the vines back and clearing overgrowth in the woods next to the orchard. We've discovered many large moss covered boulders and several fruit trees that were suffocating under red thorn bushes. The amount of sun bathing this area has already made the spot more magical. And I've been polishing a new small town suspense novel. It's nearly ready for my editor and I have managed the courage to set a date for the release on March 1, 2022. It's a new genre for me and is fictionally set in my old Missouri backyard, so to speak. And with 2022 we are planning to tear down the old stone building and rebuild a new building to store our wine making equipment that will include a tasting room and fingers crossed, a studio or two to host guests here on property. Stay safe, stay well my dears!

I politely suggested to Art that we have enough trees for 2021. Just this week we've planted 25 blueberry trees, over two hundred pomegranate trees (replaced the dead ones in the new orchard), four orange trees and then he comes home with six more trees mostly a cherry variety from some extended family. That doesn't not include the dozen or so we transplanted about a month ago. And if my calculations are correct, we have planted or transplanted over 1,000 trees this year. The orchard alone had 800 planted early this year and another 200 to replace the ones that did not survive. Now I know trees help with the air quality, the benefits out weigh the cons by a mile, and it's a healthy borderline obsession to have. We are just simply running out of room for well drained sunny patches of earth for new trees. I smell a recipe for a sneezing disaster come spring bloom season. But 'tis the season. We picked the last of the persimmons and kept some for raki. If you have never enjoyed a persimmon they are honey sweet and juicy. If you pick them too early they have tannins (that filmy coat inside your mouth). But when baked I've made pumpkin inspired style baked goods. And we are still drying the persimmons hope to have an update before end of year of success, but so far it looks like we may have to try drying some inside. If you have recipes with persimmons please send them my way. We are still enjoying fresh cabbage, leeks, and salads from the garden. And we are down from three piggies to two. The freezer is stocked for the next few months. I am going to be making a few rounds of cookies and a cheesecake (we finally found something similar to sour cream). And enjoying our bounty of wine. In publishing news, we are wrapping up this years with three books in the Ember in Time Series, Northern Albanian Folk Tales, Myths and Legends, 26 custom journals, and The Old Untold published and available anywhere books are sold online. I have a new work in progress that is a Paranormal Mystery coming February 2022. Hope to drop a cover reveal in a few weeks. Cheers. We are enjoying the holidays with close family here at the homestead. Hope you and your family enjoy a happy and healthy holiday season.

December brings us into a bountiful Persimmon season here at Homestead Albania. And this year we are trying a new preservation method of drying persimmons. It's very popular in Japan and we have watched a few tutorials on how to pick the ideal persimmon, peel, hang and dry the beautiful fruits. We'll document the drying process and our storage of the fruits. In the previous years, we have picked the firm persimmons, wiped each fruit with raki and stored them in a plastic bag in a cool, dark place for a week to rid the sweet honey fruits of tannins. The remain crisp and sweet using this method. The other is waiting until the fruit is soft on on the tree. It's great for baking. And we usually ferment a barrel of persimmons for raki to be brewed in the spring. We've had only a few blue sky days in between our soggy, grey days. Enjoy the glimpse of the snow capped mountains and garden on a pretty day.

Independence for Albania has been an on and off again state of mind since the dark ages. In the 2nd century the Illyrians were conquered by the Romans, and from the end of the 4th century they were ruled by the Byzantine Empire. After suffering centuries of invasion by Visigoths, Huns, Bulgars, and Slavs, the Albanians were finally conquered by the Ottoman Turks in the 15th century. But they did break free from the Ottoman Empire in 1912 and established as an independent nation is celebrated on November 28th, as flag day. On November 28, 1443, National Hero Gjergj Kastrioti Skenderbeg raised the flag in Kruja Castle. Every city has its own Liberation Day. The liberation of Shkodra and the entire country was on November 29th, 1944. Some cities celebrate on 28 and some on 29. There are commemoration wreath-laying ceremonies at the cemeteries of the martyrs in every city and usually concerts. Weather this time of year can be a bit damp and this year is no exception. It's poured the last few days limiting outdoor festivities but it is also the week before another traditional holiday celebrated here in Albania. Saint Nicholas is known as Shen’Kollë by most Catholic families, even those from villages that are devoted to other saints, here in Bajze they also celebrate Saint Marks in April. The Feast of Saint Nicholas is celebrated on the eve of December 5th, known as Shen’Kolli i Dimnit (Saint Nicholas of Winter). On the eve of his feast day, some Albanians will light a candle and abstain from meat, preparing a feast of roasted lamb and pork, to be served to guests after midnight. Guests will greet each other, saying, “Nata e Shen’Kollit ju nihmoftë!” (“May the Night of Saint Nicholas help you!”) and other such blessings. The full tale of St. Nik is shared in Art's book Northern Albanian Folk Tales, Myths and Legends

We wrapped up our raki brewing season with an additional seventy liters from our grape harvest. Art has really mastered the art of raki. I help tend the fire but really it is his operation. After three years, we have racked up quite the collection of raki from our garden and vineyard. Side note*I may have to invest in wood working tools for Art.* We have made raki from our grapes post wine, mulberries, persimmons, and cornelius cherries. We have also had other family bring us raki made from plums and cherries. Why so much booze? Tradition. Albanian's use raki as a gesture of hospitality. When a person walks inside an Albanian home for a visit. A small glass with raki is poured and set in front of them. Along with an assortment of other beverages followed by fruits, nuts and eventually a round of food. It's served at all major life events including weddings, births, and funerals. So do we drink it everyday, no, but we always have plenty on hand. Is this common in homes here? Maybe not as much or the assortment but a bottle of raki is a staple in pretty much every household. Where can I buy it? The local stores have it for sale but if you are outside of Albania you have to get a little more creative when on your hunt for it. Check local international wine and liquor stores or the next closest product to it is grappa, Italy's version of raki made from the grape skins. We have not applied for a license to ship our wine or raki, YET. It's on our list. Garden Update. Quince and persimmons are ripe and ready to eat. Enjoyed both in the last few days. The garlic and onion we planted for the spring have all popped up. I picked the last two green apples today and the cabbage, lettuce greens, spinach, and leeks are still coming along nicely. Art transplanted over twenty trees to fill in the back half of the garden. We had several plum, walnut, avocado, passion fruit, pear and pomegranate trees that were growing at random spots in the garden and vineyard. In a few years that section of the garden will be full of delicious fruits and nuts! We're officially in the chilly evening section of fall. The second the sun goes down it's a race to get inside. Which means we have had to set limits on couch potato time. No streaming until after seven. This also means we drink hot mountain tea or pomegranate tea every night and I am smashing out a new standalone novel that is a small town mystery. Hope to have it ready for spring. And I had a bit of busy week. I published the third book in the Ember in Time Series, Protectors of Time. Plus received my first official press as an author. Cheers to a productive week.

I, Kim, spent nearly two months stateside visiting friends, family and completing a small book tour. Meanwhile Art kept the homestead up and running. He managed our fig trees collecting, sun drying and canning several hundred figs. His green thumb in the garden planting additional garlic, onion, cabbage, and salad greens. We're still producing melons and tomatoes from the summer garden. He made a round of thana (cornelius cherry) raki and collected the kimchi (jujube). Our bounty of grapes has over succeeded all expectations. Art managed two rounds of picking and crushing grapes before I returned. He pulled over 250 liters of wine and a fair amount of mushti (sparkling grape juice) from the first round of collection. I arrived in time to help with the third and final round of hand picking and crushing 700 liters of grapes sealed to ferment for the next few weeks. And plenty of grapes left on the vines to eat and enjoy. We also secured three oak barrels for 170 liters of wine along with the glass decanters we use to store before bottling. And that isn't all. It is officially pomegranate season here. And we have already started collecting, juicing and freezing bottles for the winter and spring. And olive season. Art climbed the ladder and picked each olive. They are soaking now. So what's next here at Homestead Albania. Well we have quince and persimmon fruits still ripening. A few green apples to pick and the bounty of cabbage to enjoy. We ordered several pomegranate trees to replace the few that did not take in the orchard and also ordered blueberry bushes to plant. And book three in the Ember in Time Series will be released in November. Cheers my fellow humans. Stay safe and stay well.

And then there were five. We had six baby chicks until our big pig got a hold of one. RIP little buddy. On a less sad note. Art collected the rest of the thana for raki and made a small batch of thana (Cornelius Cherry) syrup. One batch with sugar and another without for medicinal purposes. It is believed that this berry-like fruit is perfect for preventing common cold and flu, as it contains elevated levels of vitamin C, which is a very powerful natural antiviral, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory agent. It was a messy process. Huge shout out to my sister in law for helping Art and his mom make the batch. Thanks Duda! Art was also able to collect and juice a few shegas (pomegranates) from our garden. And manage to collect and dry more figs. He's been very very busy! And it's nearly vine to wine season. We have two rows of grapes that ripen in early September. Art pulled the grapes and ran them through the crusher to make mushti (grape juice with a kick). He collected five gallons worth after two days and bottled it. We freeze the mushti and take out when we are craving a little more grape in our life. It will be another month or so before we the other rows of grapes ripen and we can pull for wine and raki. Hopefully I will return to harvest this years bounty. The weather in September immediately cooled off mid day temps are in the mid-80s and the nights are cooler. If you are ever considering a trip over across the pond I can't recommend the fall enough. The figs, the grapes, the pomegranates, the weather and fall colors!!! I am heading to Missouri today to visit family after more than 2.5 years across the pond. Super excited to squeeze them all. And I will be kicking off my first book signing event this weekend in Springfield. I have three events booked. Fingers crossed they can all go on with an uprise in cases, I am weary, but optimistic. Stay safe and well my friends. And a few I hope to see very soon.

Mmm...Figs! The first round of figs have arrived and are honey sweet. Grapes are turning pretty quick and with the heat it's happening rapidly. The garden continues to produce nearly daily. The well water is a huge blessing for the garden and the vines this season with a relentless heat wave of over 100 degrees on more days then not. Our new plum trees had a few plums come to full ripe. We hope next year to have enough for a few rounds of jam. The orchard is surviving the blistering heat. Art has been meticulous watering the trees and we have lost a few to poor roots but overall the majority are holding on. Next year we may even have enough fruits to test. We stocked up on glass jugs and new corks this week for wine and more raki. And hand harvested the thana's to start fermenting a batch for raki. This will take about two months before we still the fruit for a batch of raki. Making the most of the hot days inside. I have nearly completed the first draft of the third book in the Ember in Time series. How do you spend the hot summer days?