Apple Vinegar, Knitting and Matters of Life and Death

Have we had great weather lately! It has been frosty in the morning, but 70's and even 80's in the afternoon. Both lower gardens are pretty much finished for the year and I collect squash and pumpkins every day. The front garden has only been lightly touched by frost and I'm still getting some tomatoes, peppers and eggplants. I even picked two small watermelons this morning!

I stocked a few more hand knit wool hats and a funky eyelash yarn skinny scarf at my Hyena Cart shop, EUC. I've done a few custom hats for friends as well, so if anyone would like something special for themselves or to give as a gift, please let me know.
This is Boogies new hat, knit from some funky vintage wool.And now for something completely different!

Did you know you can make Apple Vinegar from the cores and peels? I've been making a lot of cinnamon apple sauce and pie filling, which produced a lot of peelings!Place the peels and cores in a large, clean jar and cover with water.

Cheese cloth helps keep the fruit flies away.

After about 10 days in a cool and dark place. The peels have all risen to the top and the liquid is a nice pink color. After straining away the peels, you are left with a very tasty vinegar. It smells wonderful! This also works well with peach peelings.Put your vinegar in a clean jar and store it in the refrigerator, or can it in quarts. I like this stuff for cooking and salad dressings, it should not be used for pickling or canning as the acidity is not consistent and may not be strong enough.So now I have to make a BIG decision. I have way too many cockerels and have not been able to give them away. It had gotten to the point that they were beginning to injure the hens so I removed all but two of them from the hen house and penned them up. What do you do with unwanted cockerels? I may have to make the decision to send them off to freezer camp :'(
It is so hard to be the direct cause of a creatures death. No way I can do it myself, Rob has no problem butchering them, but I am still the one who makes the final decision.

Boogie and I will be off tomorrow to meet with my best friend from Grade School, whom I have not seen in over 30 years. (Gotta love Facebook!)
In the mean time, if anybody wants any cockerels...........