Weekly Update: 11.23.25
The smell of citrus billowed through the bunkhouse on a cloudy morning this week as my sisters and I candied orange and lemon peel. I’ve seen recipes for this treat for ages, and we had the perfect excuse to make some this week. A morning making candy was a lovely break from our ordinary routine. In many ways, our whole week was.
On Monday, we spent our morning outdoors, sanding and staining boards that will be a part of our kitchen shelving. High winds made our work challenging, but we persevered until lunch. At that point, thunder and dark clouds sent us scurrying indoors. After a windy morning outside, we enjoyed the cozy afternoon in. We took the opportunity to do some cooking, draft shelving plans, and finish some bookwork.
When Tuesday greeted us with good weather, we sisters decided to spend the day working on some projects for the room we share in the bunkhouse. Deciding how to fit three beds comfortably into the small space has been a challenge. After being in the room for several months, we opted to elevate one of the beds to create more floor space. We altered a bed we already were using, attaching it to the wall and adding a ladder. We used scrap wood dipped in Eco Wood Treatment, to give it an aged look. The difference this change made can barely be put into words. Our space felt so much bigger — both in square footage and, surprisingly, in height. Since we were moving furniture, we took the opportunity to do some deep cleaning as well.
Our brother Jeremiah’s vacation time started on Wednesday, so several of us went to Springfield. Jeremiah needed to pick up some new boots and some deer hunting gear. Grace and I both went along, while Bonnie-Jean opted for a quiet day at home watching over all of our dogs. In Springfield, we made our typical rounds for a festive day of shopping — Bass Pro, Brown Derby, Cavender’s PFI, and Costco.
Thursday dawned very rainy, so we enjoyed a little morning downtime. In the afternoon, Grace and I took four of our dogs to the Ash Grove Veterinary Clinic for their rabies shots. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again — I love living in a place where we have a good country vet.
Friday, my sisters and I started the day with making our citrus peel candy. This Sunday we plan to celebrate Stir-Up Sunday by whipping up our traditional fruitcakes as well as a steamed Christmas pudding. The pudding calls for candied peel, which we couldn’t find in any local stores. Making our own was a simple but surprisingly time-consuming process. We sliced the peels into thin strips before boiling them three times to remove the bitter taste. Then we simmered the peels in simple syrup for an hour before rolling them in sugar. We sped up the drying process by putting them into our dehydrator. I think we got our syrup a bit hot, so the end result was slightly crunchier than we wanted. Still, it was delicious. We hope to make some more before Christmas to dip in chocolate.
On Saturday, we had our annual family harvest party and treasure hunt. The day was unexpectedly cold and cloudy, but we loved the opportunity to spend time together walking around our woods. We enjoyed some festive treats: pumpkin scones, pumpkin-themed rice crispy treats, apple cider, and pumpkin tortellini soup.
When I was growing up, my mom used to make a fall treasure hunt for all of us kids. When my brother’s kids were big enough, she carried on the tradition. A few years ago, our youngest brother started incorporating a challenging, grown-up version as well.
This year, we had one large treasure hunt, with teams running around our woods following clues. Jeremiah, once again, was our family game maker — though our mom surprised him with a few hidden treats of his own. This year, Levi and Erin finished first and are the annual trophy holders.
We got less “done” on our project this week than usual, but we enjoyed a lot more quality time than we normally do — and I think it did us all good. Something we have consistently struggled with on our homestead is work-rest balance. There is always so much to do, it can be difficult to connect with each other in meaningful ways. Our week was busy — cooking and party prep take time. And yet, we had lots of fun moments spending time together. It felt like a soft launch into the holiday season, in all the right ways. We start our Christmas baking this weekend for items that need to age. In the next few days, we will thaw our Thanksgiving turkey. We have both our brothers on vacation, which will make for productive days and fun evenings. There is a festive feeling in the air, and I’m ready to give thanks.
