Independence Days 2012- week 10

Week 10 already!!  My, how time flies when you're having fun!
My conference yesterday was excellent.  It was on managing pain.  Always a good topic and the speaker was fun, which made the day go quickly. And he gave handouts with lots of good information- not just copies of his powerpoint slides.
The weather has been fickle. It got down to 26 on Tuesday night and Wednesday, while the temps didn't drop as cold, it was clear and calm and we had a much heavier frost.  Considering that, with the research I've done online, 25 degrees equals about 90% crop loss on apples, I'm thinking the harvest this year is toast.  If we had only had one cold night, that would be one thing, but this was our third or fourth sub freezing night since the apples started blooming.  Pah!  Today, it is cool and rainy.  Not that I'm complaining.  We desperately need the rain and the weather is giving both V and I a forced vacation from outside manual labor for the weekend- a much needed rest for these old bodies.
It is Friday, and that means it's time for my weekly Independence Days update.  I feel like I've been busy but I'm not sure how it will translate into the IDC categories.  But, that is one thing that I like about this not-really-a-challenge challenge- it helps me see how far I've come.
Plant something- got my potatoes in the ground before it started raining since it is supposed to rain off and on for the next 4 or 5 days. I opted to plant them before I had to play in the mud!  I also started some cucumber seeds in a pot the other day but they're not up yet. I do need to get my little tomatoes transplanted soon- they are getting to the stage where they will begin growing quickly and will need more room.  I'm reserving some plants for myself, some for our friend Jim and any left will go to the annual charity plant sale at church. I'm so glad we have been doing that plant sale. I'm really, really bad at 'thinning' perfectly good little plants.  Oh, and I also tried sticking the base from another celery stalk into a pot of dirt.  The one I did weeks ago is rooted and sending up little leaves- it's looking much better now that the box elder bugs have moved out of the house and aren't sucking the life out of it anymore.
Harvest something- chives, some oregano, walking onions and eggs.  50 eggs so far this week!  That number may go up a bit since it's only mid afternoon. I have collected 5 eggs so far today but there is still plenty of time for the girls to lay a couple more.  Twice this week we have gotten 9 eggs from 10 hens in a day!
Preserve something- nope.  I'll probably make some pasta this weekend sometime since I've got so many eggs but that will  count for next week.
Waste not- The usual: composted, recycled, scraps to chickens.  I've saved a few cottage cheese cartons to cut up to use for plant markers- especially for the plants that go to the plant sale.
Want not- Stocked up on sugar since there was a great sale at one of the local stores last week.  Today, V and I went to another local store and bought 10 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken breasts that they had on sale for $1.69/lb.  We repackaged it and popped it into the freezer.  V had fun with his package labeling skills again!
Eat the food-  Finally made homemade refried beans this week. I know it isn't difficult, I've just don't seem to have been able to organize myself well enough- and we had gotten lazy with the ease of opening a can.  But, we're out of canned refrieds and I've vowed to not buy any more.
Build community food systems-  V and I stopped at the winter market last weekend.  Since we had such an early spring there were lots of goodies there.  I picked up some lettuce and spinach since mine don't seem to be growing very fast.  We also got some fabulous flavored olive oil from one of the vendors.  I got V hooked on the sun dried tomato/basil one over the winter and when we were there he sampled the oregano/garlic blend and was sold.
Skill up- Hmm, I wonder if the pain management seminar I went to counts?  But it's not really a homesteady thing.  Otherwise, I've got nothing.