At bedtime last night there was still a substantial amount of charred but not-completely-burned paper in the burn barrel, so I left it to finish smoldering overnight. The heat from the contents kept condensation from landing on the barrel, that has now been emptied of brick and ashes and stowed away in the greenhouse. The passive disposal is a time-saver when considering a thousand or more sheets going 3 or 4 at a time through the regular or the cross-cut shredder - the pieces would fill a large trash bag instead of being a modest amount of ash to pour onto the compost pile.

A minor strategy that seems to work is to have at least one to-do list chore that needs doing and go ahead and to do each day. I've been looking at the larger (typical sized) water lines to replace the small ones that came with the faucet in the kitchen sink. I need to clear the cupboard contents and put these new ones on so the volume from the faucet is back to usual. I replaced the faucet a couple of years ago and used the existing lines, but the larger ones will work.

Thanksgiving is on the horizon so I'll keep my eyes open for a frozen turkey and start clearing a space in the big freezer to store it until needed. I have some whole cranberries in the freezer that have been there for a long time that I need to steam juice so I can make my own cran-apple juice (mixing with commercial frozen apple juice). I have a recipe for cranberry and gran marnier sauce that I need to make again and can a few jars and have them ready. And as cooler weather approaches I need more potatoes to make a batch of the stew for chicken pot pie.