Category: Summer

Happy at Home

This has been a busy week at work for Joe. He’s been leaving the house early in the morning, taking his coffee to go, and getting home late in the evening, long after supper. Sunday evening when we were talking abut the week to come, he asked if I was going to need to go anywhere this week. I said I did need to get to the store to get supplies needed for our camping trip and to get chicken feed but I was flexible on when I would need to go. He asked if I could wait until Thursday morning. He would be home on Thursday. The back of the pickup is loaded from last weekend’s camping trip and he really didn’t want to unload everything for me to take the truck to town if he didn’t have to. I was fine with that. The only downside to me having to stay home is the longer I’m home without going anywhere at all, the harder it is to get me to leave. I’m just happy to stay home.

This has been a busy week for me even though I haven’t gone anywhere. The tomatoes have kept me busy! I canned another 9 pints of salsa yesterday. I think that makes 38 pints, and that’s not counting however many Abby has taken home. She’s come over twice to learn how to can. And I’ve dehydrated twice. I’m trying dehydrating the cherry tomatoes, then using the food processor to turn them into a powder. I can use that powder in soups and stews this winter or to make tomato paste and sauce. I decided it was time to dig out the vacuum sealer and see if I could figure it out and I now have two bags of vacuum sealed tomato powder.

I’m planning to chop up more tomatoes today and put them in quart bags to freeze. Any time I need a can of diced tomatoes for a recipe I’ll just pull a bag out of the freezer. If I have this stuff on hand, I don’t have to worry in the winter if there’s a big storm or if Joe is gone and I don’t want to have to go to town. I can go to my pantry or freezer for what I need! That makes me happy!

I also froze four more quarts of corn. On a sad note, when we checked our sweet corn Sunday evening we discovered that either racoon or deer had gotten every single ear. To say I was unhappy would be an understatement. I fed the rabbits well this spring as they got all of my cabbage plants and all of my carrots and kohlrabi. I’m definitely going to have to figure out how to fence in the garden next spring to keep those pesky rabbits away. And now the corn is gone. I was blessed to have a neighbor drop off some corn so we’ve had fresh corn on the cob and I’ve been able to freeze 9 quart bags but that’s not near what I was planning to have in the freezer. But, it’s better than none at all!

This morning Drew asked if we could start school. I love that he asked! So, we dug out the new math program and jumped in! My original plan was to spend this week getting everything organized and ready so we could officially start next week. Then an impromptu camping trip camp up for this weekend, Thursday evening through Sunday, and having to keep the grandkids three days next week to help Abby out seems to have pushed that starting date back. I guess we’ll do what we can when we can and officially start a little later. But, just knowing that Drew is asking makes me happy!

And so I’ll spend the rest of today chopping and freezing those tomatoes, making cucumbers and onions with the last of the cucumbers from the garden, and making out my shopping list and menu for the long weekend coming up. Oh, and packing up our clothes and everything we need in the camper that can be packed early. Abby asked if I could bring the dehydrator so she could dehydrate her abundance of cherry tomatoes at the campground. That makes me happy too, knowing that she’s starting to have an interest in gardening and food preservation.

Oh yes, I can’t forget the laundry hanging on the line that needs to be folded and brought in. And we watched our chrysalis turn into a Monarch this morning. The eggs need gathered and the chickens need to be fed and watered along with Rambler and the kitties. And of course I have to fit stitching in somewhere as I have orders I’m working on. There is always always something to do. And doing these things makes being home a happy place to be!

A Simple Day

After days of hot and humid weather, the kind that make it miserable to be outside for any length of time, we finally got a break today! I even have the windows open! Perfect weather for hanging laundry on the line. Joe braved the heat last evening to finish up my clothesline for me – bless his heart! After I finished up the supper dishes I went out and helped. And I went to bed last night knowing I was going to get to hang clothes outside in the morning. I get excited about such crazy things! And today the sky is overcast, there’s a beautiful breeze, the temp is down and the humidity is gone. The chickens are even happy!

And I get to look out the open window and see my laundry dancing in the breeze! I get excited over open windows too. I hate having the house shut up – any chance I get the air gets turned off and the windows get opened. I love hearing the birds chirping and the trees rustling and Gilbert (in the picture above) and Matthew perfecting their cock a doodle doo!

I had wanted to learn to can for years and last summer I finally decided to jump in with both feet and teach myself. I asked for the Bell Canning Book for Christmas, purchased my canning supplies and next thing I knew I had jelly, salsa, applesauce and tomato juice all in jars waiting for winter meals! And now it’s canning season again!

The beginning of the tomato harvest. Now my table is covered with bright red tomatoes!

This year I’m finding that it has already become more “natural” to me. I don’t have to read before doing every step. I’m a lot calmer and I’m really enjoying the process. Last week I put up Canndied Jalapenos. I made them last year and Joe and I loved them. So this year, I’m planning to can a lot more of them. So far I’ve put up 8 jars using my tried and true recipe. But I’ve discovered a different recipe that is Trim Healthy Mama approved so I’m hoping to have enough jalapenos to give it a try. We’re working on eating healthier and we’re really loving the THM plan.

This week it’s been salsa. Abby came over Tuesday and we put up 11 pints. She took half and I kept half. Yesterday I put up 9 more. And it looks like I’ll have enough tomatoes and peppers to hopefully do that many more again! We like to eat salsa plain but I also put it in chili and other things so it’s nice to have it canned and ready. Canning for me is another way of living a more simple life. And there is just so much satisfaction in it. Yes, it’s time consuming. It takes a lot of time to harvest, prep and go through the actual canning process. But at the end of the day, you have all these beautiful jars full of summer goodness just waiting to be opened and enjoyed! And I never get tired of listening to that ping that says all is good! Homegrown, healthy ingredients – we know exactly where everything came from. Another step towards living simple!

And I pulled my onions today. My Mom says to never let the August sun touch your onions so no August sun for these guys! Last year I pulled them, chopped them up and put them in the freezer. This year I’m going to try and dry them and keep them in the basement. I’ve got them in the pergola right now drying. There’s lots of shade here so hopefully they will dry alright. I’ll keep an eye on them. Then when they’re dry, I’ll clean them up. Cut the greens off, trim the roots and dust off the dirt that’s left. Then I’ll put them in an old milk crate and store them in the basement and see how it goes. I want to keep freezer space open for our sweet corn so I’m hoping this will work out fine. It stays cool and dark in the basement during the winter so I’m hoping for good results. Again, another step towards that simple living. And the more I can put away for the winter, the less running to town I’ll have to do and less chance for worry when a winter storm hits!

Seasons

I am thankful to live in and area where we have all four seasons. I feel I would be lost without them. Fall is my favorite with winter being  a close second (It’s still fall here but I woke up to snow – it’s so pretty outside right now!) Fall brings clean crisp air, bonfires, beautiful colors everywhere and just doens’t last long enough. Winter for me is a time to hibernate which I love. I don’t even mind that it gets dark earlier. It’s a time for hot chocolate and blankets and settling in. Of course spring brings summer which means camping season so I like them too.  Spring brings color back into the landscape and a desire to get out and work the earth. And summer means long days and late nights, picinics and bike rides. Each season brings with it it’s own unique offerings and I’m thankful for them all.