Friday, September 28, 2007
Shock!
I gotta hurry up and post --I think I’m going into shock! Seriously --I’m almost certain it is going to happen. I mean when I have mopped the bathroom, utility room, and kitchen. Then I cleaned bird cages and wash their covers. I washed out the litter box and change it. I vacuum the bedroom, living room. dining room, and hallway. I washed the bath mats, the bedsheets, and change the bed. I moved file cabinets around to make room for when the big plants come indoors because it is too cold outside. As Jay was leaving for dialysis I started a roast with carrots, onions, and potatoes on low so I wouldn’t have to worry about supper. I had read my blogs this morning and caught up on the e-mail so that was out of the way. I got the supper dishes washed (by hand) because I had to hand wash the dutch oven any way so why load the dish washer!! All this and I’m not even having company this weekend. I’ll tell you I gotta be sick!!
Oh by the way the men came yesterday around 3:30 pm and took my dead deer to where ever they take dead deers. So that is taken care of.
Now I think I’ll go to bed because I’m ready for company or to go into shock!
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Up Early!
Just before bedtime last night, about 11 pm, I emptied the jelly bag, wash it out and place the bowl of grape juice in fridge for the night. Around 5 am this morning Jay sat up in bed waking me up. He said he had heard a terrible scream which with my good ear buried in the pillow I didn’t hear it. Upon getting up he saw a few vehicles stopping out in front of the house then proceeding on. Our neighbor, Phyllis, leaves for work around this time so our first concern is that she got off all right. Not being able to see because of the darkness and with traffic returning to a normal speed we went back to bed.
Unable to get back to sleep I got up, turned on the canner and tea kettle, and started the dish washer with the jelly jars in it. I pulled the juice from the fridge and measured it to determine if I had enough for two batches. Being a little short I added the rest of the apple cider I had, some juice from a fresh pineapple, and top it off with water. I got the first batch on and had the jars and lids in hot water. I bottled it, water bathed them for 10 minutes, tasted the results,and started cooking the second batch.
The results were 16 eight oz jars of, surprisingly, some pretty good tasting grape jelly. I cleaned up the dishes, put all the canning equipment in the back of the truck to go to the basement food room, and had everything but the kitchen floor under control by 8:34 am.
It is daylight now and I can see what caused the the commotion this morning. Someone hit a deer and it is laying in my front ditch. Now I have to figure out what to do about that. Oh well we will get it taken care of somehow. Hope you and I both have a better day than that poor deer!
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
A Hodge Podge September Day!
Twelve and one half eight oz jars of Dilly Beans on the left canned yesterday and 12 additional four oz jars of Tomato Chutney on the right canned this morning and Jay’s Dill Pickles (which he will write about ) in the middle. I am beginning to feel like SHIVA the god with multiple arms.
The chutney came from tomatoes that Phyllis brought over last night along with a five gallon bucket of grapes growing up a tree in her back yard.
I started cleaning these this morning in preparation for Grape Jelly. I will probably get the juice part done some time this evening and make the jelly in the morning.
I still have to help Jay with his Bread And Butter pickles today. Also a trip to Davison for more eight oz jars, pectin and sugar for the jelly.
On the fun side today I looked out on the deck and spied this .
Last February Wes and Deb gave me this Patriot Rose as part of my birthday present. It has been outside since it warmed up through the spring and summer. It decided it could bloom a little more before the frost comes. There is one blossom and five more buds on it. A welcome sight as the trees and bushes prepare to bed down for winter.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Reopening Reason!
To turn this sink full of cucumbers into dill and bread & butter pickles.
My first project ended last night with 15 eight oz jars and 19 four oz jars of Apple Rhubarb chutney. Also 9 four oz jars of Tomato Chutney that I made with the tomatoes Phyllis brought me yesterday. Unfortunately one jar was used last night to top a macaroni and cheese dish so only 8 jars are left. (good stuff Maynard!) The reason for the four oz jars was that the neighborhood grocery (about three miles away) had no eight oz jars left. I justified using the smaller ones in my mind with you can give them away to people who may not like the chutneys. Also there won’t be a jar in the fridge half full to sit until the next time we want it.
Today I will help Jay with his pickle project! I may also get rid of the 3 lbs. of green beans Phyllis gave me by canning Dilly Beans. Now I don’t even know if I like Dilly Beans but I didn’t know I liked Chutney until this year. Funny how you get adventurous with food when you get older. I guess it is because you have eaten a lot of the same things all your life and are bored with them. Also the taste buds seem to lose some of their sensitivity and you look for something to wake them up.
So last night Jay pored over the Ball Canning Book and the internet gathering the latest information on the pickles and beans. Then we took about a 28 mile round trip to Vg’s grocery store around 11pm when we found out they had fresh dill and I would need more jars for the beans. Luckily they are open 24 hours. Oh the things you do to make a project come out better.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Canning Kitchen Is Closed ---Yeah Right!
Famous last words come back to bite you in the ass! I told you I had close the canning kitchen for this year---I lied. Well not exactly---it was Jay who said he wanted to try making pickles this year because his last attempt was a sad result. So that meant hauling up the jars, canning kettle, lids, rings, etc. So I figured that seeing I had to bring everything up for him why not make another batch or two of Apple-Rhubarb Chutney. Checking the food room I found I only had six half pints left and one of those was promised already. Now I had enough pint jars to cover Jay’s project but only one jelly jar for mine. I needed eight jars so it was back to the Millington Hardware. The young man behind the counter smiled as he said, “More jars, right!”
So tomorrow morning I peel apples and can the chutney while Jay is at dialysis. When he gets home we will work on getting the dill pickles started with the layering for over night. Then depending on the time we might do the Bread & Butter pickles. We are only doing I batch of each.
Phyllis my neighbor just brought enough tomatoes over for a small batch of Tomato Chutney so I’ll do that up also. She brought some green beans also so I’ll have to investigate what to can with them that is out of the ordinary.
When I checked my E-mail yesterday Lion Yarn has seven new crochet blocks. I’m itching to see if I can translate them into Seven Inch Squares Grammie Pammie. I’ll let you know how that goes.
I also got 151 pages into the Harry Potter book but it looks like I will be at it for quite a while seeing the book has 759 pages.
It is hard to believe that September is almost gone. I wonder if October will go as fast.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Fiction!
It seems my last few days have been lost in the land of fiction. On Wednesday when I took Jay to see Dr. Rohr about a little laser tweaking I carried Deaver’s Sleeping Doll with me. It has now started to move at a quicker pace and I am within 100 pages of finishing it up. But suddenly yesterday in the mail Ray Bradbury’s latest book arrived. I had ordered it in large print so it took a little longer to get here. Titled Now and Forever it is actually two individual stories. The first being Somewhere a Band Is Playing which tells of a young man on an adventure that leads him to an unusual small town.
The second story is about a huge meteor and a blind, crazed Captain of a space ship. Bradbury said he took Herman Melville’s Moby Dick and fashioned Leviathan ‘99, the comet, after it. Both stories have that feeling of being written for a younger group of people but of the three books I have read by him that seems to be his style and I don’t mind that. I confess I have not read any of his science fiction novels so I don’t know if they suggest that same feeling or not.
With Deaver’s book almost read I think Harry Potter and I will visit soon.
I had picked up a crochet hook to start a Halloween wreath but decided having to felt the individual pieces and then spray with stiffening material was more than I wanted to get into.
I also started my collection of Neil Gamin’s Sandman Volumes. I have #1 through 4 now and will work on completing it over the next few months.
I am now the proud owner of the Reader’s Digest Complete Guide To Embroidery Stitches. I have done embroidery off and on for years but never mastered it well enough to gift anyone with my work. I’m hoping to learn more and become proficient in it. Oh there are so many things I do that need perfecting that I may run out of time or brainpower before I can accomplish them!! Too bad I didn’t become smarter earlier!!!!
Dabs Of Color!
It seems like just yesterday that I stood on the deck and commented on all the green that surround my world. The trees, bushes, and grass still looking like summertime was staying around. But then yesterday a closer look revealed the beginnings of Autumn. A splash of red appeared in a tree near the dome. Yellow has been creeping into the small leaves on the trees that encircle the yard. The leaves are falling one at a time to sprinkle the yard like flakes of gold in a miner’s pan, not a lot but enough to see the change. The oranges and golds have yet to make an appearance but can’t be far behind.
Of course the ever faithful Fire Bush is already foretelling the future of our outside world. The leaves that are now just showing a light tinge of red but they will soon burst into full flame and beckon everything else to join in this dance of Fall colors.
The pumpkins with carved faces will soon appear on the porches or in the front windows of homes all over. Spider webs will hang from mail boxes and banisters even though only fake spiders with red eyes hide in them. White ghost made of bedsheets or cheesecloth will fly in and get caught in the branches of the trees.
From behind the big rock in the front yard a wooden cat that looks like Molly stalks the afternoon sun. It will be the first of our decorations, to be followed by the fake pumpkins, the witch, and the ghost that wiggles and moans when you make a noise passing it. Oh yes it is almost time for fun things to begin!!
Monday, September 17, 2007
Sittin’ With Momma!
This morning Spirit decided sitting on the top of his cage was not enough. As I sat at the computer updating the Medical expense list I felt this tug on the side of my shoe. Looking down I saw my sweet Gray with Brandy sitting by watching every move. Not worried so much about Brandy hurting Spirit but Brandy getting a nose bit was a distinct possibility I picked Spirit up and put him on my shoulder. He is sitting there now watching my hands on the keyboard and the movement on the screen. It has been some time since he has sat with me so I’m a little leary of the nibbles I’m receiving on my ear. But so far they are frequent and gentle which is fine with me.
Still sending my best to David’s Mom, Dar’s Michael, and brother Dan--hoping that the mending is under way.
I pulled out my Christmas projects the other day to see what I had on hand right now because if the surgery is scheduled for November 21st I will have to work on some of this to get it done on time. Still haven’t pick poor old Harry Potter back up or Finished Deaver’s Sleeping Doll . I don’t know why the mental block right now maybe a little anxiety creeping in. But heck we have been through this before so I gotta ’Pull up my big girl pants and get over it’ Gotta go we will visit again.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
More Fall Stuff!
You are familiar with the Bobbsey Twins but we like to call ourselves the Booby Twins. The top knots signify we are letting the hair grow out and need to tie it up when we get busy on a project. Today it was fix Cindy’s jeans again day. I have gotten pretty good at putting patches on the patches. You must understand we are not working for beauty but just to hide her booty until the new jeans are purchsed!
While I was busy with the Kenmore David was emptying the dirt out of the little trailer and hanging it on the back of the shed. He also took the barbecue grill off the deck and put it in the basement. Just two more steps accomplished in the preparation for fall.
I made the Oreo Cookie Pudding from Vitamin Sea’s Blog. Very Yummy but not a frequent dessert for diabetics and fat people. Have a good rest --we will visit again.
Friday, September 14, 2007
The Best!
Out in the swing this morning my gaze fell upon the sundial on the cement stump across the way. I remembered we got it when we lived in Orion, Mi. but I had to ask Jay where we got it. It seemed to me that we had bought another one for my Mom and Dad as an Anniversary gift at the same time but I couldn’t be sure. I know that their Dial came down to Wes’ house when Wes and Deb moved from West Branch and is in their backyard today.
Any way I thought about the saying on my dial and had to agree that we had grown old together. Hopefully ‘the best is yet to be’ will also be true for Jay and I. It has been a difficult time health wise these last few years but we are in better shape than a lot of people our age. I’m thankful that we are still together, upright, and breathing.
So I look at the Sun Dial not only reminiscing but thinking of what is in the future for us. Being together dictates that ‘the best is yet to be’.