You Don't See That Every Day

99 jars of pears on the wall, 99 jars of pears. Take one down pass it around, .... Ok you get the gist. On Saturday my sister and my niece and I canned up 99 jars of pears. We had one jar beak so actually we only 98 jars, but still.... It was a long day. I did learn some things about my family though. My parents showed up in the middle of the day. They were on the way to the coast. Mom offered a few tidbits of advice, since she has been canning since she was a teen. It was interesting to hear how all four of us had different ways of doing things. I learned some new things, and I kept some of my own ways of doing it. Off my parents went to enjoy the cool ocean breezes while we slaved away in a very warm kitchen. Thankfully we did the actually cooking outside. Just as we were figuring out when to wrap it all up and if we were going to church that night, my parents show up again. They didn't make it to the coast because of a bad traffic jam. So they came back to our place. ...

The farm is in its abundance this time of year. We headed out early this morning to help harvest more garbanzo beans. This time around I got to help. Thankfully it is a lot easier to harvest the beans than it is to weed them, and keep them weeded! While we were there we helped my parents pick produce - ending up with apples, tomatoes, green beans, onions, cabbage, beets, squash, and zucchini. SO many green beans. When we got back home I immediately got to work; first I got the crockpot going with supper - split pea soup; one of our favorites. One of my girls absolutely hates it, but I still make her eat some. Then I had the kids start snipping beans. We had about 4 buckets full of beans to process. I got the jars and all other paraphernalia ready for canning and started in on the process. We finally finished up with it all by 7 pm tonight. And I was so thankful for a crockpot of supper ready and waiting. Because after I started my canning, the kids cracked a bunch of walnuts for m...

We seem to pack it all in on the weekends, making for a very full Saturday. This round included farming, canning, a trip to the town dump, and a county fair The beginning dawned brighter - and earlier - than I was ready for. I headed out to the farm with the kids before they even had breakfast. It was an in-the-car meal for them that morning. Two of the kids helped my parents with the picking of the garbanzo beans, while I headed to the apple trees with my younger two. I climbed into the trees to pick what I could while the girls played in the bed of the truck. It was like being a kid again, picking those apples up in the tree. They make great applesauce too. I only picked two boxes, but it has been plenty for now.   So while I was away G was busy busy working on the upstairs and the stairway. We have a heat pump installation this week and he wanted to get as much sanding done as he could. Along with painting on the outside on other hard labor, a trip to the dump was n...

My husband is amazing! We've gone from this - one year ago: To this - today: a room, with a door, and a floor and paint! (and the other rooms of course, but they aren't quite as far along.) It's pretty exciting. We're hoping to move the boy in soon. Today while the kids did their thing, I canned beans. Since we have a flat top stove, I have to do the pressure cooker outside on a burner. Which is actually pretty nice. My house doesn't get all heated up, and I can keep an eye on the little one who loves to be outside.  Plus I was in earshot of the goings-on today.  The girls wanted to have a lemonade stand.  It's on our List of Summer Activities, and so I thought, sure, why not!? So they did. They did it all, from gathering the materials and making the drinks, to taping up signs around the neighborhood. They even went around on their bikes hollering, "Lemonade for sale! Get it while it's cold!" You probably ...

 This room here will someday house a boy. And his football posters. And his OSU t-shirts. This week, or maybe next we will be able to paint it!! Do you know how completely over the top of excitement this is? Well, it is not quite up to moving-in-day excitement, but it is still pretty great! We can paint it! Today (if we had time!) Maybe tonight after the swim meet we could paint it. One more step taken on the path of remodeling. Our two older kids spent some time at Farm Camp this week. Farm camp, for those not in the know, is time spent with my parents at the family farm; it usually involves a lot of weeding and hoeing, especially among a crop or two of garbanzo beans, and in the family garden. It also involves lunch out at a favorite fast food place. This week it even included ice cream. Grandpa was feeling extra generous I think. So I was the one to pick them up yesterday afternoon out at the farm. It is just so pretty out there in the summer. The whe...

The time of year has come to canning. Not that I am going to do much this year, I think. I have already put up some jars of jam; but with our new stove top I don't think I will be using the pressure cooker anytime soon. Which leads me to another question, Why do so many people assume the pressure cooker is scary or difficult to use? It must be that age-old experience thing -- being afraid of something one has never experienced or tried before. I suppose I was a little nervous the first time I ever used the p.c. on my own. But after years of helping my mom can green beans in the p.c. and after numerous phone calls that first time of canning, I feel like a pro now. No fear. However, no fear did come with certain, um, interesting experiences. Yes, I have a blowing-up story to tell: So my kids are young at the time ... I think there were 3 of them then. And they were waiting in the van to go to my sister's house. I was finishing up a batch of green beans. I didn't want to keep...