Wednesday, August 25, 2010

That feeling again

Oh I am going crazy. Ok so not really, it just sorta feels like I'm doing too much and it's been going on since the beginning of last month. For the last week or two in particular have been brutal.

What do you do when there are too many things to do and not nearly enough time or cash to do it all? Blarg. Yeah, I know.

So enough of that whining. It has been busy. There are things getting done. I'm not spinning my wheels entirely. I got the window done and with hubby's help we got it installed. It looks pretty good eh? Not too shabby for a rush job. I've been waiting for a nice sunny day when I'm actually home to witness the window lite up with sunshine to take the picture but it seems I'm never home to capture it. Of course now that it's hanging there are a few things I would have done differently. I should journal those things so that the next time I do a window I remember those things and avoid them.

The next thing is that I've been working on hubby's scarf in my down time which I don't get much of lately. But this is a fast project because the yarn is so easy to work with. I'm used to super chunky or irregular yarn so this nice thin consistent yarn and pattern is a dream.

I should be done this scarf next week and then I'll start right in on that hat. Then perhaps I'll look for some cute yarn and make a set for each boy. Might as well get them done while I can right?

What has really be taking up a lot of time has been my garden. The produce is starting to really roll in. My bean and cucumber plants are producing again. My pumpkins are all in and I'm just biding my time before I cook them and freeze the puree (can't can puree, it's not safe and I'd rather not have to do it after the fact in order to make pies or muffins/breads...ready to use should be just that). I've got Chard coming up like crazy too. Each morning I go out and collect my tomatoes and it requires me to bring a big bowl with me. I've got a pressure canner being shipped to me but I just couldn't wait. These needed to be used up now before they lost their flavour and we certainly can't have that happen!

Today I rounded up the jars and the ingredients and out came the water canner. Salsa! Ok and a few Coronas while I made it. I was on my feet for 2 hours peeling and seeding these tomatoes and all of it came from the garden.

This batch made 8 pints (4ltrs). I had just enough after I sealed and processed the jars to dip some chips for a sample. Good stuff. Makes a big difference knowing exactly what went into it and how. It could have been a crap recipe and because it was so fresh it still would have turned out fabulously.

I also put up some dilled carrots. I have to wait three weeks for these....It's going to be a very long 3 weeks. The carrots took 10 minutes to prepare and the house smelled incredible.

Once the pressure canner gets here I'll be on the prowl for corn, carrots, tomatoes. I'll be putting up jars of corn nibblets, carrots infused with cinnamon and the mother load of pasta sauce. I'll put up any green beans that come out of the garden. Nice part is that I can do them as very small batches since it will take less effort than the water bath for the pressure canning. I literally have to wait 30-40 minutes for my huge water canner to come to a boil. Of course if I had a gas range I wouldn't have to wait near as long. Stupid stove!!!

Oddly, once I was done and had all the mess put away. I actually got the impulse to make bread. I haven't wanted to make bread since May. It's still too hot outside for that nonsense. Can't wait for September!

2 comments:

  1. i have your jar labels here from epicure!

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  2. Whoot awesome. Will grab them up on Saturday. I've got my work cut out...5 pumpkins from the garden on my table right now. :P

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