Jam Session

This is my "Canning Music" playlist

A first: I had ONE read that ONE jar of jam left. That has NEVER happened before since we've been married. I slogged through a muddy strawberry field Tuesday, Sprout in the backpack, and picked my 16 quarts, dumped a basket of them, picked them up, slipped in the mud after picking up the dumped berries (with Sprout still on my back),and didn't want to look at them until yesterday. Actually, they still hadn't regained any of their allure, (I am SORE from all of that squatting, kneeling, crawling and slipping with almost 30 pounds of baby on my back) but I put my nose to the grindstone and finally crawled into bed at 1 AM, 21 half pints of jam cooling on the table and 2 cookies sheets of berries freezing their little seeds off in the freezer. Babies- particularly *mine* make everything take 2-3 times as long. Or longer.

Last years list:

Canned:

Strawberry Jam 12 h. pts.

Spiced Strawberry Jam 10 h. pts.

Red Raspberry Jam 8 h. pts.

Blackberry Preserves 8 h. pts.

Cream of Mushroom Soup base 5 pts.

Spiced Peach Jam 7 h. pts., 1 .25 pt.

Blueberry Lime Jam 6 h. pts. (done by Honey)

Pizza Sauce 20 pts.

Spaghetti Sauce 8 qts.

Applesauce 9 qts. 1 pt.

Venison 22 qts.

Frozen:

3 qts. wild blackberries

1 1/2 gal. strawberries

1 1/2 qt. raspberries

25 qts. green beans

3 and 1/2 sliced zucchini/squash (experimenting)

9 c. diced green peppers

2 1/2 c. pesto

1 deer

Dried:

Basil

Chives

Parsley

1 and 1/2 zucchini/squash

Tomatoes- 1 pint jar

Didn't I just put all of this stuff away?

Work

 

"Work doesn't have to be drudgery! It used to be that work was perceived as one of God's blessings. People would do their work "as unto the Lord." Somehow, we seem to have lost that tremendous concept. Many of us today look on work as a penalty or burden. We struggle to drag ourselves out of bed in the morning to go to that boring job or begin on the drudgery of housework. We live for the weekend instead of appreciating the gifts of our daily tasks. I think we'd be a lot happier- and much better workers- if we recaptured the idea that our work, our wealth, and our possessions are all gifts from God.
When we think about how our every action, every deed, every word id a reflection of our relationship with the Lord, it is so important that we put our faith and joy in the work we do, whether it is in the office or the home. We are an example to our children and everyone we make contact with. As Christian we should be the best workers on our street or in our company. Start your day with this privileged responsibility, and you'll find those simple, mundane tasks will become opportunities to honor God." 
~Emilie Barnes

Clean Slate

• I have finally put up enough to wipe clean the slate of last years canning, and begin afresh with this years.
• For the sake of my own record keeping, here is what was done last year:
• 21 quarts applesauce
• 5 pints chili sauce
• 4 pints ketchup
• 15 pints bread and butter hot peppers
• 5 quarts basil tomato sauce
• 13 pints spiced tomato soup
• 4 qts. chicken
• 3 qts. beef stew meat
• 28 pints pizza sauce
• 4 qts. stewed tomatoes
• 7 pints ground beef
• 5 pints peaches
• 6 quarts vegetable soup
• 6 pints navy beans with pork and tomato sauce
• 21 pints basil-rosemary green beans
• 6 half pints blueberry-lime jam
• 7 half pints raspberry peach jam
• 4 quarts and 1 pint peaches and pears
• 9 quarts potatoes
• 18 pints whole kernel corn
• 5 qts. and 1 pt. peaches, apples and pineapple
• 8 half pints spiced strawberry jam
• 9 half pints strawberry jam
• 6 half pints strawberry rhubarb jam
• 8 half pts. cherry jam
• 7 pts. and 2 qts. apples, peaches, pears, and grapes
• 6 half pts. Strawberry Peach Preserves

If any of these catches your eye, let me know and I'll give you the details/recipe.

Today, I have made 8 half pints of Blueberry/raspberry jam, and I still have 2 batches of jam, and some ham and potato soup base to go. But lunch needed to be eaten, children put down for naps, and my own lunch of a leftover hot dog from sisters grad. party, and leftover garlic asiago mashed potatoes with bacon, chives and Cheddar on top consumed.

A busy day, hot and humid, cicadas and bugs are singing their summer song, and a GIANT bug is taking a snooze on my towels that are out on the line.

Have a lovely Wednesday!

Bonnie

Canning Recipes!

As promised, I updated the Kitchen with 16 canning recipes. I plan to add more, but a few are MIA right now, so I posted what I immediately had on hand.

Enjoy!

Muffin Eating Bread, the Garden Growing, and Projects Finished

I should be cleaning bathrooms right now, and doing laundry (except I ran out of detergent. oops), but I have oats softening for oatmeal bread, and I will forget to finish it if I do those tasks, so I'm passing the time, with a boring post.
I finished the last 4 loaves of bread for the shower last Saturday evening, and didn't get it to the freezer right away.
Muffin found it Sunday afternoon and helped her little pink self. don't worry, I'm not serving this one.

Everything is up, save the nasturtiums, and carrots! The beans are growing like crazy!

As always seems to happen, impending parties cause me to get to all those fluff projects that get pushed to the side, here's what I've done since Saturday: The above...

These two in the kitchen...

Rehung this one (it was a middle of the night crash)...

( the 3 long signs are leftover Pergo, stenciled letters, and what ever paint I have. The smaller one is the broken tray from a sewing basket)
Are they to much? I'm never sure.

Framed this doily I've had forever....

And the bathroom, though this was done quite a while ago.

Not that you can see it clearly, but that's a copy of a picture of B.'s gr (gr. gr.?) grandfathers farm house.

I've also stitched up 5 pillow slips, 4 armrest covers, and have the fabric ready for the rest of the pillow slips tonight. This was a necessary job, as the arms of the rockers finally wore through, and the old pillow slips have held up their hands in surrender. I'll post that boring-ness tomorrow, if I get the chance.

It's raining and cool yet again, a good day for leftover beef stew from the freezer, and bread, which now requires my attention.

Later!

And Here I am Again

New recipes in the Kitchen!

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like.....

You just might wanna go grab a cup of something hot to drink,I think this may be my longest post ever! Mostly pictures, but that's what I like best. I love seeing little glimpses of other's houses, lives, how they do things. I suppose that it what I like about blog land so much: I can be nosy. Anyway, here is some of what has been keeping me busy, and away from blogging. Simple little pleasurable things that make up my days and life.

We have had this old drawer in the basement for the longest time. I LOVE it, but never knew quite where to put it. Inspiration struck not long ago, so up it went, and looked rather plain. Hmm. What to do what to do? Aha. I went out and fought with some wild grape vine, twisted it into a wreath, then gathered a few herbs that were still green- lemon balm and thyme, and tucked in a few sprigs of rose hips. They are all dried at the moment, but I love how it looks. 

(Please, ignore the fact that I was to lazy to edit this picture, so there is an ugly extension cord showing. Yes, it does look that way when its plugged in, but I pretend it's not really there.)

I went very simple in my decorating this Christmas, pulling out only my very favorite items, and tucking in whatever natural things I could. While I love sparkle and shine, I have to say, this is my best year for Christmas fluffing.

Normally, I put all my little houses I made here.
But little heads are right at the height for running into the doors of the secretary if I leave them open. So, I put a few behind the closed doors of the secretary, and the rest in the dining area.

If you look closely, we have just the faintest dusting of snow. Its kind of strange to see the pond freezing over when there is no snow on the ground.

My MIL passed this Nativity along. I love it, and having searched long and hard for "A Good One", this filled the bill perfectly.

You can't see them, but I tucked rose hips in the (faux) garland. Hopefully a fire will be burning brightly in the stove soon. (Note to Self: REMOVE CLOCK BEFORE STARTING FIRE!)

Pretend this picture is clear and straight....

When I left the doors of this open, I would hang a wreath on each one. Since they are staying closed now, I hung just one wreath, which, Duh, you can see for yourself. (where is my coffee? I think I need some more)

I have been baking up a storm 34 dozen so far, 6 varieties. At least 3 more kinds to go.
I found a new sugar cookie recipe this year, and I really like it. The cookies are much softer, and my big ones actually stayed together. Normally, they break when I take them off the pan.
B.'s mom came over last evening, and she and I helped the children decorate cookies.

Honey took it quite seriously, I wish  had thought to take pictures of some of her creations.

Biscuit never takes anything very seriously.
Muffin just chased falling sprinkles. 

Whew, like I said, long post, and now, I need to get dressed, get babies up, and start the day.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Appley Dappley

Saturday, I made applesauce. It should've only taken a few hours. Instead, it took 14. Ouch.

But minus a burn on my arm, a smudge on the ceiling from the heating up explosions, and the first 7 jars not sealing because I don't know why, it turned out GREAT. ( As soon as I realized they weren't going to seal, I yanked the lids off and re-processed, so all was not lost. But when that's at 9:30 on a Saturday night, and you still have other things to do... I wasn't the most pleasant of people) I do so love homemade apple sauce.

Many hands make light work, and they had a ball!

Oh look, a cute baby! Actually this is last night. Look what someone has been doing for the last week!
I used Cortland, Ida Reds? Paula Reds? and Mutsu, which are behemoth  sized apples. Look how big it is next to a pint!
21 quarts. Well, technically, 22 and a jelly jar,but the j.j was to small to can, and I was not about to stay up another 20 minutes at 11:15 pm for that last jar to process all by its self. We ate it for dinner last night.

I want to can more sauce, and some apple pie filling, but I think I'm out of quarts.

All I have left to do is some pints of pepper butter, and I'll be "done".

My Daily Flipper

Here it is: The sheet that for 2 glorious days has kept my house picked up, and me sane.

For years I tried (in vane) the Mary Poppins finger snapping route, but finally gave up.

This is my floater page, meaning once I have the rest of my room pages done, they will be in a book, but this one won't so I can have it next to the rooms cleaning page. (That probably didn't make a bit of sense did it?) Plus having a floater page beat writing the daily stuff 7 times over so I could have a copy for everyday of the week.

I know I am still having new routine giddiness, but really, its kept my house tidy for 2 days, if I do it for a week, I'll be impressed, a month, and I'll know I'm on to something.

None of it takes very long either, in the morning, I can have the kitchen whipped back into shape in about 10 minutes after breakfast. Monday is bedroom cleaning day, and I did that, my daily stuff, and I had SEVERAL HOURS OF "FREE" TIME!!!!!!!!!! They were taken up by Miss Crankypants, but still. Bedroom days are usually some of my worst.

I have it broken down into Morning, Afternoon, and Evening, and here is what goes along with them:

 Morning: beds made; clothes picked up;breakfast dishes washed; booster seats wiped down; kitchen swept; kitchen tidied (counters/table washed, breakfast stuff put away); downstairs bathroom sink wiped out; upstairs sinks wiped out; showers sprayed; my bathroom tidied (if necessary)

Afternoon: Living room tidied; Family room tidied; lunch dishes washed; boosters wiped down; kitchen swept; kitchen tidied (see above, but with lunch stuff); bedrooms tidied (before naps, and after sometimes); beds made (after naps); vacuum down stairs

Evening: Supper dishes washed; boosters wiped down; kitchen floor swept; kitchen tidied

Steps cleaned off; bedrooms tidied (before bed); living room tidied: family room tidied; supper dishes put away; dishwasher emptied (Honesty moment- that didn't happen last night); water filter filled; coffee set up.

 It may seem like a lot, and maybe to simply broken down, but its working, and none of it takes very long.  I also have it broken down "chronologically"- in the order that works best for me. No, I don't go back to it after every little job, but I like that I can flip up my card, and have only one small task staring at me, instead of a whole list.

Also, if for some reason I should miss room cleaning one day for whatever reason, I will still have a neat house, and then feel less guilt and angst over it.

I know, I still haven't posted the pictures of the other stuff, yet, but they are taking me a bit longer to put together than I thought. (I wasn't counting on a teething baby).  HOPEFULLY, by the end of the week.

Now, I am off to water my flowers, pick a few peppers and have my quiet time before small people are up.

A Good Day

Yesterday was a good day. It was the first day of my new cleaning routine. It went swimmingly, as (for me anyway), first days usually do. Today will be a test, because we have to go to the dentist for Honey today. Poor little darling has a cavity. I will post more on that tomorrow though, I wan t to give it another day for a better opinion.
My garden looks very.... stunted. Lots of tomatoes coming, and hot peppers, and flowers on my green beans, but everything is so short. I think I will be doing lots of layers this fall when I put it "to bed" for the winter.
I thought these morning glory weeds were lovely, and the sprang up so fast! I have no (well very little) problem with weeds of that are flowered.
We don't use the hose much, if you couldn't tell....

I  did it! In focus up close, blurry background. I'm not sure how though. 
Everyday sights: Laundry drying, garden "growing".

Happy Tuesday y'all!

Cleaning List

I know, I know, I said I would post about my filing system, and Flipper after the weekend, but I wasn't counting on my little Grumpappatimous ( I like that when you make up words, you can make up the spelling too) cutting 2 teeth, and miserably working on a few more. Evenings are really the only time I  have and it is taken over by a fussy baby who just wants to nurse, and reach one hand out behind her to grab whatever I am doing.

Anyway,  here is one of my cleaning lists, I actually wrote this up some time ago, but need to switch it over to flipper form, and actually start using it. :0>

Bedrooms

Daily AM:                         Daily PM:

Beds made                        Dirty clothes thrown in basket

Pajamas put away           Clean laundry put away

Curtains Open                 Toys/books picked up 

                                           Shoes put away                                                       

                                           Coats hung up

Weekly:

Dust         vacuum

Sheets changed

Wipe down door knobs

Monthly: 

Closets tidied       drawers tidied

Outgrown clothes packed away

Windows washed

Closets vacuumed     Furniture moved and vacuumed under

Ceilings and light fixtures dusted

Spot clean carpet

Dust doors and window frames

Bleach diaper buckets

Sort toys

Quarterly:

Wash curtains and bedspreads

Clean carpets

For the monthly stuff, I'll just divide the number of jobs by 4, and do them with the regular weekly cleaning. Theoretically it should work, because its really just maintaining a clean room. If anyone is interested/nosy about the other rooms, let me know, and I'll post them too. 

I have $1 a pound peaches that need canning now, so I'll talk at ya later.

Bon

Lists Will Be Our Downfall

I don't completely agree with that, but Sandra (the author of the Wonderful Book) has an excellent point:

" I used to make lists. Then I either out the list in a pile where it would be safe and lost, or I attached it to the refrigerator where I got so used to seeing it I no longer "saw" it and didn't miss it when it slid down between the refrigerator and counter.

One reason I didn't use these lists is because I didn't really trust that they were good list. I didn't respect them. Maybe they were poor lists. maybe I didn't have every job listed and at the right intervals.

Then too, the lists looked sloppy. They were hand written and irregular, like everything I tend to do is. Who could respect a flimsy, messy,  handwritten piece of paper that purported to tell me how to live? I resented that stupid list forced on me by grimy necessity."

Okay, I have had luck with lists in the past, if I'm having company, but I will admit to freaking out when an item to cook gets written down in the "To Clean" section.  I think I have list and organizing OCD (I started typing that CDO- laugh away kids). I am always sure it could be done better, and that the organizing and list making police will fine me for how I've done it.

I won't be able to post my Flipper, etc. 'til next week. I went for my stash of 3x5 cards, and all I have are colored ones. Guess who started to panic because my Flipper wouldn't be consistent in color everyday? Besides, I didn't have enough, so I need to get more when I do the marketing, then, I'll work on it this weekend.

I have started on my filing system, and it should work, but I'll reveal that with everything else.

Tooda-Loo for now!

This Wonderful Book

I swiped this book off my moms shelf last Friday. Considering I ALWAYS peruse her shelves when I am there, I don't know how I missed it before, but I am so glad i found it.

I was a pretty crummy housekeeper before I had Honey. I think I was a bit overwhelmed since I now had to do it by my self, instead of my little part I was responsible for, or helping my Mom and the kids with our house . (No comments from the peanut gallery kids. Joel- I know where you live.) The house was picked up, but I couldn't seem to get into the swing of a routine. Then I had a baby. I don't recall that it got worse, it was still picked up, but dusting? Floor Mopping?

 We weren't having company, so why bother? 

Around Honey's first birthday, I developed a routine that worked fabulously, and still managed to stay on top of things after Biscuit was born. Then came my Merry Little Muffin.

Everything got thrown to the side, aside from most cleaning up. Yeah yeah, I did spring cleaning, and the house looked great for quite sometime, but you have to keep up with that. Not so easy with three kids 4 and under. Fast forward to Friday, June 26, the wonderful day, I discovered this book and diagnosed my self: I am a Messie. So while you are all saying "duuhhh", let me clarify: I am a Old-Fashioned, Clean, Perfectionist Messie.  Here is the books definition of each of these: 

THE PERFECTIONIST MESSIE:

All the spoons  in your kitchen drawer are neatly nested up, while all the pots sit in the sink and sulk.

This person has very high standards for individual jobs. The house may be a wreck, but she decides to begin by cleaning the oven. And it is well done, *very* well done.

Here indecisiveness is cloaked in the guise of perfectionism. Generally this housekeeper cannot decide which approach to putting the house in order is best, so she decides not to decide. This is a bad decision.

THE CLEAN MESSIE:

After you come back from the dry cleaners , how long does it hang on the back of your kitchen door?

As long as things are clean, such Messies reason, they can be left out. This is the reason clothes are left in the basket and not folded. (after all they *are* clean, and that's the main thing.) The dishes are washed and left out on the counter. But they *are* clean. Isn't that what counts?

THE OLD-FASHIONED MESSIE:

Do you truly believe there is something sinful in serving children a pie from the supermarket?

( I will insert here that the author doesn't seem to have a real high opinion of *anything* done old-fashioned. Consider yourself warned.)

For some reason, there are people who just enjoy doing things the old fashioned way. For them, the only good way is the old way. This is a definite matter of principle- though it is hard to know what the reason is.

This might mean our Old-Fashioned Messie will have as a principle that the only way to do floor is on her hands and knees with a brush. Now actually, the floor never gets done that way because it is too much work. But believe me, if it ever did get done, it would be done *right*. There motto is " Do it right- or not at all." A lot of the time it turns out "not at all."

Some other ideas the Old-Fashioned Messie may have are to bake pies and cakes from scratch instead of using a mix, to wax and buff the wooden floor with a cloth instead of a buffer, to beat the rug instead of vacuuming, or use cloth instead of disposable diapers. It's not that some of these things aren't appropriate sometimes, but to do things hard way just because it is  an old fashioned way is a hindrance to progress in housekeeping.

She has me pegged so well, its like she secretly lived in my house and observed my ways, never mind that I was 1  year old when she first wrote the book, and 4 when it was republished.

And, I like that there is just enough humor in there to keep you smiling or chuckling.

Cleanies (who Messies are striving to become) just automatically know how to clean. Messies don't know where to begin, and are easily distracted. Or in my case, have 3 little distractions running around. I tend feel guilty that I don't just go through a room, see what needs done and do it.( after all getting married and having a family and home to look after is what I always wanted to do, doesn't an automatic knowledge and skill of keeping house go along with that?) But I can't. I see that the toys need sorted through, not just cleaned up. I see that the drawers need straightened, not just clothes put away.  I don't have time just now to do all that, so why bother ? Then I go drown my sorrows in chocolate chips.

Tomorrow, (or Wednesday), I'll get to her solutions for these problems, but I need to make my Flipper, Box, Notebook and File (or a combination of the four) first. I really think this is gonna work!!!!!