Howdy-Do

The fair is next week, but I thought I'd pop in with a quick "No I'm not dead" hello.

Hello. 

And:

It feels like fall, my garden has pretty much gone to ruin (stupid weather. And weeds), I'm sewing like crazy (fair stuffs), school will be starting in a few weeks, canning/freezing is omni-present, we butchered the roosters last night, we got 2 Delaware and 2 Silver-laced Wyandot hens (did I tell you that?), and then the Buckeye hen we had, the dishwasher just beeped, Sprouts asleep, the kitchen's a wreck and I must go.

Later Gators.

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?