Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Checking In

Does the summer seem to be flying by to you? Well, as far as I'm concerned the near 100 degree temps and high humidity can fly by and totally away. And we did get welcome relief last evening and today. Rain showers overnight and clouds today brought some welcome lower temps.

What have I been doing? We had little house guests again. Yes, DGS Mason and DGD Paisley. They stayed most of last week. Let's just put it this way. I sure did enjoy relaxing when they went home.  LOL Oh, I gotta tell you this. Mason and I were talking one morning EARLY ('cause that's when he wakes up is EARLY and his sister likes to wake up during the wee hours when her pacifier is not in her mouth). He said that someone must have tickled the sun and woke it up. I asked him if the sun had tickled him (me-what sun? it's still asleep.) and woke him up. He told me the sun didn't have any arms.

In the picture above it sure looks like Paisley is observing the quilt and the stitches. A future quilter perhaps. Sure hope so.

Not much quilting going on. I've been rearranging the sewing/quilt notions/fabric room. And I am liking it. I bought a couple of shelf units and started organizing, sorting and tossing. I have a couple more areas and then I'll be done.  Have you ever reorganized and then slept (dangerous) and then couldn't find something? Yeah. Not fun. I still haven't found it. Oh dear. It will turn up. I hope sooner than later.

Like I said not much quilting going on. But there has been canning. And there will be more canning. Blackeyed peas. Yes, they recovered from the grazing of the bovine. Two weeks after their haircut I picked a bushel. That produced a couple of meals for us and eight quart jars. And then there soon will be peaches in the water bath canner. We picked about a bushel this morning and there are several more trees. The neighbor  with his proposition with the plums is the same one who has the peach trees. It was so funny that morning. He came to the house and said to DH, " I have a proposition for your wife."  Of course he was talking plums. The deal was he would supply the plums and sugar if I would make the jelly. He liked the jelly I had sent by way of DH. I've never canned peaches before so I am looking forward to it. And I might make us some preserves, too.

I haven't posted what we decided to name the puppy we kept. Roy-L-T  because he looked like he was wearing a crown. Now not so much. His head has gotten more slender. LOL We call him Roy for short and it suits him fine.I would post a picture but someone might turn us in to the Humane Society. He looks like he starving but I know different. He's at that clumsy, awkward, feet too big for his body stage. Lately he has been wanting to chew on everything. Not my favorite part of puppyhood. It was almost hilarious the other day. We leave our outside shoes in the garage. We had just come out of the garage after putting on a pair of outside shoes and I had left the garage door open. Not smart. I kid you not that pup ran in there in a flash and grabbed one of my old tennis shoes and ran behind the nearest tree and commenced to chew. I took off running and so did he. Commanded "Drop it." and he did. We had already done this with my flip flops, Mason's crocs, DH is stilling missing one flip flop. Oh and did I tell you that with hot humid weather also come ticks. Yeah. Not so fun either. The pills from the vet fixed them right up.   

Quilt retreat is coming up in August. I can't wait. I might get some sewing done.

Blessings and happy quilting,

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Home Again

We left Thursday for San Angelo/Ballinger. My sister, Patricia, and I (and hubbies, can't leave them out because they were wonderful) hosted a birthday celebration for my mom and step-dad.  Mom turns 85 this week and step-dad's birthday was earlier this month. The party went well and I think they enjoyed it. We found a really neat place to rent that we didn't even know existed until the Chamber of Commerce suggested it to me. It was perfect! Guess who forgot their camera at the motel room? I will have to wait for someone in the family to share with me before I can post. Sorry. Thanks to DS#1 for all his help and extra trips to the store at the last minute. 

We got home this afternoon and found the bovines (cattle) in the garden. Last time we left town and returned it was the same thing! Except last time they hadn't been in there long and didn't do that much damage. This time--DAMAGE! While we were gone it rained 3 inches. So it should recover from being EATEN. Maybe it's God's way of saying "You need a break from the garden."  More litters of pigs due soon so stay tuned.

And can you say "HUMIDITY"! We have been having rain, wonderful rain off and on for a week or so with the tropical storms coming in from the gulf . And now the sun is out and the heat is rising. Steamy! 

Sissy aka "Little Doggie" traveled with us and has made a lot of trips with us now. She has become a perfect traveler. And everywhere we go everyone loves her. They were going to charge us a pet deposit at the motel but said that we were very responsible with her and could see that it wasn't a problem. No accidents. And she hasn't had any in a long, long time. Happy dance.

Hope you are enjoying your summer. Before we know it--it will be gone.

Blessings,

Saturday, July 03, 2010

Pickles & Relish






I made Dill Pickles, Squash Pickles, and Hellish Sweet Relish so far. I know I'll be making more Squash Pickles as I LOVE them. I could eat them as a side dish in the winter and I'm always sad when they're gone.


Happy July 4th to everyone. Prayers for safety and a good time.

Blessings,

Making Jelly


I've been making plum jelly and jam.







The plums were on the small side with deep red skins that produced a very deep red jelly.







Next I'll be making pickles. What are your favorite pickle recipes?

Blessings,