This past week, we went camping down at the coast. Although we have been doing homeschool for the past couple of weeks, this was our outdoor school. We did regular schoolwork with the kids in the mornings and then did fun, outdoor activities in the afternoons.
One day, I read a book about a silly, fantastic sand castle contest and then we went down to a beach and the kids built their own.
We read fall-themed books and decorated fall-shaped sugar cookies.
We read about sea creatures, then went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium.
Rob organized this project. He melted old candles he collected from friends and family and some shells from the Dollar Store to make sand candles. He took the kids to the beach to collect the sand, and got the wicks from Amazon.
I thought they looked great.
There were lots of trips to the playground at the campground, and many, many times where the kids rode their bikes and I trotted along behind as fast as my short legs would trot:). We took a couple of drives down the coastline, and stopped at a candy store and for French fries. I read aloud for hours. The kids are enjoying Trixie Belden books right now. Of course Patsy has encountered them before, but they are all new to Jake and he’s loving them.
It was a very busy week, but a fun one. The weather was perfect and I’m so glad we got one last camping trip in before the fall rains come.
Once we got home, the garden needed attention. I picked tomatoes, we picked and chopped peppers to freeze. Just tonight, I canned 9 pints of crushed tomatoes. Rob’s been doing load after load of laundry and we’ve all been folding like crazy. There was more than usual because since this is our last camping trip for a while, there was extra bedding and such that needed washing.
We’ve been eating the leftover camping food for the past couple of days. I also unloaded the camper freezer, and we’ve been using the items that were in there. I always keep some chicken, hamburger, bread products, etc. in there for the entire summer, replacing as we use them on camping trips. So, I didn’t need to shop except for some milk, 1/2 and 1/2 and bananas.
Last evening, I dug up my old strawberry raised bed, put in some bags of steer manure, compost, coffee grounds and worm castings, and planted a few fall veggies. It may be too late to get much of anything, but it was worth a try and I simply couldn’t get it done before we went, as I was spending every minute canning. Those berries were done. They only last 3 years. I have some different berries in other places for next summer. So it feels good to have that mentally-daunting job done, whether I get any fall veggies or not.
Every other day, I’m getting this huge Tupperware bowl full or half full of cucumbers. On Saturday, there were 7 full quarts in there. Some days, it works out to several pints and a few quarts. That’s a lot of pickles, folks! I’ve been making jalapeño dills this week, plain dills, and today, Rob plans to try some sweet-hot pickles. I hope they turn out. I’ve got all the Bread and Butter pickles, sweet pickles, and relish I can eat or give away. I’ve also made a fresh pickle salad with cucumbers, onions, salt, pepper, a little sugar and a little rice wine vinegar and water sauce. Rob loves it and eats it by the bowl full. What a year for cucumbers! It’s the most I have ever grown.
We used the bowlful of tomatoes and all the cherry tomatoes we could find and made 9 pints of tomato sauce on Saturday. My tomatoes are coming on slowly, but it was nice to get started when we had too many to eat.
We’ve had all the garden produce we care to eat, except for lettuce. The heat is not it’s friend. Fall is going to be better for that, and I have some baby lettuce up in a row out in the garden.
We haven’t just canned this week. We spent a couple of days with our grandson. He loves the peaches his auntie grows. Patsy cut this up for him and he ate it all!
One day, Jake and I took the baby to the park. We walk there quite frequently. It’s been super hot around here, so we went early in the morning.
We took the kids to the library. I has only recently re-opened–like in the last month, then will close again for 2 weeks to move back to it’s original location. It’s been rough getting any books from there for the past 2 years. The kids were super excited and hauled home tons of books. There’s no better deal on earth for books than the library…if it would just stay open long enough for us to get some of them. Once you get books from our library, you can basically keep them forever…..since even the drop box is usually closed. No fines are charged, so that’s nice. I’m hoping once they get re-opened, back in their renovated building, things will improve greatly. I’ve got books that have been on hold for a year, books I really need for school that I can’t get….you get the idea. Hopefully, it will get better in September.
I have canned so much in the past 2 weeks, I haven’t had time to post. I’m feeling really good about how much Rob and I have accomplished.
Last night, I picked the green bowl and the yellow one full of strawberries. (This picture just shows the bowls, this time they were full). I’m getting so many berries. The problem is that they seem very sour this year. That’s kind of frustrating as it’s been one of the hottest summers I can ever remember. They should be sweet. I’ve frozen quite a few and today, I decided to make a batch of jam. I did that this afternoon. When I’ve been freezing them, I’ve started adding a little sugar. They will be great in smoothies this winter, regardless of their sour flavor, as we can add sugar when we blend the smoothie. Oddly enough, Jake likes them sour, so he’s been picking and eating them cut up with sugar sprinkled on top. I’m glad someone likes them this way.
My sister gave us so many peaches from her farm. These are New Havens. This picture only shows part of them. We canned 70 quarts. Some are for me, some my mother graciously agreed to take, even though she wanted to can another kind, when I realized how many I was going to end up with. They are really, really good, so I know she will enjoy them, and we will as well.
They came out beautifully.
We dried several gallons of peaches. I also dried zucchini for soups. I froze broccoli a couple of times. Then, I pulled the bushes. All they were producing anymore were side shoots that were getting smaller and smaller each time. The last picking was about 1/2 cup, so that was the end for me. In the place where the broccoli was, I planted lettuce, kale, snow peas and spinach for a fall crop. They have not come up yet.
While up at the farm, Rob picked a lot of wild blackberries. We made jam from those. I froze several baggies as well, with what was left over from the jam making.
We have canned green/yellow beans every-other-day and I’ve done many, many pickles. These bowls are the first step for sweet pickles. I finished them Thursday. They involve a process where you pour boiling water, then syrup/brine over them each morning and night for 4 days. I canned 18–1/2 pints when I was done following all the steps.
I’ve made many dill pickles which were a mixture of plain (with garlic) and zippy (with jalapeños) and a batch of Bread-and-Butter Pickles.
I pulled all the carrots in the garden and we canned 7 pints, plus put some in the fridge in bags. I could fit the jars of carrots, in the pressure canner with the pints of green beans, so I did. My big one holds a double layer of pints.
I was able to can a few pints of crushed tomatoes on a different day.
I froze quite a few peaches, strawberries, and blueberries as well as the broccoli I mentioned above.
When I wasn’t preserving food, I was working on the garden and yard or working with the kids. I’ve pulled several old bushes up and composted them in the garden.. I’ve weeded there and in a couple of flowerbeds. After picking beans today, I’m all geared up to pull the bean bushes in a couple of places. They seem to be finished. I have a few more bush beans that still have some life left in them and all of the pole beans. They haven’t got any large beans on them, but small ones are starting to form so we will eat those fresh until frost.
My garden is large, and is yielding well this year. I’m very thankful to have so much to work with, along with what we got from my sister’s farm. There are still a few items to can later in the summer/fall, but I made huge strides on the project this past couple of weeks. We are also eating daily from the fruits and veggies we are picking.
We ate so much garden produce and things from the pantry and freezers that I didn’t shop for most of 2 weeks. When I did, I used the $10 off $50 at Safeway. I bought some things to stock up the camper for our next excursion and some items I don’t normally buy, such as first aid items. I also got some things at Grocery Outlet. It felt good to be able to stock up on things with the extra money I had left over from last month’s grocery budget due to eating so much garden produce.
Rob and I inventoried our canning shelves. I like to keep a detailed record of my food preservation, recording what was left over of each item and what new jars have been added this year. Last year, I was out of so many items that I over-canned on purpose. I like to have a little carry-over in case of a poor crop, an item being hard to get for some reason, etc. There’s not as much left over as I thought there would be. So, I’m taking care of that!
Although canning has taken up a huge portion of my time this past 2 weeks, that’s not all. we did.
Jake and I made cinnamon sugar toast cut-outs one day. This is a birdhouse, in case you didn’t know. All we did is toast bread, spread with butter and cinnamon sugar and cut out shapes with cookie cutters, but he had a wonderful time doing it and eating his concoction.
Rob filled the kiddie pools for the kids one day and watched both the pressure canner and the kids at the same time, as we do all of our canning outside in an enclosed porch area.
I started science with Patsy this week and she and Jake did an experiment. We’ve been reading aloud for hours and I’ve received Jake’s science from his Mom so we will start that this week. I like to do some school in August, to ease into the process. We will go full-bore in September.
We had a family gathering potluck for Rob’s side of the family one evening and had a nice time. We had an aunt and uncle from Idaho visiting our aunt who lives here and spent some time over at her house visiting, which was also nice. Of course, the babies have been through the house a few times, and we have seen some other relatives from time to time. We aren’t bored, but will admit to being quite tired once night comes! It’s a busy time of year:)
The weather has remained hot, but manageable. Rob has been making jar after jar of sun tea so he always has a cool drink.
The garden keeps pumping out the produce.
This morning, I got 2 small bowls of cucumbers, so I will make pickles later today. I noticed a few dill heads beginning to form, so they will be dill this time.
I picked all this broccoli this morning, as well, and it is soaking in salt water while I do some other things. That gets rid of any critters that might try to hide in the florets. Then, I will put it with what I got the other day and blanch and freeze it. Last time, we ate a bunch fresh, but I’m not sure we can eat all the veggies we are picking right now, so I’m happy to freeze some for later.
We froze several baggies of blueberries and ate raspberries and blueberries fresh. The June-bearing raspberries are winding down, but there are still a few every couple of days.
We are spending as much time as possible with the babies. So cute, and so much fun:). This one gained a pound in the last week. Go, baby!!
We took a drive on Saturday and hit a community garage sale. We found a man who was selling grocery bags of kids books for $2. We filled a bag. Since I’m going to be working with my nephew this fall, doing part of his schooling, I grabbed several educational books for the whopping price of 25c each. Even if I only use one idea from each, it’s worth it. We also scored a few fall flannel shirts and pants for $1 each for our older grandson. The baby has plenty for now and there’s a huge bag of the next couple of sizes up Rob got at a yard sale a while back, plus the outgrown clothes of his brother. So, right now, we look for the bigger sizes.
Yesterday, Rob cooked a small turkey we got last fall for a very low price. He put it on the BBQ, so it didn’t heat up the house, and we will use a lot and share some.
I’m off to Safeway to get a couple of things. 74c ice cream tops my list. I can have 2, so I will get them if there are any left. I don’t need much, actually, as we are eating mainly from the garden and freezers. It’s a good time of year for my grocery budget!
A few years ago, Rob picked up quart-sized ziplock bags full of home-saved zinnia seeds at a yard sale for 25c/bag. He got several. I planted some in the garden then, and then they started dropping seeds. This is one of many volunteers in my garden that I am enjoying immensely. I found one bag left in my seed stash and I planted in in a front flowerbed. Many of them came up and a bunch of them survived the slugs. They are blooming now, which makes me happy.
My newest planting of lettuce came up. I like to keep it going all summer so we can have salad all the time. I was doubtful that this planting would sprout because it’s been so hot, so I was delighted to see them pop up. A few snow peas sprouted, too, and so far I have one new summer squash sprout. Succession planting is one way to keep the veggies coming until frost.
I was down at the hospital all day yesterday. A family member broke their leg and needs surgery. We are taking turns going over there until they get fixed and released. While I was gone, Rob took leftover fruit and made a mixed cobbler. He used canned cherries, a handful of blueberries from our bush, leftover pie filling from the 4th of July and whatever else he could find that was getting old. The fruit was not wasted and tasted great.
He also made a sweet and sour chicken and rice. I’m still getting snow peas from the garden and he used chicken I got on sale for 97c/lb for boneless/skinless breast. Carrots and celery are almost always in my fridge. We are still working on the 50 lbs of Jasmine rice Rob got at the beginning of Covid for only $10. It was marked down because the store had gotten in the wrong item, so were selling it quickly.
I cooked a lot this week, and made chicken-rice soup, salmon, sandwiches with potato salad, and lots more.
We have had our older grandson quite a bit this past week. Our daughter also brought new baby over for us to hold several times. With both Rob and I on baby-holding duty and Patsy and Jake to amuse Malcolm at times, she can keep getting stronger and we can have fun:). I also went to several doctor appointments with them, driving, carrying kids and/or carseats and carriers from here to there, and so forth. A few food items were cooked and sent over to their house, and I helped facilitate grocery shopping.
I made 2 receiving blankets. I used flannel purchased on sale some time ago. My daughter wanted ones that were slightly larger than the 30″ x 30″ size they come in around here, I just cut the flannel and narrow-hemmed it. It wasn’t hard.
The flowers Rob grew or wintered over continue to amaze me with their beauty. I look at them every day.
The garden is growing so quickly, I can hardly keep up with it. I love this time of year! Between the time I recently took this picture and today, we’ve already eaten the lettuce and one of the cabbages.
I’ve removed the excess, side-dressed with compost and planted a few zucchini and little scallop squash seeds in the blank area. I like having a second crop of squashes for early fall. The other older bushes often succumb to powdery mildew or just give out by then. These cabbages, along with some in the raised beds were the first ones that were planted in March or April, so it makes sense they are ready first. I’ve also planted a new row of lettuce behind the carrots.
The path on the left is overgrown with grass and weeds. I have been concentrating on weeding between the plants and rows. I usually go out every evening for an hour or two. These are broccoli and cabbage plants with zucchini behind and green beans and cucumbers on the left-hand side. This is a cabbage mixture so there are reds, ball-heads, cone-heads, small and large ones that will ripen at different times. We bought a Cabbage Mixture from Pintree Garden Seeds and a package of red cabbage from the store (not sure which brand–it was kind of like “take what you can get” at that point.)
I’ve picked broccoli 3 times, which is why the plants look bare. More side shoots will grow. I grow the Hybrid Broccoli Blend from Territorial. It comes on at different times. Today, for instance, I got one big, main head and the rest are side shoots from heads I’ve previously picked. I’ve frozen several baggies for winter. This broccoli is soaking in salt water to chase away any critters.
I shoveled out the finished compost from the bin on the right. As you can see, the left-hand side is overly full. I have not been letting anyone use the right-hand side as I knew it was almost finished. I used the compost to side-dress the previously mentioned area of the garden, some peppers, some artichokes and some lettuce and onions.
Then, I put the slats back and started using the emptied bin to make some more of my “dark gold.” Patsy’s happy because she has to empty our kitchen compost pan each evening and she now has plenty of space to dump it in:). We have 2 double compost bins. The other set has one side that is finished and one side that is absolutely full. So she has a point.
As you can see, grass clippings were dumped between the row I weeded last evening. We are constantly trying to improve our soil. Any little bit helps. Last spring, we spread a load of mint compost. We’ve dumped bags and bags of steer manure/compost on it over the past few years. Last fall, Rob picked up a lot of huge garbage bags full of leaves from the side of the road downtown and they are spread and tilled in on the right-hand side of the garden. We also use organic fertilizer from a bag, that we buy, to supplement. We’ve found we can’t grow this much, this close together without a lot of nutrition.
It’s paying off. We’ve also been harvesting zucchini this week, along with cabbage and lettuce, green onions and cilantro.
This past week was dubbed “party week.” We went to a birthday party for our oldest daughter, then 2 graduation parties. We had fun.
It was a challenge to get everything done in-between all the fun we had. I was surprised to find my peas were ready. In two sessions, I froze 10 baggies, and a large bag of sugar snap peas, and 2 large bags of snow peas. I don’t usually freeze the last 2 kinds but there were so many and I’d already taken baggies to all the relatives that would take them, so….hopefully they won’t be too limp when we eat them.
We picked lots of lettuce and had many salads.
We took our niece and nephew to the Cascade Raptor Center in Eugene, Oregon on Wednesday. It was a fun outing. In this picture, we were in the right place at the right time and the turkey vulture trainer told Jake to stay right there and he would bring the vulture out for a walk. It was so interesting to see the training methods.
I made 2 of the ugliest pies ever. I had 2 gluten-free frozen crusts that had been jostled around so much they broke into pieces. I pieced them back together and made a chocolate pie and an apple strusel pie. The crusts looked awful, but the pies tasted great. I used the extra chocolate pie filling to make popsicles.
My berries continue to ripen and I froze 2 gallon bags of them. Mine are quite sour, sadly, with all the rain we’ve had, so I dumped a little sugar in with them. That will help:)
This week looks to be much more quiet than the past few weeks. I have to say that I’m glad. It’s been difficult to get to everything that needs to be done, but we’ve powered through. The end of the month looks very busy with lots of time with the children, gardening, and a 4th of July barbeque in the works, so I plan to rest up this coming week. Here’s hoping my plan works out…..
I picked berries from my yard. I also went U-Picking and got 20 more pounds. Some were for my sister, but lots were for us. As you can see, there are some that got bitten by critters, such as slugs and potato bugs, from our yard. I cut all of those places out when I got them ready for dinner.
Today, Rob set up my canning area on the outside porch. I used it immediately.
I made quite a bit of strawberry-rhubarb jam and a smaller amount of strawberry. My niece helped me. She measured out the sugar and watched breathlessly to see if the pot was at a full rolling boil or not, while staying way back so she wouldn’t get burned. We had fun. I have only 1 jar of the strawberry-rhubarb left but more of the plain strawberry. We’ve also been cutting them up and eating them for meals.
It was nice to have a frozen gluten-free pizza in the freezer to have for dinner tonight. Rob got a few for $4 each at Grocery Outlet a few weeks ago. That’s a great price, and they are easy when I’m tired.
I’ve been so busy that I’ve had the recipe and ingredients for these blueberry muffins out on the counter for days. It became a household joke, but I FINALLY made blueberry muffins this evening!
It’s birthday season at my house. 3 of my 8 children have birthdays within an 8-day time period. There was a party on Saturday for my oldest, and we went and had a great time. Sunday, after church, we took Patsy and Ja’Ana to the Oregon Coast Aquarium, then out to dinner in a restaurant, a big deal for us since we have been only out to eat a very, very few times in the last couple of years. We used the membership we purchased a few months ago for admission to the aquarium, so that helped make the day feel more affordable. Of course, baby came, too. Our daughter, Lovana, joined us as well, so we were able to get the maximum amount of people our pass covers in, utilizing it to the max!
If I look like I was drenched with a bucket of water, you are close. We were caught in a heavy rain shower while going to our car. Perfect timing, I thought, as the aquarium in part inside, and part outside.
He wasn’t sure what to think. He tried in vain to “get” those fish, but mostly just looked around with wide eyes the entire time.
The raised beds are looking good. I was able to get in there and weed and do some succession planting. The garden is all planted and things are coming up. We even got a bunch of trimming done and filled the yard debris bin each week. Quite a few weeds were removed from flowerbeds, as well. It all takes time, but things are looking much better around here. Except the cucumbers. Just as fast as the pickling cukes come up, some bird pecks them out and leaves them laying there to die. I. AM. NOT. HAPPY. with those birds. I replanted again, and Rob rigged netting over them. I have a few new ones, but now the birds are trying to take away the netting…….Hmmmmm. We will see who wins.
We are eating lettuce frequently, along with artichokes and the strawberries. The pea pods are very prolific, as well. In fact, there are so many ready that I’m going to have to freeze some. We like them fresh the best, but I can use a few frozen, as well.
Our flower pots are looking great. Rob grew these all from seeds or cuttings. We have several hanging ones, pots on steps and porches, and flower beds galore, all from his efforts.
I picked, blanched and froze the hearts from all those artichokes and the ones in another place that you can’t see. I got 3 tiny bags full. We simply couldn’t eat them all, and we can use these in salads or casseroles. It’s a lot of work for a small amount of gain, but since they grew so well, I didn’t want to just waste them.
Rob peeled and chopped up a large quantity of onions left from last year’s garden.
He froze them in bags, in one or two cup amounts. I will use them when I make salsa or relish at the end of the summer. We grew so many onions last summer, and they kept until June, but were starting to show some signs of starting to rot, so it was time to preserve them in a different way.
We exercised several ways. We went for walks, down to the Kroc center for swim classes or to walk in the lazy river, and took a big hike to Silver Creek Falls. Last time, we hiked the shorter, lower loop. This time, we hiked the longer, upper loop and went about 5-1/2 miles. It was so beautiful.
I didn’t grocery shop, except for one watermelon and one bunch of celery. The last time I did a major shop was before Memorial Day. We’ve got a lot of food, and I have been working on making room in the freezers. It really helps that the garden is starting to produce, and that I have a good stockpile. The need for milk will be the thing that forces me into the store, I think, and it will be soon.
There are so many things that are keeping us occupied these days. We are needing to take one day at a time, and hopefully get most of our list completed before we collapse on the couch, and are trying to stay frugal while we do so. Mostly, we are succeeding!
Rob, with help from our nephew Jake, cleaned out the heat pump. He noticed there was so much ash and smoke from last summer’s wildfires he was scared to use it without giving it a good cleaning. He called at least one person to possible come do it for us, but they were unavailable, so he watched U-Tube videos and did it himself. Now when it gets hot, we will be ready. Doing basic cleaning and maintenance on our things saves us a ton of money, as they last longer. Doing it himself saves us even more, but it isn’t always possible, even for Rob. I’m glad it worked this time.
Rob took Michaela, our niece, to see horses twice this week. She loves going places and doing things and this is a totally free activity, other than a little gas, as both places were at friends.’ He’s always looking for fun things for them to do and is always excited when he finds good activities.
This past week, we mostly finished planting the garden. I worked a couple of long, hard days doing that. I didn’t take pictures because there’s nothing to show–the seeds aren’t up yet. So you get pictures of my other obsession–the baby:). There are a few small things to finish, but the bulk of it is done, and I’m not sorry it’s raining today. We need it badly.
I got into the flowerbeds a little bit, but there’s a lot left to do on those. The weeds will wait.
I cooked quite a bit as we had meals to deliver to a couple of places, plus our normal cooking. Patsy has been in a mood to cook, so baked brownies, lemon bars and lemon-poppyseed muffins, twice. Rob has been BBQ-ing everything in sight, so it was a group effort.
I spent quite a bit of time taking my rotation with a family member who is recovering from surgery, and we scheduled out the next bit of time as well on a Zoom call with the family. It’s one good thing that has come out of the pandemic–we just set the time up and all got on there and said which days worked for each one of us, then sent out the schedule via text. Now we know who goes over there and when, who cooks, who takes to appointments, etc. all without leaving home. This should eliminate people being scheduled on days that they are already busy and having to trade, but we can trade if we need to. It’s so nice to have several of us able and willing to take turns and to be able to choose convenient times to do so. And, it’s been great to have so much time to visit with that person more than I usually get to.
By Saturday, I was ready for time with the baby. So, I borrowed him for about 6 or 7 hours and Patsy and I just played with him. Rob was gone to a mens’ conference, but he got a turn once he got home. When his mama came and got him, she surprised me with pizza, which we gobbled right up:).
Rob really enjoyed his conference. It was the first thing like that he has been able to attend in a long, long time. It’s very encouraging to see things like that starting back up in our area. Our family is ready to get out there a little more, now that we’ve all had our vaccinations. Patsy got her second dose this week, so she needs to be patient a little longer, but things are definitely looking up.
Here is my lovely Mother’s Day basket Rob grew for me in the greenhouse. Each of our mothers got one as well. Grandpa helped our grandson a little with his present selection, by doing some shopping for a very small gift and a card. So did I. I put the one choice on the table and let him crawl toward what he wanted to give his Mama. Not surprisingly, he chose the present I put out, although for moment I thought an empty milk jug in the vicinity might actually win out:).
Much of the week centered around work and a small gathering we decided to have on Mother’s Day. Many significant people, including both of our mothers, had other important places to be, so the numbers were few. That turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as I severely pulled a muscle in my leg while working on the flowerbeds. Rob and Patsy did all the work to get the house ready and Rob did most of the cooking. I sat on the couch and read or watched t.v. while they did those chores. Hmmm…some people will do anything to get out of work….. I say in my defense that I did clean 1/2 the bathroom. Gladly, I’m much, much better now and Rob and I took 2 super short walks today to get that leg back in shape. Tomorrow’s going to be much better yet, I can already tell.
I saved a lot of money sitting on my couch. How, you ask? Well, we made up a menu entirely of food we had on hand, except for some sugar soda Rob picked up. All we use here is diet soda, but some like the regular kind. It was on a very good sale, so that didn’t cost much. Thankfully, I had shopped last weekend for 2 weeks, and my plan payed off. We still have lots of groceries. People also brought things, and that’s always a nice gift to the host! This time, we really appreciated it more than ever.
I did not buy paperwork at the Dollar Store or anywhere else. I used regular silverware, not plastic and my usual glass plates for dessert. I did use a few paper plates I had in the cupboard, but bought no special napkins or anything for the occasion. I put fabric placemats here and there on t.v. trays and on the table for people to use, so did not buy a paper or plastic tablecloth. I put basil plants Rob grew in the center of the table for a centerpiece with the intention of giving them away after the party, so did not buy flowers or any other decorations.
I did not go to JoAnn’s as planned to buy new patterns on the pattern sale. Because I was not there, I bought nothing else, either. Because I’ve not chosen to go often during the pandemic, I do buy things when I’m there and can find something I like. There will be other chances to go to JoAnn’s, and other pattern sales, even though my phone is constantly telling me “It’s you LAST chance to get a good deal at JoAnn’s!” I have so many projects to work on, I’m not worried.
We also spent extra money when I sat on the couch. For one meal, Rob ordered me some gluten-free pizza from Dominos. Yum, yum, yum. If it didn’t hurt so much, I would definitely think it was worth doing it again…..but….it did hurt, and I got very bored sitting down, so I’m not planning on it.
I sent artichokes home with my oldest daughter. I said anyone who wanted some could pick some, so she did. She picked some for us to eat as well.
I picked lettuce a couple of times already and have more getting ready. I was able to re-use the nets from last year to keep the birds off.
The Little White Snowpeas are blooming and the Maestro peas on the left are about to bloom. In the back the Sugar Snap Peas are climbing the fence, as they should. Since we can’t till properly, as the new tiller is still delayed, I’m so thankful for the new raised beds Rob built last fall.
My aunt kindly texted me that there were eggs for 98c/dozen at her local Waremart (like Winco). Rob needed to run over there anyway for another reason, and, since I didn’t have as many eggs as I thought I did, he stopped to get me some and SCORED!!!!! Around here, jar lids are still very scarce. But, now we have enough to add to what he’s purchased here and there to finish up what we need for this upcoming canning season and so do the rest of my sisters and my mom, as some of these are for them. He just couldn’t believe it when buying a whole case was an option. He couldn’t believe there were any at all, much less that many! He has checked over and over in basically every store he has entered for any reason, and also on line. (Yes, there are some there, but we refuse to pay outrageous prices like $9/box, or other equally ridiculous prices.)
Now, if that elusive jar lid super sales comes along, I may buy extra to have a backlog, but for now, I’m super happy with what we have. The people he’s talked to where we often buy lids told him they got some, quickly sold them, and have no idea when, or IF, they are ever getting more. And, there are limits on how many a person can buy posted on the shelves when they are found in this area. We are not jar lid hoarders, but it is a fact that I canned over 1,000 jars last summer and that’s a lot of boxes of lids. I’m also a jar lid snob and only want Ball or Kerr. I’ve had some bad experiences with other brands and it’s just too much work for me to risk repeating those experiences. This year, I probably don’t need to do quite so many as I tried to can a few extra of each item last year, but we hit some items pretty hard this past winter. Good thing I love canning and gardening.
The other thing Rob and I did last summer was dry more items. We plan to do even more of that this year, as we found uses for most of what we dried. There’s just no point in growing such a large garden to preserve if I can’t find supplies to do just that and a way to use what I preserve. If they don’t like it, they won’t eat it. Plain and simple, sad, but true, and any other cliche you have heard. They are all true around here:)
Are any of you having success finding lids where you live?
