.... and so does my time with the girls.
Again, not enough hours in the day to do all the things I want to do with them. In the last couple of days, a cold front has moved through, leaving us with less humid days and gorgeous evenings for garden wandering.
Gardening is one of Adrian's favorite things to do. She checks the tomatoes first thing after breakfast each morning. Yesterday, she filled a 1/2-sized buffet pan so this morning I'll be showing her how they go from garden to canning jar. I figure I'll have about six wide-mouth pints.
I was her age (9) when my dad and 'step'mom got custody of me. That was in May. By August I was learning how to wash the canning jars in a big galvanized wash tub out in the yard. I had a dishcloth on the end of a butter knife to get down into the jar all the way. I got the first two washes... one to wash the storage dirt out of them, the next to get them super-clean ... followed by a cool rinse (this broke up the soap particles) then a warm rinse. From there, Mom put them into another tub full of super hot water to rest until she was ready to put food into them for canning.
I'll be starting with fresh jars so they'll just need a rinse and scald but she can wash the tomatoes before I put them into the boiling water to slip the skins. I figure every summer that she's able to visit, she'll learn a bit more.
One thing Adrian is anticipating is the Solar Eclipse that occurs on August 21st. We are just a slip off the main track, meaning we will see the eclipse at about 98%. Grandpa got out his 2 welding helmets and I have a high spot picked out for us to have a picnic in the bed of the truck and wait for the temporary dark to fall. I'm really excited to share this phenomenal experience with my girls. Abby won't get it, but Adrian loves anything having to do with being out of doors.
Speaking of the girls, they should be waking up soon. Even though we're in the mid-west, I've kept them on Pacific NorthWest time so their sleeping schedules are not messed up when they go back home a few days prior to starting school.
Getting to the computer for blogging is not a priority these days as you can see, and hopefully understand. However, later in the week I'll show you some visitors to our yard.
Many Blessings
~Rain
Again, not enough hours in the day to do all the things I want to do with them. In the last couple of days, a cold front has moved through, leaving us with less humid days and gorgeous evenings for garden wandering.
Gardening is one of Adrian's favorite things to do. She checks the tomatoes first thing after breakfast each morning. Yesterday, she filled a 1/2-sized buffet pan so this morning I'll be showing her how they go from garden to canning jar. I figure I'll have about six wide-mouth pints.
I was her age (9) when my dad and 'step'mom got custody of me. That was in May. By August I was learning how to wash the canning jars in a big galvanized wash tub out in the yard. I had a dishcloth on the end of a butter knife to get down into the jar all the way. I got the first two washes... one to wash the storage dirt out of them, the next to get them super-clean ... followed by a cool rinse (this broke up the soap particles) then a warm rinse. From there, Mom put them into another tub full of super hot water to rest until she was ready to put food into them for canning.
I'll be starting with fresh jars so they'll just need a rinse and scald but she can wash the tomatoes before I put them into the boiling water to slip the skins. I figure every summer that she's able to visit, she'll learn a bit more.
One thing Adrian is anticipating is the Solar Eclipse that occurs on August 21st. We are just a slip off the main track, meaning we will see the eclipse at about 98%. Grandpa got out his 2 welding helmets and I have a high spot picked out for us to have a picnic in the bed of the truck and wait for the temporary dark to fall. I'm really excited to share this phenomenal experience with my girls. Abby won't get it, but Adrian loves anything having to do with being out of doors.
Speaking of the girls, they should be waking up soon. Even though we're in the mid-west, I've kept them on Pacific NorthWest time so their sleeping schedules are not messed up when they go back home a few days prior to starting school.
Getting to the computer for blogging is not a priority these days as you can see, and hopefully understand. However, later in the week I'll show you some visitors to our yard.
Many Blessings
~Rain
