Know what I'm doing today?

Nuthin.

Perhaps by tomorrow I will find some energy somewhere.  But just for today, I am living in the world of the lazy.

It's Great!

Done...For Now

Finished up with the strawberries this afternoon.  Once they were cleaned and put into zip lock bags, there were 5 gallons of berries.  Son had taken some home with him and I ate a couple of bowls full before bagging them to store in the fridge.  Out of that 5 gallons I got 20 half pint jars of strawberry jam, 22 half pints of strawberry rhubarb sauce and 11 pints of canned strawberries.  I'm thinking they will taste awfully good when the snow is falling and the wind is blowing about February.

So I am done canning and dehydrating for now...unless I find a good sale on something to can or dry.  Peak season on cucumbers, bell peppers and tomatoes at the Farmers Market is in August.  I think there are some dill pickles in my future as well as a good stash of my favorite bread and butters.  Many times we think only about storing the basics - sugar, flour, beans, etc.  But I believe it is also necessary to have on hand those things like jam or pickles or even candy to keep from getting totally burned out on food should the time come when our only option is what we have in our food storage.  A little treat goes long way to help make life tolerable sometimes.

Tis the Season...

for canning.  I finished canning the meat from my last grocery order.  Wound up with 19 pints of hamburger, 12 pints of chicken and 6 pints of pork.  I was disappointed in the  quality of the boneless country ribs.  There was way too much fat on them, unlike others I had ordered in the past.  That's the down side of ordering groceries.  Sometimes the quality is less than you would like.  Anyway, I decided to bake the pork and shred it when done.  The fat was easier to remove this way.  Then I stirred in some barbecue sauce and canned it as barbecued pork for sandwiches.  I would rather have worked on the canning when our temperatures weren't in the 90's, but I just don't think, considering our uncertain world, that waiting is an option.

A dozen bell peppers and 20 lbs. of carrots made their way through the dehydrators and are packaged up and on the shelves.

Oldest Son did a Farmer's Market run this morning and showed up with two and a half flats of strawberries and some rhubarb that will turn into strawberry jam, strawberry rhubarb sauce and strawberries in syrup.

There are several Farmer's Markets in our area, but the one we like is in St. Paul.  They have a website that includes a list of the produce and dates when it is available, so we are checking that weekly to make sure we are able to get what we need.  By the end of the season I hope to have everything I need canned, dried and on the shelves.

I haven't had a chance to try out my washer and dryer as yet.  That will just have to wait until preserving the food I have here right now is completed.  It just seems to me that things are sliding downhill a bit faster now.  I am not in panic mode, but I do think it would be foolish let an opportunity go by to add to my food storage.

So I am off to the kitchen to hull some strawberries in preparation for another canning session tomorrow morning.  I think I will take my laptop with me and listen to an audio book while working.  Cleaning berries and a good murder mystery.  What a combination!

Doing The Happy Dance

Anyone who reads here regularly knows that my mobility is not what it once was.  Stairs can be difficult at times.  Two flights of stairs to the laundry room in my building can be particularly challenging.  And because I prefer clean clothes rather than dirty ones, I decided some months back to do something about my laundry situation.

I did some online research and found there are apartment sized washers and dryers that do not require special plumbing or special electrical hook-ups.  I compared prices and found a decent price from a place that would also deliver.  It isn't easy to find a store that will deliver to a second floor apartment in a building without an elevator.  But I found one locally.

Then I started saving.  Every dollar I could squeeze out of the budget went in the washer-dryer fund.  It took some time, but I reached my goal.

Today these little beauties were delivered.

They are small, but once my laundry is caught up, I won't have much to wash each week.  The washer is on casters so I can roll it up to the kitchen sink to use it and roll it back out of the way when not in use.  The dryer has an additional kit that makes it possible to use it without having to vent it outside.

Oldest Son says he will help me get them all set up.  That won't be for a couple of days, however.  I have bell peppers in the dehydrator now and have 20 lbs. of carrots to get to drying tomorrow morning.  There is also chicken, pork and hamburger to can.  My freezer is full, so the canning needs to be done right away.

Nonetheless, I am giddy with excitement.  These new appliances not only will make life easier for me, but they represent just one more thing that will enable me to hang on to my independence a bit longer.  I know that if I asked, my kids would do my laundry for me.  But I am so much happier when I can do things for myself.

I'm kind of stubborn that way.  Or so I have been told.  :)

So last evening...

the fellow who calls me for my grocery order was telling me about some changes in the way their organization does things.  Instead of the order takers having to sift through the entire inventory of the big box store to find one item, they are issuing a catalog listing the products available for ordering.  While that may limit some of my selections, it will make it easier and faster to place an order.  I am not concerned.  Oldest Son calls me maybe once a week while on his way home from work to see if I need anything, so if I can't order something I want, I'm pretty certain he will pick up anything I need.

Normally I place a grocery order every two weeks, but what with getting the order taker's computers changed over to the new catalog program and getting a new delivery schedule set up, it will be one month before I order groceries again.   Chuck (my order taker) wanted to know if the delay would be a problem for me, and then he started to laugh.  When I asked him what was so funny, he replied that he had been taking my grocery orders for quite some time now and he knew my grocery buying habits.  He said he was pretty sure that my pantry was well stocked enough to see me through longer than just a month.  He told me that he had changed the way he and his wife shop largely because of our conversations about the way I shop for groceries.  It is gratifying to know that there are still folks out there who can see the benefits of a deep pantry.

The new schedule will give me a new order taker.  I am going to miss talking with Chuck every other Monday evening.  I know the sound of his wife's voice from hearing her in the background.  I know that his little dog waits until he is on the phone before barking at squirrels outside their window.  He has asked me how to can hamburger and I now have his recipe for sour dough starter.  He left messages of concern when I didn't answer my phone while I was in the hospital.  I worried about him when I found out he had a broken hip after a fall on the ice.

It is reassuring to know there are still good people out there in the midst of all the hate and discontent and insanity surrounding us.  It is possible to develop friendships with folks you haven't met in person.

Kind of like those I have met right here on this silly little blog.

I Murdered My Herbs

I had planted herb seeds in starter pots.  They all came up.  Looked so pretty and green.  When they were big enough I transplanted them into larger pots and set them on my window sills.  At which point most of them just laid down and died.

I can grow just about anything in a garden.  But I'll be darned if I can keep a plant alive indoors.  I baby them.  I am careful not to over water them or under water them.  I even talk to them.  Tell them how pretty they are.  Doesn't matter.  They just won't grow for me.

There are a few stragglers left and they look pretty sad.  So I'm going to give it one more try and plant the rest of my seeds directly in the larger pots.  And if that doesn't work I will just pack up the whole kit and kaboodle until next spring when I will buy starter plants.

Sigh.

He Was My Dad

He taught me how to change a tire and jump start a battery.  He showed me the proper way to paint a house.  He shared with me his love of gardening and of all growing things.  He made sure I knew how to safely handle firearms.  When using tools like a hammer or saw, he would hand the tool to me and say, "Here, you try it."

By example he showed me what honesty and integrity was all about.  His work ethic was second to none.  His handshake was as good as any written contract.

He wasn't perfect.  None of us are.  He told the dumbest jokes on the planet, the kind that make you groan.  He held opinions that were not even close to being politically correct.  But he loved me unconditionally no matter what stupid thing I did.   And I knew I could always go home.

Happy Father's Day, Dad.  I love and miss you so very much.