Thank you all once again for all of the kind and thoughtful comments left on the previous post! Each and every one was a blessing to us. Thank you!
It is difficult to believe that the month of August is already here! And not only here, but we're already over a third of the way through it. My, how time has flown! That is what happens, though, when the days are full of busyness, pleasant times, and excitement! And we have had all three of those things going on here (the latter being rather obvious given the last post :) . . .
The Garden and Canning
It seems that just about every day for the last little while has found me in the kitchen for at least part of the time putting up produce . . . grating and freezing zucchini, juicing wild plums and canning jelly (which I did more of today), chopping and freezing peppers, and canning salsa, relish and ketchup. And in addition to that, it is Leah's and my cooking weeks (Leah is joining me on my 'two-week cooking rotation', and it has been quite fun doing this together so far! :) Needless to say, the kitchen has been a busy place!
Leah peeling tomatoes and me chopping them in preparation for making ketchup
Mom helped chop the tomatoes, too . . . It went so much faster with three sets of hands!
The garden has slowed down considerably now, and I'll be canning the last of the tomatoes tomorrow and then that should be it for canning until the fall (save for some more wild plum jelly). It will be nice to have that all over with! I enjoyed the canning while it lasted, but I will be glad when it is all finished. :)
Out at Ryan's
We've also had the opportunity to go out to Ryan's place quite a few times in the past weeks . . . from simply walking and exploring, to sawing down trees (Dad and Ryan did this), to some of us shooting guns for a bit again, to simply enjoying each other's company . . . . what enjoyable times those were!
Leah photographing
Ryan
The view of his land from the road