I liken May to January as a month of making plans and setting intentions. Apart from gardening plans (which are slow in coming as I wait to see what surprises will be revealed in new yard), I like to make personal writing, reading, and other creative plans. I envision lazy afternoons spent in the new
I am not as young as I once was. It doesn’t trouble me, in fact, I embrace this season of my life full on. I wouldn’t trade these years for anything, but occasionally unexpected things look me in the face and say “you’re not a young woman any more.” Yesterday, I canned one last batch of
I wrote a Friday’s Fave Five post yesterday and accidentally deleted the whole thing before publishing. I considered rewriting it, but decided to move on instead. So, here we are starting fresh on what promises to be a busy Saturday morning. I canned the last of the beets from my garden yesterday. Gerry’s going to head
This is a photo of my kitchen counter last year on this day. To me, it’s a satisfying image that brings comfort to my anxious spirit. I’m not canning as much as I have in recent years. Rather, I’m relying more on my freezer to preserve the harvest and the bounty we get from the
I’m sitting here listening to the sweet sound of rain. RAIN! At long last! The heavy weight of fire season is still with us but with many alerts and orders being rescinded and fires being brought under control, there is an easing of the burden. Skies, though not completely smoke free, are clear enough to
We’re taking the pups outside to the ash-covered backyard. Maya and Murphy race past me and, thinking Gerry’s right behind me, I leave the door open. We can’t leave the door open for long or smoke creeps in, so I quickly look behind me and see he’s not there. ”I thought you were right behind
It’s been a week of fits and starts and uncertainty but here we are at the end of it, taking time to look back at some good things from the week that was with another Friday’s Fave Five post. Here we go. Gerry’s annual salmon fishing trip. We weren’t sure it was going to happen
I transform 25 pounds of field tomatoes into a dozen beautiful jars of tomato soup and roast two trays of Black Krims and I am exhausted. Absolutely spent. Once upon a time I could easily can 50 pounds of tomatoes in one day and, aside from a sore back and feet, still have a measure
Like my gardening mojo, my canning mojo is in short supply this year too. Nevertheless, there are things to do, and this weekend it’s tomato soup time. Other than jam, this will be the first canning I’ve done this summer. Crazy, when I think about previous years, but there it is. This year is different. The
We score a flat of raspberries. They’re a little burnt from the record-breaking heat, but fine for making jam. It’s a little dream come true, working side by side in the kitchen with Laurinda and Makiya, teaching them how easy it is to make jam. I make the first batch, offering tips while I go, then
Gerry brings home two flats of plump, sweet raspberries. I wash and crush some; cook and stir and sweeten them; fill jars with jam and set them in the water bath canner to process. It’s ridiculously cool outside for late June but in the kitchen where I work you’d never know it. While the jam