Early Start, Early Finish

The old adage is ' the early bird gets the worm,' but today mine reads,

' Early to start, Early to finish.'

Do you remember these palm-sized peaches and

quarter-sized blueberries from the citrus truck delivery?

Well, today, they needed tending.

The blueberries went into freezer bags for future desserts and pancakes.

Oh, and of course, a quart in the frig' for fresh eating.

The peaches needed much more care. After washing the jars and rings, rolling the peaches in boiling water for a minute, then immediately cooling in ice water to make for easy peeling, the pitting and slicing began. Lil Granhelpers are always around and eager to do anything they can, with guidance.

The jars are filled, lids and rings are hand-tightened,

before the filled jars go into the hot-water bath for just 10 minutes. Some canners like to extend that time, but I start timing once the water comes to a boil, turning it down to mid-heat.

The end result for canned peaches that taste fresh as first picked, in the dead of a very cold winter, is the full purpose of going through the long process of preparing for any canning adventure.

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The small jars are full of the best peach jam , also made early today. The whole process from beginning to end was completed by 8:30 this morning, canned peaches, peach jam and frozen blueberries.

I'm rather proud of this. All of us girls, and there are 6 of us, have learned the art of canning, freezing, jelling and jamming from our mother while we were still hanging onto her apron strings.

Now, I have the pleasure of teaching my daughter and sons, and our grandloves, that same art that is too quickly becoming a thing of the past.

If I pass anything down to my family, I hope they remember me for loving the land and learning how to live off of it, from the ground up.

I can't get apologetic about getting all sentimental about something so dear to my heart., but I do apologize for this getting ' long.'

One last thing, AFTER the work was done, little Ben and I had the best fully loaded Blueberry Pancakes, made from scratch, topped with hot Peach Jam and homemade Maple Syrup from this spring.

Go out and make some memories with your family. I don't care if it's to pick a flower, enjoy each others company over milk and cookies or a phone call, but, just do it.

Have a wonderful day.

BlessYourHeart

R & R is OVER:( :)

O.K., already! I know, I know. There is work to do, lots of it!

It seems it is taking a bit longer to recharge lately. I'm thanking God for a small reprieve from all of the heat and exhaustion.

Now, there is obviously plenty to keep my hands from being idle for the next couple of days.

There are jars to fill!

The Tree-Ripe Citrus truck was here yesterday for a mere one and a half hours. Last year was the first time I bought their produce and it will not be the last. Just look at the goodies after this bit of free advertising.

Fresh picked Georgia Peaches 2 3/4 " and up, as big as my large hand will be canned for winter pleasure, and made into jams and tarts.

Plump, quarter-sized Michigan Blueberries to freeze and make jams, cobblers and pies.

Already, we devoured the sweet flavor of a Peach n' Blueberry Tart.

Ya Unt Sum?

And, among all the work of this week, includes chasing buzzards. Do you see him circling the fresh cut hay that needs baling.

Seeing the hay lying there is bittersweet for me. We used to do this work ourselves when we had a small hobby farm. Allowing the neighbors to feed this lot to their cattle, at least allows us the sweet scent of fresh mowed hay.

Besides all of the canning, there are weeds waiting in the gardens, to be pulled and composted.

Enough jabbering on and on about nothing important to anyone but myself. Needless to say, I have work to do, so off I go on my merry way.

Have a most wonderful day profiting from the simpler things in life.

BlessYourHeart

Peace and Quiet

Finding Peace

and Quiet

If you click on this second photo, you will see deer grazing in the tall grass. There were 2, so I thought. A couple of minutes later, I could see there were 4 illusive whitetails.

What a way to daydream the morning away.

By noon, after a couple of appt.s, the heat was getting more intense the second you stepped out of the shade, so I decided to succumb to the call for rest.

Rest, I did. I actually set the alarm so I would not be late to pick up Bill from that aweful hothouse of a paper mill.

By 3 p.m., the alarm is blaring, the neighbor lady was calling through the open doorway, "Is anybody home? Darla, are you here?"

I jumped up when she called the second time. The alarm had been going off for 15 minutes of which I did not hear.

I jumped up so quick, that I was disoriented, mouth like cotton, threw open the fridg' door, slammed a drink of water, apologized to my neighbor, telling her I was late to pick up Bill, told her to grab something to drink and we'd be right back. As I'm going out the door, she yells that there was a detour just before the mill due to a 3-car accident.

GREAT, I'm thinking.

Things start racing through my head.

As I passed the shop, (our son's), I wonder if Stacy is feeling better, having been sick for so long without an immune system~he hasn't answered my calls so he may be at the clinic, I'm hoping.

Will I have to go all the way to Fifield and back to pick up Bill? That's about 10 miles out of my way! Geeez~~

If he has to walk in this heat after a long hot day in the Sweat Shop, he is not going to be a happy camper.

Isn't is something how the mind wanders, even when you're awake!

Yes, Stacy finally, after 8 days of denial, finally went in for antibiotics.

The detour was only around one block, thank God.

Bill was waiting but only for a minute or two and just grateful to be out of the mill and waiting in the shade and breeze.

I hate to wait so I would not have blamed him one bit if my over-napping had put his buns in a bind.

Betty found a cool drink and was waiting in the easy chair nearly napping herself, when we returned. I worry about her as she undergoes radiation treatments once again. What a strong lady. Bless her heart.

The heat has been so intense all over, some, like us, with humidity added. Must be the reason for all of our exhaustion and added crankiness. I'm usually a happy, go-lucky kid, but not lately.

Thanks to all of you for sticking with this Bear.

Life in our slow lane, even gets hectic.

I cannot imagine still living in the fast pace of the city again.

I feel very fortunate to be able to breathe clean country air, even if it's dampened by the humidity.

I will take these aching joints of summer heat, any day, over the ice cold of our winters.

May you find your Peace and Quiet

BlessYourHeart

Totally Drained

Yes, it's been another totally busy weekend.

Why do all of my weekends end up working until my body is totally drained, tired out, pooped, exhausted, plum tuckered?

One of these times, I swear, I'm going to throw caution to the wind, say, H-E-double hockey sticks, to anything that resembles labor, and do as my sis just did and go float in a boat.

Have a great week

BlessYourHeart

Random X's 20

~~Click on any image for a closer look~~

Grab a cup of your favorite morning beverage, and come along for a short walk through the park.

I hear there is such a thing as Wordless Wednesday in blog land. That will be difficult for me, so it's up to you to identify what you are curious about or ask me and I can fill you in later.

Shhhh, we might see wild life.

5:45 this morning

Wait, while I pinch myself, for the beauty around me is right here in my own back yard~park. Oh, and to think that there is so much more.

See, that wasn't so painful, was it.

Have a wonderful day.

BlessYourHeart

UuuAww, Funnin', etc.

Besides a few fireworks over the weekend to thank our servicemen here and abroad for their dedication to keep us free, we filled our weekend with more., like

showing off flexibility since Ty Kwon Do, you go big guy! I used to be able to do that AND the splits, both ways...I Said USED TO!

A little star gazing and howling at the moon. I CAN still do that!

The fruit trees, deer vulnerable plants and flowers, received a good spraying of an organic deer, rabbit, elk deterrent. Not a single elk has bothered the trees since. This organic concoction consists of dried bovine and hog blood that is mixed with warm water, strained, then sprayed on our plants. Has your gag reflex been triggered yet? Any volunteers? What a messy job.

I did the mixing and the gagging, Bill did the spraying.

" This is pretty heavy Dad. How do I do this? "

First, you tie the kite to a musky fishing rod. Then you stay away from any power lines and the instructions say to be at least 3 miles from the nearest airport. Hmmm, we might not fit into that requirement.

Then we RUN, RUN, RUN, Son !!!

( Grandma CANNOT do that anymore. )

Of course, there was some splish-splashing going on. I even did that!

And tractor rides around the yard with Grandpa.

More splashing,

with a funny cousin!

Of course, there were a few garage sales, unsuccessful except for these handsome brass duck bookends. They were perfect for my guide books.

But, my favorite find of all, were these succulents in a basket, for a mere buck.

They are left, Woolcott's Variety and right, Collectors Anchisi.

How cool to find these. At the Succulent Greenhouse, they would be at least $7.00 for each of this size. Makes me happy.

So, garage sales, tag sales, any sale,

I CAN still do that!

Besides the fun, this long weekend, was actually a very busy work weekend for us. Bill finished splitting and piling another 3 cords of firewood, we mowed and weed-wacked 2 lawns and half a food plot, edged the entire yard with weed killer. The tattered, rotten corral fence came down and more mowing was done. The long grasses behind the barn were knocked down and boulders were moved, making way to get to the back of the wood shed. There is firewood there, that has not been used for at least 6-7 years. The stinging nettle behind the barn and along the cabin driveway, were sprayed. All three of the gardens were hoed and the potatoes were hilled.

Somewhere in there, we had a fresh caught catfish and walleye feed thanks to my brother and our nephew who did the catching. When they called to see if they could fry them here, of course, the answer was YES.

I CAN still do that!

All in all, it Was a long weekend. I AM exhausted but it is the good kind of exhaustion. I had to laugh this morning when Bill said, " Why don't you rest up today." OK, Honey, I CAN do that! LOL, now THAT was funny, Honey!

Here's wishing you all a great week of things that YOU can STILL DO.

BlessYourHearts

The Land That I Love

God Bless America

The Land That I Love

Have a most grateful 4th of July Weekend

Play Safe

BlessYourHearts