After all the work  that goes into making applesauce, the idea of letting the former batches I had done this year mold and spoil was quite unpleasant. Nearly all the sixteen quarts I had canned in the last month were molding or fixing to mold on top. Apparently my water bath canning process wasn't getting the apples hot enough (even when hot packed). The last six quarts I did (last week's batch) got water bathed twice and they still weren't sealing properly--so Mama suggested oven canning them. That worked. They're nice and tight now. Therefore, this morning I got started opening all the earlier jars, scraping the mold off the top and reheating the apples. Once the jars were washed up, I re-packed them and popped a batch of eight into the oven. One of them busted... After lunch, I did another seven. I  scraped off enough that I don't have a full sixteen quarts now..but you know, that's fine. I'd rather have fourteen quarts than none because I didn't do a good enough job the first time around. I'm pleased to say that all of them are nicely sealed and now I'm not worried about losing over a week's worth work sitting  cross-legged on the floor, plus blisters and a few cuts. :)

Oh, and by the way, it is good applesauce. I'll probably be making some more fairly soon since the trees still have apples on them.

In addition to that today I did some laundry...and doodled around doing a little bit of helping out with a front room clean out/up job. So...while certain areas of the house are a little piled, others feel cleaner because of the vacuuming and dusting and organizing job that got done(ish).

I was planning on cleaning the chicken coops today, but once I got the second batch of apples in the oven and realized that they'd be ready to come out at four...I decided that I would just forget chicken coops today and tackle that job tomorrow. It's supposed to be even warmer (it was 74 today) anyway, so I'll get what may be my last hurrah of summer tomorrow. I hope the chickens will appreciate a clean coop. I don't care if they don't, I will. It's been needing done for quite a while now and I just haven't gotten to it and haven't gotten to it. Lord willing, tomorrow evening will see a freshened up coop and a happy chicken owner.

Yesterday had an unexpected task--though really, it shouldn't have been since it was something I was going to do last week. PEARS!!!

I collected the windfall pears yesterday and started the cleaning job. I got two crock pots full and on between 4 pm and 11 pm with a little help from Katie. I really wasn't dawdling about the job either, even with the TV on (which by the way, one episode of "Quantum Leap" was plenty--what a weird show), so it surprises me to a degree that we didn't get any more than that done.

Anyway, this morning, after wandering about trying to get my head screwed on straight while Savannah and Katherine were out picking a neighbor's garden for her (I was going to go, but Katherine volunteered since I was still drowning in my allergies from my morning chicken feeding jaunt), I decided that I was going to cook the one pot of pears down more and actually make pear butter and that I was going to can the contents of the other pot. Problem. The Convervo doesn't work on the flat top stove. I have never canned any other way. So...to the internet I went. (Mama went with Daddy to a dentist appointment. He's getting the rest of his mercury fillings out today.)

At first, I thought I'd try the pressure cooker method, but then I decided on a water bath. I found a site that gave clear helpful instructions and got started....

The result was, as far as I can tell, satisfactory. All the jars are sealed. :) Hopefully, they stay that way.

I'll finish cleaning pears this afternoon, unless something drastically unexpected happens. I'd better get going then...my chicks are probably ready for lunch #2 by now.

I feel like I have the shakes, but looking at my hands it doesn't really look like it. My right one is a wee bit wobbly, but hardly noticeable. I feel rather more tired than I think I should--after all, picking strawberries isn't that hard, even when one does have to take on some odd positions (it's rather like playing Twister, but with more dire results if you slip your position). Who says you need to do squats as an exercise? Just go wade through a five foot across 80 foot row. :) 

I haven't been overly perky today anyway. I really cannot think of a what I did today (other than 1.5-2 hours picking strawberries) that really classifies as being of much use. Well...I guess I stood Grandpa up and vacuumed Grandma's floor--THAT was useful. :) 

But anyway, we have strawberries everywhere. Yesterday I processed (i.e. cut up and freezer bagged) what totaled three gallons (or a little over 11 pounds) of the things. I think that tomorrow, once folks go to the Market that I will probably start in on the ones we picked yesterday...three big dishpans full. I picked two today. 

I like that kind of processing work--particularly if I can listen to something or watch an old movie while doing it. Strawberries move along at a higher rate of speed when the only the ears are occupied. Even if I didn't have something for my hearing/seeing senses to occupy their time with, I would still enjoy it while telling myself a story. No, I haven't outgrown my imagination. I once had a girl tell me that she thought that the imagination got weaker as one got older. I disagree (respectfully, of course :D)...I don't think that it gets weaker, but rather I think it shifts a little. If you cultivate it, it rather gets stronger. At least, that's my take on that oh-so-interesting topic. 

Some of those berries will more than likely go to market (and if they come home I will be very surprised!). Then, of course, we gals keep dipping into them as we walk by. But seriously! They need to be done since we've nearly run out of counter top! (I had set one pan on the floor but Abby the Awesome Tabby looked a little too interested in them, if you know what I mean. She is an odd cat--she eats stuff like avocado, green beans, mango...so it wouldn't surprise me if she ate strawberries.)

I wonder if I ought not go set the table. Mama is not in yet, but I believe supper is done...

No, we didn't start planting today. But I have spent the majority of the day doing pre-planting "stuff".

For starters, I went through and catalouged all the seeds we already have. Mama is working on the seed order and she asked me to take care of this end of the job as she had other things to do and was a nice, slow easy paced task for a daughter who must confess to not feeling tip-top upon this overcast day. 

As it turned out, there was absolutely no need for more peas...at all. Carrots, yes, but not peas. Things like peppers, melons, cucumbers, and winter squash were also pretty much relegated to the "we have enough of these left over from last year" category. 

We picked two or three kinds of okra to supplement the remaining okra seeds from last year (aye, we be Southrons here in this mid-west land); a couple more kinds of greens (Georgia Collards anyone? They grow fairly nicely here.) Mama picked out half a dozen or more types of lettuce. (We are practically out.)

I cannot remember if more beets ended up in the online cart, but I do know how I love beets...We needed more Blue Lake and Roma green beans. I think they were the only beans that got added...we have plenty of the red and green Chinese Noodle beans left. :D

Then we kind of had fun choosing tomatoes...ever heard of blue tomatoes? Well, we have at least one variety in the cart!

I cannot remember if we decided on another cabbage or so, but we have a goodly number of seeds left for at least one of the varieties we grew last year. 

Mama also got a few different things like Emmer wheat (it's about as ancient a variety as can be found and a whole lot less glutenous than the modern stuff [wonder if even I with my wheat allergy can eat it?]) I don't know if she got the buckwheat or not, but I know most of us, if not all of us, rather like the stuff. 

Then she also added some different kinds of sweet potatoes to the cart. (Do you notice a sort of classic Southern food theme going on here: okra, greens, sweet taters...the sweet potatoes grow great up here--but Northerner's don't seem to think they are to be eaten except around Thanksgiving and Christmas. :D Right, so that may be a bit of an exaggeration and generalization....)

I will end up with some 'normal' potatoes like Red (Russet's, I guess they're called), Yukons, and the like, but those we'll get locally. I really do like growing taters. I don't exactly know why, but I think they are kind of fun. :)

Mama also has a whole bunch of flowers in the cart. Daddy is going to grow flowers for the Farmer's Market. Cut flowers. I'm still wrapping my head around this one. :D None of us girls got overly excited about the prospect when Mama suggested it, but I guess Papa did!! I reckon we'll end up helping as the season progresses. (There's a secondary benefit here--bee food!! *cheesy grin* Technically, it's not actually the pollen or nectar that the bee's eat anyway...but the honey they make from it.) Speaking of bee's, I showed Daddy my hives last night, all set up in the basement, and he got a rather rambly overview of some of what I know about bees. His questions helped me dig stuff out of my memory, too. :)

After we were done running through seeds, Mama got to talking a bit about one of the trains of thought she has been following for the betterment of our soil...and she set me on the trail to learn a little more about it myself so I can help think on ways to actually implement it in a workable fashion. It is true, our soil here is plumb worn out amongst other things. Anyway, ever heard of mycorrhiza? If so, kudo's to you. As is, I went, "What-cha-ma-call-it??"

So, the short version is it's a fungus-thingy that grows on or actually into the roots of most plants (ecto- or endo-mycorrhizae, respectively). This stuff helps with nutrient and water intake...it opens up the clay-y soil and helps bunch up the sandy stuff. 

Now, what has that got to do with our soil issues? Well...when the plant dies (is rooted up, plowed under, etc.), it's accompanying mycorrhiza dies. Now, what do most farmers and gardeners do once to twice (or more) per year? Yup, plow or till; breaking up the soil, turning it inside out...and destroying this helpful fungus. SO...we are trying to figure out a way to NOT till the garden and plant cover crops (I doubt they make acre garden size drills. I have noticed more farmers in the part of the world drilling rather than doing a total plowing.) I am just wondering how one plants a cover crop (such as wheat or whatever) without tilling. I can figure out the after planting part--until I run into the next years cover crop issue. So...to put this a little simpler, I can actually, in a way, see how to work a BIG chunk of land much better than I can a small piece. I personally, do not think that going and taking a hoe to break up the surface area of the previous cover crop is the most efficient method. 

But...if we skip that problem for the moment and go back to the benefits...say you have the cover crop in. The mycorrhiza (which may or may not have to be put into the soil by inoculation) grows onto the roots. So, when you plant your other plants, say beans (you could make the row or plot strictly by hoe, or using one of these mini-tiller things [we do have one though I have never personally used it] since they don't till as deeply or as widely), though you may have destroyed the mycorrhiza right in that row, the surrounding soil/roots still contains it. It will be able, from there, to attatch to the new plants. 

That is all rather simplified, I am sure, but that's the general idea.

I confess that I have a rather stick in the mud approach to "new" things. I think, partly, for two reasons. First, and most stupidly, it's just new, and uncharted (for me) territory. I am not a fan of change in my lifestyle or habits. (And I do rather enjoy running the tiller.) 

Secondly, perhaps somewhat more logically, I am hesitant to try something new when the old is "tried and true"...but then I have to sit back and question how "true" it is. Big ag practices really only come to fruition within the past century. Before then, was the food really more nutritionally rich? (I'd hazard a "yes" to that on a couple of fronts--however, I am really too ignorant to articulate them.) So, I got to thinking about the planting. Back in the days of horse drawn plows--or even the early tractors and tag-along implements--the turning over of the soil was not quite so deep...the rows were further apart (partly, I believe to allow the farmer to come back in, either by hand or with the tag along implements, and weed)...and so the complete destruction of the mycorrhiza would have been a little less likely. Oh, and there wasn't such a plethora of herbicides and pesticides [!! One of the things I forgot to mention was that "they say" that the mycorrhiza, making the plant healthier, actually reduces the amount of insect problems!! I'm not exactly sure how...but I did read that.]...you know that stuff gets into the ground...and...and...well...I could morph this into a health/Lyme discussion, but I will spare you that agony at this moment in time.

But anyway, going back to my second point, "Old" is not necessarily better. Sometimes "New" (which can actually just be "old before the current revitalized") really is better.

Oh, well, I think I need to go feed the chickens. Hopefully, my scribbles here will help me remember what I learned this afternoon as much as (or more than) they informed y'all as to an interesting tidbit from the field of fungi.

When Savannah and I went to go see Grandpa this afternoon, both he and Grandma were sound asleep when we got there...so we went and took a walk. There is actually a nice, fairly good-sized park right next to the hospital. By the time we got done with our stroll around it, my right knee decided it was going to act up. One reason that I do not really like walking for 'pleasure'. That knee always seems to bug me after a short-ish period of time. 

We re-entered the hospital and rode the elevator up to the 3rd floor--where Grandpa is--and spent a few minutes leaning on the window bar and laughing at the de-construction zone below us.

One of the three big machines had a magnet on it for picking up the iron scraps out of the felled building's former structure. We watched that for a while before we realized that the guy in the one to the left was using the big bucket on his machine to pick out the same sort of metal rubbish! We burst out laughing over this, because it would have been simply faster (and probably easier) had he gotten out and done it by hand. Still, the man did have "mad skills" (wherever that piece of slang originated). Anyway, for some reason, Tommy and Ricky came to my mind and I gestured towards the magnet man, "The guy with the magnet would be Ricky...and Tommy would be the one picking the metal out with the scoop!" We thereafter erupted into more effusive mirth, imagining the things that the brother's might say to each other (or about each other) under the circumstances. I am sure we were equally successful in envisioning the teasing, ornery gleam that they might have in their eyes and even the body language that would have accompanied any such teasings.

In all, we had a pleasant few moments enjoying a hearty laugh.

We then drifted back to Grandpa's room and he was just waking up. He was in one of the chairs, so I plopped myself down on the bed, my feet dangling over the edge (y'all know about my short legs, correct?) and sat there for chattering at and with him until suppertime. I had fixed him up a cup of coffee before I seated myself...he seemed to enjoy it. 

When supper arrived, it proved to be a sloppy joe (we always called them "sloppy jane's" in our house due to the all-girl population amongst the children), a salad, and some tater tots. Since Grandpa would have ended up with most of the 'joe' down his front, I wrastled the bun filled with tasty-looking stuffing for him. I mean, I held it for him; I didn't eat it!!

We left around six as he was starting in on his stewed apricots. It was high time to get the chickens fed...and me for that matter. By the time I got in from my chicken chores, my stomach was burning. I'm blaming it primarily on too much coffee over the past several days. As soon as I put food into it, the burning was quelled. 

In mighty happy news, Grandpa should be released from the hospital tomorrow morning!!!!

I awoke, not unusually, to the dawn bustle of my cats wrestling and leaping (occasionally landing on me). I decided I ought to get up shortly after I heard a crash next to my head and rightly surmised that my bedside flashlight had hit the floor due to the wranglings of an overgrown kitten. (I do believe it was Curio.)

It was raining, which put a damper on the proposed shooting expedition for the day. As it turns out, it was probably better that way because Daddy had a headache all day. I satisfied myself by taking a few minutes in the middle of the afternoon to rack the bolt on my rifle and squint down the barrel. I am trying to learn how to shoot with both eyes open (or mostly open), so I practiced sighting in that fashion. I probably would have landed lead on paper in the process had I actually been firing, but I doubt it would have been overly accurate. 

Instead of exploring the world of guns, powder, explosions, and re-training of eyeballs, I turned to a far more staid pursuit--and didn't get too far into that. I am stitching up a dress (okay, so some folks would call it a "costume") for the Reformation Day event next weekend. Savannah fitted me for the bodice, I cut out and sewed the mock-up...it fit. So I cut out and sewed up the bodice of the actually garment. I ended up taking a little extra out of the arm-holes so I wouldn't be bound under the arms. I am rather picky about stuff being too tight in the arm holes. 

Well, anyway, I did not get the bodice actually finished because I did not have the needed metal loops (we'll call them that for lack of a better name). Mama did get them at Jo-Ann's later in the day when she and Daddy went to town for a new dryer...but I'll get there in a minute. I was going to go ahead and make the skirt, but I forget why I didn't do that. I think I wanted to Savannah to help me and I didn't exactly ask her, for some reason, and instead I did something else...which I cannot remember.

But, back to the dryer. Yesterday the old dryer, which Mama disliked to begin with, died. Stinky electrical smell and all. Today, Daddy decided that they ought to go get a new one. So, they set out sometime after 4 o'clock, shortly after I gave up the idea of making myself a narrower wrist brace. We didn't have any velcro that was wide enough to allow much adjustabilty. 

While they were gone, I went about prepping for the ousting of Dryer the Elder and the establishment of Dryer the Younger. The long and the short of that was that I cleaned the bathroom and the hallway (to a degree) and shoved the old dryer out into the hall. Abby came to "help" and ended up a bit spooked with the dryer shoving...still, she stuck around with her usual curiosity over odd behavior.  

From there I drifted into the garage and widened the path, swept a little, and even beat a few rugs.

When I got done there, I came in, settled down in front of my computer and addresses a business "problem" via a Skype conversation with Savannah. (Yes, we are a little odd like that at times. We live in the same house, but conduct conversations via our fingertips. To be honest though, I didn't actually intend on bothering her very long as I knew she was working on a paper.)

About the same time we'd figured out the solution to the question, she came down to make supper (Mexican salad!), and  Mama and Daddy got home with Dryer the Younger and the necessary items to finish my bodice.

I helped with the removal and installation process of the dryers. I even got to use a driver! ;) 

Supper was tasty and we ate all the food on the table except for some of the beans. The expression on Mama's face was somewhat humorous...though somehow, I don't think it elicited the laughter that this one did!

Here's the other half:

Not sure I will be able to shoot it one handed...or maybe only one shot before switching back to the two-handed grip. :D

Katherine also made sure I got a little something (I really wasn't expecting anything, which would have been fine. I have had so many "big" birthdays over the years that small ones are fine.) She is SO good about birthdays and such, unlike her less fore-thoughtful older sister...

Now, just because I like to laugh, and I think those of you reading my blog probably do too, I must share this picture progression of the cake time.

So, yes...it was a good day! I felt really, really good (Lyme-wise), I had energy...I got all sorts of lovely birthday greetings from friends (some of whom I know in person, some of whom I have yet the joy of meeting face to face)...birthdays, even simple ones which are not overly different from "ordinary" days, are beautiful. Not only has God seen fit to bring me through another year and open forth a new one to me, but I felt very loved from both my family and friends. So thank-you all for the very lovely day. :) 

Keep laughing, y'all!

Well. With that clumsy title, I shall strive to detail (in an interesting fashion) my busy, full day for you.

I woke up (of course...or I wouldn't be writing this). The time was more or less normal ('round 7 a.m. give or take 10 to 20 minutes). 

I drank my coffee and read my Bible and by 9 a.m. I was dressed and booted...and scrounging about in the brooder coop setting up for the chicks that I expected to arrive this morning; only I didn't put the bedding in. All before breakfast. Believe me, I was ready for my eggs, onions, and left over Navy bean mush mess. It was delightful...Bear with my food raptures...I haven't had supper yet and it's practically 8:30.

The morning was spent in various activities readying folks for the market this afternoon. That and rushing around to settle my chicks who did come this morning, without prior warning from the Post Office (last time they called first). In other words, I had to put the bedding in with a box of loud peepers making a racket in my ears. Sometimes I think my ears are more sensitive than they used to be to loud noises (Lyme maybe? Dunno--the thing on the symptom list is "decreased hearing"...) It really, really got loud after I took the lid off the box and had about half of them in the brooder where the "cheeps!" echoed off the walls adding to the din.

I counted 53 birds. The packaging said 51. So I'm happy. So far, I haven't had any dead ones even though...well, that's a story for later on. 

Among the other things I did this morning was trying to keep up with the dishes, making some pie shells (those pies squeaked out of the oven literally as folks were walking out the door), throwing up a quick, short, blog post, sticking labels on honey and hot blueberry jam, packing the truck, straightening a few things in a few places, eating a quick snack to pack down my irritation (I get irritable when too hungry), and all around trying not to stroll around doing nothing and being in the way.

By the time we ate lunch (2:15 for the three at home), I was ready for it and my coffee afterwards. Daddy kindly washed the dishes after lunch while I straightened my computer area and took some stuff upstairs that really needed to go up. 

I tackled a load of laundry and the bathroom next...the bathroom needed it. While I was cleaning the floor, Sherry (our favorite hospice lady) came and gave Granddaddy his Friday bath. 

{Supper Break}

Ah...Lentils with fresh kraut mixed in is one of my favorite meals. :)

Anyway, back to the details of the day...I poked along and made some more pie shells (trying to stock up for the next two weeks--the last two Farmer's Markets). I was going to try to make enough for all five markets (tomorrow and the four the following two weeks), but I ran out of flour. Katherine made a bread while I was doing that too--we left less than a full cup of flour.

A little later, Mama called to inform us that she had sold both pies...so Daddy cut the pumpkin and I got it stuffed into the Conservo. Then I popped out to check on my chicks.

One was upside down in the water. I thought he was dead, so I reached in, picked him up and was going to head out and toss him into the cornfield. But...he wiggled! So, I held him under the heat lamp for a bit and he opened his eyes and then closed them again. 

Cupping my hands around him (his feathers were still quite warm from the heat lamp), I trundled myself up to the garage where Daddy was running some new piece of machinery he'd picked up earlier in the day. I had to yell at him a couple of times before he heard me over the noise. Anyway, we decided to try to revive the little guy; particularly after he made a little peep or two. I figured that was a good sign.

Daddy found a box and lined it with a piece of paper towel while I kept the chick warmly tucked in my hands. He was starting to squirm. 

You have to admit...he didn't look very good; I still expected him to die.

We placed him next to the still-cooking Conservo where he'd get the heat off of it.

I checked on him on and off for the next couple of hours, in between other things and each time he looked a little better, seemed a little more alert and peeped a little louder. I tried to get him to eat a little, but I don't think that was overly successful; I left a little tiny bit of feed in the box. The next time I looked at him, his face was practically in it, so I don't know as if he ate any of it or not. 

Eventually, I decided that he was hot enough that he probably needed some water. Now, I do know how to force a chick to drink, so I did. I put him back in his box and he stayed on his feet! And hollered...and hollered...and hollered.

I left him there a little longer before re-joining him to the rest of the flock. I hope he's still alive and healthier in the morning. 

Speaking of the rest of the flock, ain't they a fine bunch of feathers?

There is something wrong with the above picture...here it is, fall weather on us (the high today might have reached 60)...and I am running around BAREFOOT? (Besides which my leg looks cocked-eye due to my pants...)

To be quite honest, I started out in socks and boots, but I felt like said socks were sticking to the floor so when I cleaned the bathroom I took them off (we had some pears "leaking" in the mud room; that was the problem) and spent the rest of the day in my bare toes. The ground it both wet and chilly...

I got supper made (it was basically left-overs doctored up a little bit...turned out fine if I do say so myself) and finally got upstairs with the vacuum cleaner. I changed the litter in the cat box and got my room and my sisters rooms vacuumed. Thankfully, Runty didn't pull any of her door-climbing stunts this time. It really is very, very funny to see a black cat hanging sideways and rather bat-like off a chicken-wire screen door, but it's horrid on the hinges--which are already sprung--partly, I think from the wild careening trampoline-jumping stunts of said cats. 

Mama called before they got home to tell Daddy, who handed the phone to me, that Grandpa had called her--he needed tomorrow's pills and they needed a gallon of milk from the fridge in the barn (it's a little too difficult [uneven floor] for Grandma to get it). So I dashed out to take care of things.

Grandpa said something like: "Look, it's Whatcha-call-her. I called You-know."

I laughed, "You-know called The Other Guy and he gave me the phone."

Grandpa continued the play, "It must be a relay..."

Me: "Something like that..."

Anyway, it was funny and one of those special moments of me actually being able to have a come-back to one of Grandpa's funnies. :) He's too smart for me!

Since I've been remiss on the blogging front this week, how about a quick run-down on what I've been doing?

Does this work?

The above are only two of many outfits I have been sewing this week...

Yesterday, my Grandma's cousin Helen had a huge auction; basically an estate sale (she's moved into assisted living) and Mama, Daddy, Grandma, and Savannah went. They bought Helen's couch. It's rather comfortable actually.

Our old couch is now in the barn with black plastic toss over it....

It's now nearing 10 and I have to go take some more pumpkin pies out of the oven, so farewell for now!

P.S. MAMA SOLD A PAIR OF MY SOCKS!!!

Good-afternoon! (As it so happens to be already!)

Daddy and I spent the morning butchering the eight roosters that remained in one of the chicken tractors. Next time we will probably clean out the other one completely, four hens and all. There are ten hens left in the tractor we worked out of today. I don't know for sure, but I am inclined to keep them and see if they start laying decently.

Anyway, the dip-net sure makes catching those squawking birds a whole lot easier! I have already gotten fairly proficient with it. :)

We did things a little different than last time. Last time I scalded and Daddy ran the whizz-bang chicken plucker...then we both dressed the birds out. Today, Daddy scalded and ran the plucker while I dressed out the birds. Therefore, I dressed all of them, but one, which Daddy did when he got done scalding and plucking.

I still continue to be amazed at the size of these rascals!

I look forward to sinking my teeth into a hunk of that...

Well! I told one reader early last week that I was going to put up some pictures of the canning process...but, as is clear, I never did get around to it. Too much canning and other things thrown into the works precluded my blogging--and then when I did have that extra few minutes, I just didn't feel like it. So...here's the pictures from early last week. :) (And I wish you could see Curio sitting in my lap with her head on my hands while I'm trying to type...it's interesting! :D)

Let's see...the above was probably Tuesday. 

Thursday was my parents 32nd wedding anniversary! Believe it or not, they actually went out for supper. I'm not sure that in my 22 years if they've ever done that before...lunch, yes. But supper? I don't know. :) 

Saturday was a market day and Mama's birthday! (I don't have any pictures, so you'll have to hop over to her blog.)

Anyway, after the usual Saturday routine, she got surprised with a some stuff...and the knives that Daddy and I bought (though indeed my contribution was primarily hiding them and oiling the new bamboo cutting board in the secrecy of my room) her were a big hit. And here is the neat part...the two worst secret keepers in the family managed to keep their lips sealed and their excitement bound down until the right moment! I didn't even tell my sisters that there was a birthday present for Mama in my room. ;)

Saturday morning was extra enjoyable, because some friends came and set up with their instruments...and brought me a lovely bundle of mustard greens! (Which, we still have not eaten...and I very much look forward to. I could eat that whole bundle by myself in one sitting. :D I do not remember a day when I did not love mustard greens.)

I had a rather unusual Sunday morning yesterday. I was planning on staying at home with Mama (who it turns out wasn't expecting it) and I did...but more for the reason of executing a work of mercy/necessity. 

I butchered two roosters. A couple days ago we had a cock-fight--one rooster got killed (we ate him) and another one had most of his neck skin flayed off (though I didn't see that til the day after). Surprisingly, that rooster still seemed in good health, but one who had a boogered up eye was acting really lethargic and unhappy. Then there was another one with a messed up breast. I could not catch that one (the set up is not good for catching birds unless you have a dip-net--which I do not...yet), but I got the other two and took care of them. 

By the time I had them caught and dead, the scalding water was too hot (Mama had turned it back up when she came out to see if she could help me), so I sat out on the steps by the side of the house in the little breeze and watched bugs and the hummingbird visiting the feeder not three feet from my head and doing a little praying. I am consciously making an effort to use quiet moment like that to pray because prayer is an area I am very weak in.

By the time lunch rolled around I was clean and had gotten through a few pages of Authentic Christianity. I would end up, later in the day, taking my reading out under the Lindon trees in the orchard...it was such a beautiful day!

This morning, I must confess, I woke up at 8.00....that is LATE for me and I had no intention of sleeping that kind of late...and now, I think I shall close this post and go see if anybody is having tea this morning, for that sounds just grand.

Don't know exactly why that title insisted on staying...but it did. 

Anyway...the produce (read green beans) is coming in now and we've been busy.

Monday evening Mama and I cleaned the Cantares and Blue Lakes. (Cantares are a small French bean.) They actually got processed yesterday...but only after Daddy set up my great-aunt's old six-burner stove in the middle of the garage because the Conservo would not work on the new ceramic top in the kitchen. I imagine the neighbors really think we are crazy now. ;)

Yesterday (Tuesday), we tackled some Roma's. (Flat beans.) Daddy and Mama used the FoodSaver to get them ready for the freezer.

They also did squash...chunks and grated. The grated stuff works great for breads.

This morning, I sliced and packaged beets before tossing them into the freezer. I love beets. :)

Currently there are other green beans in the works...Mama is in the next room snapping beans, listening to a Joe Morecraft sermon. I have two different skillets going in the kitchen full of green beans, purple beans and yellow beans.

And now...if you'll forgive the short, un-adorn-ed-ness of this post...I need to toddle out and give my chickens their 11:30 feeding.