Laundry Can be fun

This weekend I decided to spruce up the dingy, messy laundry room.  A little face lift to make things a little more bright.  The room has been functional the last seven years we have lived here but not enjoyable.  As I am the one who spends the most time in the room I decided to make it a little more pleasant for me time spent there.  First it got a good clean out then a clean up.  Washing walls and getting cobwebs down.  Then a nice lavender paint job.  After the painting was finished the various bookshelves got relocated to balance the room better and maybe spread out the congestion.  Next up is a few more items on the walls.  I found two yellow metal trays that will be great on the walls to hold magnets and papers I need to keep track of.  I also plan to hang up a few aprons in a decorative fashion and a skirt for the laundry sink.  Last but certainly not least a new door of some kind.  The current door definatley leaves something to be desired.

I also moved forward with homemade safe cleaners and made a window cleaner that seems to work just great without a bunch of chemicals.  I also have now made ten feed bag totes and hope to make an even dozen to fulfill the final requirement for my going green shopping badge with Mary Jane's Farm.  I really do enjoy learning all the skills needed to complete these badges.

Now for indoor work

I pulled the last of the carrots and onions this weekend. Today I am preparing the carrots for blanching and freezing. The onions for drying. The last of the tomatoes are red and ready to eat. I actually had someone track me down to have me make his wife some feedbag totes.  I have four bags I need to make up for me and some friends and his two.  I am planning on gifting them all and using the gifts for my reusable bag swap for a badge for Mary Jane's Farm.

My Christmas present for my family is really coming along.  It has taken quite a bit of effort but I think they will all enjoy it.  It is so nice to be able to make something for them to show my appreciation for them and our lives together.

I also plan on having a tea party on Saturday for my daughters and their friend. It will be our trial run and if they have lots of fun as I suspect they will we will start planning a larger affair.

The end of outdoor gardening for 2012

Two hard frosts in a row. We covered the tomatoes and a few other things but ultimately summer is ending.  The carrots and onions are fine but the beans and corn are done. I picked the last of the tomatoes today, lots of green ones to watch inside. The rosemary and lemon balm earned pots to try to winter in the living room. My blueberry bush has its first blueberry crop turning blue on the table in the living room as well.  It lived in a pot all summer so this week we will enjoy around twenty blueberries.  Hopefully it does a little better next summer. I am not sure where to put all these plants but they will all have a place somewhere.  I am thinking of starting some camomile to see if it can grow all winter indoors.

This weekend will hopefully be the time to make the last batch of salsa for the year and get heading into fall cleaning and sewing projects.  Christmas is coming and hopefully some gifts can be made.

The sound of Cans sealing... A wonderful sound

Today I am getting ready to can my second batch of salsa and maybe a few more green beans.  I find I love to hear the pop of my jars sealing. I usually pull my jars out the. Head for bed and I find I am listening for the pops.  This year so far we have 31 pints of green beans, 5 quarts of cherry pie filling, 8 half pints of red currant jelly, 9 half pints of strawberry rhubarb jam, and 9 half pints of  triple berry jam. I also have 12 pints of Dilly beans and 10 pints of zucchini salsa. Today I will prep for more zucchini salsa to make tomorrow and as I was picking beans this morning I was trying to decide what to do with them, more pints for us or more dilly beans for us and our friends.  The decisions can be so hard.

We have also been enjoying zucchini bread, rasberries, and strawberries.  My lettuce and herbs are doing great as well. The lettuce, growing happily in the shade doesn't seem to mind our heat and the herbs are nice and prolific for drying for later.  I also managed to pick and dry some red currants for scones or muffins later this year. Wow, those take awhile to dehydrate.

Canning

Last week had my first canning oops. I made cherry pie filling, five quarts of it. They looked great but as they started processing three of the quarts lost their bottoms. I had cherry pie filling all over the water bath. I managed to save two jars then made the call to my canning mentor. My dear mother in law saved me and the pie filling. After rinsing off the cherries, remakeing the filling and processing again I now have five beautiful quarts of cherry pie filling on my counter. They make me want to go pick ore cherries.

Gardening

It cooled off enough to spend some time in the flower garden tonight. I managed two five pound pails of"weeds." it turns out, as it has through the spring too, that I pulled more plants than actual weeds. Thyme, lupine, coneflower, and pansies all went. I also pulled up some extra sedum and bachelor buttons. There was some clover and a few dandelions and some other little weeds but mostly it was volunteer plants from last years flowers. It is strange to pull them up but I really have plenty left. I also gave away literally 60 or so plants that looked great so I just found them new gardens to grow in. The carrots and onions look like they are doing great. The herbs are coming along well too. The second crop on beans is just peeking out of the soil between the corn rows and soon will reach up and climb. I also followed Mary Jane's Farm recipe for brandied cherries and made two quarts of them for later. Speaking of Mary Jane I also took the time to fill out the form to apply for two more badges and finally printed the badges I have earned out on fabric so I can start embroidering them for wherever they mat end up. All in all a good day. Farmers Market is tomorrow, how much trouble can I get myself into there? Guess we will see.

Food storage

Last night I managed through 11.5 pints of strawberry rhubarb jam. It was 85F in house but the berries and rhubarb were all ready so it had to be done. That makes 26 pints of jam for awhile. Now I am on to planning for those cute little tomatoes that should be quite large soon enough. The bush beans are flowering well and the corn is still upright. The zucchini has a few blossoms on so hopefully salsa and Spaghetti sauce will be projects later this summer.