These boys … my heart :)

Crazy, intense work week.

Crazy weather!!!

But, as always, I am grateful to be in this safe house and property with my dear Emmett and Auggie!

Thursday, almost T.G.I.F. !!!

Lazy days :)

What NOAA calls a dry cold front whooshed through yesterday. Temps were slightly lower yesterday after the front, but the big difference was the humidity dropped from upper 30% (high for here) to the teens. That allowed normal overnight cooling into the 50’s making for a beautiful and cool morning!

Auggie kept me company while I had my coffee … on the chairs, watching Emmett play in the sprinklers.

Tuesday morning.

Monday, August 3, 2020.

I turn 65 on the 16th. Unbelievable.

The good news is that, if I make it to that birthday … GOSH !!! … YEA and I am grateful for every day. So, here we go birthday month :)

Evening cloud beauty:

Emmett’s sprinkler fun…

And, then … Auggie

I am so loved :)

Ok, so the ice cream is so loved … I shared :)

Auggie on the front porch.

This last is my favorite: Auggie, the plants, the front porch … classic cat on the front porch :) !!!

It is incredible how fast we can go from green and lush to dry and crisp.

AND, this week is to be in the 90’s with Friday forecast to reach 98F. YUCK!

Tomorrow morning, A/C #3 will be set up.

Meanwhile, this morning:

I made red raspberry ice cream!

And we like it!

We like it a LOT!

So. Weekend # 3 for pickles.

This weekend, I broke in a new steam canner and I am sold on steam canning: less water, faster to canning temp and it holds 7 quarts vs the 4 pints of my small batch stock pot.

My local organic farm has been offering a “pickle pack”: 7 pounds of pickling cucumbers, a batch of dill and a bulb of fresh (vs cured) garlic. This makes 1 batch of the sweet and spicy pickles I like and 1 batch of dill. The last 2 weekends, I took 2 mornings to make the 2 batches.

Today: I sliced and brined all. Then, walks, play, breakfast all around and finally processing.

I took the 2nd batch of jars out of the canner at 11:30 a.m. Another walk and play session, clean up the kitchen and just after noon, I was D.O.N.E. An enjoyable process and all jars sealed.

As I started this morning, 51F. When I finished, it was 70F. With an exhaust window fan, the house and kitchen stayed cool – YEA!

It is supposed to be a warm week: 91-94 until Friday. And I think I’m ready for a break from weekend canning.

Still … it was a beautiful process … have a look!

That is the dill for the dill pickles, on the left: so pretty and so fragrant!

Nothing to do with pickles. Spearmint on the front porch.

Again, nothing to do with pickles … Auggie on his morning rounds.

We end with a clean kitchen, pickles all sealed in jars and joy in the process of preserving good food!

We’ve got pickles!!