does he have fleas???

Looking out the office window, which is on the second floor, I could see this little squirrel sitting on the birdhouse roof.... scratching  away ... all over.  Does he have fleas or have the oak mites gotten to him!!

Pumpkins.....

I have been having fun making pumpkins.... these are embossed microfiber 7 inches in diameter. I dyed the fabric orange for the lower one!! Wasn't sure the dye would work on a non-natural ( wool cotton, silk etc) fabric but RIT has a dye that worked!!!!
I have an online bear show next month and wanted to do something a little different... so pumpkins it is...
I did make them smaller too!

Today ECLIPSE!!!

When it started pouring rain this morning I thought there goes our eclipse watch....but the sun came out and the sky was blue and cloud free just in time for the start ! We, family and neighbors,  all sat in our street's circle with our special glasses and watched! The sun disappeared... stars came out...and the corona was fantastic. So glad not to have missed it...

More accomplished

Well... we accomplished quite a bit!!  A batch of concord grape jam, brandied cherries and more tomato sauce!!

We had tomatoes left so I took them home and spent today turning them into spaghetti sauce.... 5 quarts ! At this point, I don't want to see any more tomatoes unless they are in a salad or on a BLT sandwich...

( last night my grand daughter and I went back to school clothes shopping!! With all the sales going on, we came  back with two large bags fulls!  Good time was had as well!!  My grandson is next after I recuperate from canning!)

More canning

Robb wants to can more tomato stuff so ordered more canners from the veggie stand...Picked the tomatoes up this morning so we will be canning again this weekend. 
I was tempted by the idea of plum jam and  asked if there would be any later this summer. The answer was "yes, next Wednesday!". Will have to do some searching for a good recipe!!!

Summertime canning

Robb and I are planning a canning session for this weekend!!  He did a search and came up with a new tomato sauce recipe... one where you roast the tomatoes and veggies ( onions, peppers, garlic ) first. The roasting time is quite long and at low temperature and should shorten the cook down time!!

We are also planning on strawberry and jalapeno jam and blueberry jam with maybe some spices,  real ginger , lemon and lemon peel.

I had thought to include peach jam but we still have some from last year.

I went to the Raymore farmers' market for " canners " and veggies.... lots of samples were available and I came home with a yummy loaf of bread and lamb brats from  Hi Ho Sheep Farm .  
I have bought their lamb products before but not brats .  Plus all the produce we needed..

Now  I have to get all my "equipment" together and jars and lids and.... to take to Robb's . Then add all the stuff he has.

Our canning session is small compared to my sister-in-law's Mother. Rose was from a large Italian family in Geneva, NY.  Her garden had 150 tomato plants each year and she had a second kitchen in the basement where it was cool and "boy, did she can!" And cook!!

Will try to add pictures next time!!  Well... the pictures didn't go where I planned but here's our first of 2017's canning... blueberry, strawberry jalapeno and tomato sauce.
I had 10 tomatoes left so this morning I did a quick peel, cook, immersion blend  etc.  I ended up with 2.5 pints of spaghetti sauce with onions, peppers and garlic !