Pitting, Coring, Chopping, Slicing........

Today was beautiful outside, warm, sunny, color in leaves, a perfect day for a stroll outside and other incredible outdoor activities.. But I wasn't outside to enjoy it but for an hour or so in the early evening.

Instead, I and Mim were pitting, coring, chopping, slicing, blending and cooking up our two big boxes of fruit. We ended up by the end of the day with 11 pints of plum jam, 6 quarts of applesauce, 1 jar of canned plums (would have had 3 but two of the plum jars broke immediately upon touching the hot water!?), 2 one-gallon zip lock bags of pureed summer squash (lost count of how many bags we have frozen of this, the squash just kept coming all summer) and we also made 8 pies, 4 plum pies and 4 apple pies. We baked two apple pies right away since they wouldn't fit into the zip lock bags for freezing. I also froze 3 one-gallon bags worth of apples for 3 more pies.

I still need to process the acorn squash we picked this and last weekend, and I still need to dig up the turnips and carrots. I love doing this, but boy it takes time. Mim asked me today if I like to cook. I replied, not really but I do like to know that what we make is healthier than the store bought version of the same item.

The girls also pulled some of the plants from the garden and gave them to the chickens while I finished canning.

Some photos that I took today


Half a wheel barrow full of egg gourds and today's eggs from the girls. I guess the rain and flooding didn't slow them down.

Heathcliff playing in the water in my flooded back yard

see how close it is to the bird structures

a swing set given to us, my brother dismantled it and brought it over, but now everything needs to be stabilized before the girls can play on it. Our church will send some guys over to do this for us.

the 3 Barnvelders; Robin, Julia, and Millie

ClaraBelle and Harriet

Bridget, the Salmon Faverolle pullet

Inez, the one-eyed rescued silkie

Today's canning

Two of the 8 pies we made today. These are the apple pies.