Puttering Around at Home...

With WM out of school for a couple weeks, (another 4.0, I might add) I have been very selfish about my time with him, as well as my kids' time with him.  I'm not very good at sharing.  There have been lots of projects to do before the next semester hits us.  We chopped and stacked our woodpile for the winter, which is a BIG project considering the amount of wood we go through...cause we have 8 months of winter...

The kids have needed new bikes for awhile, and as we watched Wildkid ride his bike, with his knees hitting his handle bars, we finally found the time and motivation to do something about it.  Wildkid could easily inherit WildGirl's bike, but it was all pink and purple.  So a couple cans of spray paint later, WK now has a "desert-camo" bike that fits him just fine. After hours of shopping for a new bike for WG, all to no avail, WM and I were in the local DI and found one that WM could fix up.  So, instead of paying $300 for a new bike that WG didn't like, we paid a total of $45 dollars for a bike and new tires/tubes that she loves.  :)

Below: WM painting the girly bike...I didn't get any photos of the the girly version...

  And the finished product!

Also, for cub scouts, WK made a birdhouse.  WM taught him how to sand and stain it, and it now hangs in my flower garden.

Alas--my kitchen has been busy with all the bottling.  Nearly 60 quarts of Macintosh apple juice...

2 dozen jars of Elderberry Jelly ( the only kind of jelly/jam my kids will eat).  The funnest part is driving through the local canyon searching for berries.  We were loaded this year!

 And 2 dozen "half-quarts" of the best salsa I have yet made.  I didn't get any pics of the piles of peppers, tomatoes, and onions that went into this, but oh, its good!

And last but not least, the pears.  I have told WM that there is a special place in pergatory reserved for those particularly naughty souls...where all they do is peel and bottle pears.  Hence, I refuse to do it.  I simply cut them up, skins and all, put them in the blender, add a little lemon and orange juice, a few drops of lime essential oil, and throw it all into the dehydrator.  The pear-lime fruit rolls don't last long around my kids.  :)

So, though its a LOT of work, the feelings of accomplishment and dare I say pride-- at seeing all the beautiful and tasty food on the shelves are worth it.  

Oh, I also did peaches,( froze about 3 gallons worth) I had to buy peaches for the first time this year, and though they were big and beautiful, they were not my parents Red Havens. I hope to get my hands on enough apples to do another round of juicing, but if I don't, I know my shelves are full, and I may actually try to do some concord grape juice here in a couple weeks.  woo-yeah!