AAAAAND I Got Released.

 Last week after Sacrament Meeting,

the 1st C in the Bishopric asked to

have a "little chat". 

Hmmmmm.

I've already spoken in church

and I have a calling.....

But he said, this will require that we

release you from all your callings.

They feel inspired to call me to be the

First Counselor in the brand new

Young Women's Presidency.

Megan Whitmer is the new president,

she hasn't been in YW since the 80's.

I haven't been in Mutual since the 70's.

And Britton Chunn, the 2nd C is younger

and it's been about 10 years for her.

So.

We are all pretty much winging it.

But I think it will be fine.

We have a good group of young women.

I DID accept based on the caveats that I

teach every Wednesday evening (when they meet)

and I'm building a new house in a different Stake.

But with those... if you still want me, I'll 

be happy to accept the calling.

So they set us apart yesterday.

I imagine we will be meeting at some point in the

next week or so to figure out what we are doing.

But luckily it's General Conference this weekend

and then Stake Conference next weekend.

(And we plan to attend the other "new" ward

just to get the lay of the land...)

So.

Never a dull moment around here!

I have the feeling I'm going to be doing a LOT

of this in the near future.

Hahahahaha.

Today Kyle and I need to make a run into Hays.

He needs wood from Home Depot and I need some

groceries, enough to make the trip worth while.

I shop at our little town grocery store (Malay's)

if its just a few items.

They mark everything up pretty significantly.

They sometimes have good sales on things,

but if I just need milk or one ingredient, I'll

shop in town.

But if we need GROCERIES, then it's to Walmart

in Hays.

And then I'm going to pickle the rest of the okra.

I got the rest of the zucchini cut into french fry

slices and tossed in the Everything Bagel seasoning

and it's in the freeze dryer now.

I sold out on Saturday.

And I sold out of peaches.

I brought one big bag and made up 9 little bags

and a "sample" jar. Gave out all the samples

and sold all the little bags.

We didn't have a very big turnout.

There was a big estate auction just outside of town.

Like you see in the movies, with a live auctioneer

and "everything must go".

EVERYBODY went to that, if only for the fun.

We still sold some stuff, about half the lemon cukes,

several zucchinis, and some freeze dried things.

We (the other vendors) decided to keep it going

until first frost.

Or the people quit coming, whichever happens first.

But the other main vendor decided it should be 9-noon

instead of 8-11 now that it is chilly in the early mornings

and everybody has stuff to do.

There are a couple who come right at 8,

then it's pretty dead until about 10-ish.

With another flush about 11, just as we are packing up.

After the market we went to his sister's,

Annie's, she is the woman who gave us all the

Johnnathan apples to freeze dry.

They were YUMMY and we sold quite a few.

We took her two bags of apples and 2 bags of 

salt water taffy. And then we sat at her little

outdoor table in the shade in her backyard and

visited for about an hour!

George, her brother, the other vendor, and her

oldest son, Jake, also stopped by and we

had a nice chat.

And then they gave us some YUMMY zucchini

cake with cream cheese frosting to take home

for our lunch.

Anyhow.

Gotta get this day started.

I need to buy some bananas and get those in the 

freeze dryer some time this week, I had some

folks who were lamenting that I didn't have any

and that was their "FAVORITE" thing.

I won't do five trays of them, but one tray should

take care of that... 

And maybe I'll buy a couple boxes of ice cream

sandwiches and do those at the same time.

I'm almost out of those as well. I think I have 3 bags.

(Just thinking out loud here...)

Ok.

Breakfast.

HAPPY MONDAY EVERYBODY!

"Amost" Done

 So, remember my list?

This is what is looks like now.

I got it all done except the okra.

And Kyle erased the line about the honeydew because

when we cut it open, it was WAAAAAY over ripe.

And kind of grainy and nasty.

So we tossed it out.

(I should have put a check next to teach, but I was TIRED

by the end of that day!)

Yesterday we went to the storage unit and opened and went 

through every. single. box. that had my name on it,

looking for my green card. (which is peach, by the way...)

No joy.

That took until about 2:00.

Then to the farm to check out Kyle's house and

harvest a couple yellow squash and a cucumber.

(I didn't even LOOK at the lemon cucumbers.)

With the decks, it is looking more like a house.

It's nice and wide. About 8 feet.

The 2nd story is pretty high.

The views are pretty good!

He's looking forward to sitting out there with his telescope.

(He just mowed his "40" so it looks a little brown. Off to the left is what

he had previously mowed and it greened right up again.)

On the way home we stopped at our little grocery

store and picked up another gallon of vinegar.

(Which is why I didn't do the okra, ran out...)

And then I made us some mac and cheese with 

pickled beets for lunch.

And then I tried to take a nap.

(didn't work.)

And then I made some spam casserole (sounds awful,

but is really yummy and something Kyle really enjoys)

and we watched our nightly episode(s) of Jag and off to bed.

This morning I'm doing a "double" since we had a

hurricane last night in Florida and it hit Tampa

which is where the other instructor lives.

She is ok, still had power when I talked with her last night,

but lost internet early on and wasn't sure it would be

back by this morning, so I'm covering for her.

Talked to Jim and Sabrina - they said it was only blowing

about 30 mph, windy, but nothing special.

They got lots of rain and will still get more today,

but no flooding.

So that's good.

And maybe it will generate some insurance claims he can

go do his adjusting thing on and make some $.

Ok.

Gotta go start my class.

Have a great Friday!

Harvest Season is Winding Down

 We went out to the farm yesterday.

I haven't been in a week or so.

Rod has been going out with Kyle so

they could put up his new deck.

I forgot to take a picture.

But I'll be going again either today

or tomorrow.

(Probably tomorrow...)

Anyhow.

We pulled 7 or 8 zucchinis and 4 or 5

yellow squash, a hand full of cukes

and lemon cukes.

There are okra that need to be harvested,

but I didn't have my little scissors with

me and it's a pain to just pick them off.

They'll be fine.

Anyhow.

We went to the storage building to get a tool

Kyle needed to work on replacing the axle

on his Big Tex trailer (that caught fire WAAAAAY

back on our aborted trip here in May.)

We got to the storage building and discovered

that the keys are in his TRUCK.

(And we were in his car...)

So... BACK to the house.

It's only 30 minutes each way.

Sigh.

But by then, I had decided I couldn't wait to have

a new pump shipped from Utah.

(Oh yeah, the oil free pump on my freeze dryer

was dying - making a horrible noise and on

its way out... it has been a workhorse for me

for about 3 years, so not a surprise, just an

annoyance. I'm SO behind on freeze drying because

it was dying and each load was taking longer and

longer and longer......)

Anyhow.

I decided I couldn't wait to have it shipped,

so I found one at Tractor Supply in Ellsworth, KS.

Which is an hour and 29 minutes west of us.

So Kyle headed back north to Hill City,

and I headed west to Ellsworth.

It was a nice, uneventful trip.

Through some beautiful country!

There was a HUGE field of sunflowers!

And two of the biggest pigs I've ever seen.

I got here about 4:30 and Kyle and Rod

were still working on the trailer.

So I made some chili in the Instant Pot.

Which died.

Argh.

I got it for Christmas.... 7? 8? years ago?

Jim gave us each an air fryer and I

gave us each an Instant Pot.

So I'd say I got my use out of it...

but really? THIS WEEK???

New AC.

New FD pump.

New pressure cooker.

New laptop.

New rice cooker (I had one in storage... whew!)

Oh, and a new kitchen sink and water filter system.

Yikes!

Look how close my neighbors are!!!!! ACK!!!!

Anyway.

I transferred the chili to a pot on the stove

and we ate a little later than I planned.

(Meanwhile, there was a really nice replacement

one on Amazon on a $100 off sale!!!)

Thank goodness for Amazon points! I think

I ended up paying like $40.

(I use the Fetch and Upside apps on my phone

and get lots of Amazon points every time I 

spend money anywhere...)

Anyhow.

While dinner was cooking, Kyle helped me

get the old pump off and the new pump all

set up and we started a load of apples.

(The load that was half done when the pump quit.)

It pulled a deep vacuum and I'm excited to

see how quickly it finishes. 

I haven't looked at it yet this morning.

But it is QUIET!!!

So much nicer than the other pump.

This is my "to do" for today.

1. Make breakfast.

2. Package the apples from the load that should be finished.

3. Put the already frozen okra on plastic lid trays and

get 3 trays of okra and 2 trays of apples in the FD.

4. Wash the apple trays and put the tomato sauce from

the fridge on the trays and get them in the freezer 

ready for their run, tomorrow? maybe?

5. Grind up the new tomatoes and get them in the

jars in the fridge to be next in line.

6. Slice up the beautiful honeydew I bought at the

farmers market and get that into the freezer and

ready to go in the FD.

7. Pickle the "last" of the cucumbers.

8. Pickle the lemon cucumbers.

9. Slice the okra that is in the fridge and get some of

it in the freezer and some of it in jars to pickle.

10. Teach tonight's class.

And in the middle of all that, of course I need

to keep my family fed.

Sounds like a full day!

But it will be good to get rid of some of the produce.

I still have to do something with the zucchini,

but that can be a tomorrow chore.

I'm just going to grate it in the food processor

and get it into freezer bags as well.

But... not today.

Probably.

Hope you are having a wonderful day!

Looking forward to hearing Rozann and Greg

had a safe and uneventful trip back to Tucson.

So glad it was a wonderful trip!!!!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

**** Oh, by the way, the trip to California has been cancelled.

We decided to buy a machine from the local dealer.

A little more expensive, but less risky and under warranty.

Backyard Garden Update

 I have been laying in bed,

re-reading some of my recent

blog posts.

I'm so glad I do these...... it reminds me

of things I have forgotten.

For example, I FORGOT I put about

5 quart jars of tomato puree in the fridge!

(That shows you how stuffed our fridge

is right now, eh?  LOL)

Guess I'd better do something about that.

However, I just put 9 trays of apples

in the freezer for the machine yesterday.

So I don't have any trays to put

the tomato on (again).

I guess its time to order another set.

Anyhow.

I was looking at the pictures of the gardens.

This was September 4.

And  THIS is September 21.

You couldn't even SEE the carrots in the previous picture.

This is from the opposite angle.

Those are the carrots in the first bed.

Mixed colors are closest to us.

In the center are the traditional orange.

Not looking amazing.

But on the far side are purple and they are

going gangbusters!

And the giant things in the far bed are 

the PEAS! 

They are doing great, no flowers yet,

but I'm hoping to start seeing some soon.....

And, of course, to the right are the beans.

Yesterday I saw some tiny little baby beans

on some of the plants, so we should be eating

fresh beans by the end of the week.

(The ones from the farm weren't all that good...)

Same kind of bean, but they struggled so much

that the beans just tasted "old".

So I'm excited to get these ones.

I found the big strainer pots that go

in my big soup pot so I can blanch these

and get them in freezer bags for over

the winter.

(Oh goodie... another project!)

HAHA.

Ok.

I better get out of bed and get breakfast

made and eaten so I can run into town

and get some more pickling spice and 

other stuff for the week.

And then get back home and get those

pickles in the oven.

I forgot to take a picture, but on Saturday

I did 4 pint jars of pickled okra!

(Would have done more, but I ran out

of pickling spice...)

Last night for dinner we had another

yummy roast from the pressure cooker

and some rice and lemon cucumbers.

And I BAKED AN APPLE PIE!!!!

Kyle and I sliced and froze all those

Jonnathan apples I got last Saturday

(it's just been a busy busy week)

and I bought (yes, bought) a Pillsbury

pie crust at our local grocery store on

Saturday, so I did a "rustic" pie/tart

thing. Just laid out the crust,

piled some apples with spices, brown

sugar, and a little flour mixed in,

then folded the edges up and put some

dollops of butter on top and baked it.

It was yummy!

We each had a slice when it came out

of the oven and ate the rest of it for

desert after dinner.

Ok.

Now I REALLY need to get the day going.

Happy Monday y'all!

And SAFE TRAVELS Rozann and Greg!

No Post Today.

 Well, except for this...... lol.

It's been a CRAZY day.

The guys came to install our new AC!

YEA!

But they had to come from Hays.

And then they ran out of Freon so 

they had to drive back to Hays.

And then they weren't getting power

to the AC unit so had to drive BACK 

to Hays again.

Each trip is 30+ miles each way.

Poor guy.

But..... I'm wrapped in a blanket because

I'm FREEZING! I set it on 76 because...

I got my BRAND NEW Surface Pro 8 today

and while I was teaching this morning,

it did the exact same thing my old one did.

Sigh.

It's quite possible I'll pack it up and return it.

It's nice and all, but I don't NEED a new $800

computer if it's not going to fix the problem.

Anyhow.

Also, Rod installed our BRAND NEW 

stainless steel sink and reverse osmosis

(water filter) while the guy was working

on the AC.

So I'm also kind of starving because the

guy was in one half of the kitchen and

Rod was in the other half

and it's pretty small.....

so I had some crackers and a hot pocket

about 10 hour ago.

(Just finished teaching the night class...)

So...

Also, I spent a good amount of time trying to

solve the problem I'm having with my green card.

I lost it.

So I filed to get a duplicate.

And they sent a copy of a application from

1985 (???? I got my card in 1979)

and said that's all they have.

So I filed an I-90 form requesting a

duplicate card.

And today they denied that request saying

they did a "thorough search" and they have no record.

So I tried and tried and tried to speak to a human

but their stupid automated thing just kept telling

me to file an I-90.

So then I found ANOTHER form I could file

for a replacement, but they want a

non-refundable $415 and I don't even know if

this is the right form!

It asked all sorts of info I couldn't answer, because

I DON'T HAVE MY CARD.

So... I wrote a letter of appeal.

Meanwhile, I can't apply for either social security

or medicare until I can show them the ORIGINAL card.

Sigh.

I might just have to move back to Canada.

Who knows at this point.

The only "local" USCIS office is in Wichita,

but they won't take walk-ins and they won't let

me make an appointment because my issue 

doesn't fit their criteria.

I kind of hate the government at this moment.

All that to say....

there's no post today.

HA!

(I wish I was in Switzerland!!!!)

Oh DEER

 We have a neighbor, here in town,

two doors down,

that also has a little French Bulldog.

His name is Dane.

His little girl owner spends much time

outside in her high, little girl voice,

yelling DANE! Come here DANE!

And then she follows him all over

the neighborhood, calling DANE,

but never grabbing him or putting

him on a leash because he is mean.

He WILL bite you.

He wears a harness instead of a collar,

so it would be easy to grab (not near

his teeth) and snap on a leash,

but she is understandably nervous.

Anyhow.

They also have a lovely husky.

He never gets out and is VERY

well behaved when he IS out.

And the other day, we noticed

(through the chain link gate)

they have another pet.

They have an actual juvenile DEER in their backyard.

We have seen it several times now.

Welcome to small town America.

Where nobody really cares what you do.

As long as you don't pick my pocket or

break my leg... YOU DO YOU.

I think its awesome.

And I'm loving having a deer as a neighbor!

(I'll have LOTS of them when we move to the 

farm, but THIS ONE doesn't eat my garden.... lol.)

SO MUCH ZUCCHINI!

 The zucchini is slowing down.

(Thank goodness!)

This morning Rod and I drove south about

2 hours to Garden City to meet with 

his new eye doctor.

(He is really nice and a State Senator...)

It was a good visit.

They did a really thorough exam and said

his left eye looked very healthy and

considering the multiple surgeries,

his right eye was better looking than he

had expected.

So that's always good.

And then we headed to Mennards.

The BIGGEST "Lowes / Home Depot" store

you could ever hope to find.

We saved $40 on a new stainless steel

kitchen sink and about $60 on a new

reverse osmosis (water filter) system

for under the sink.

That was REALLY good news!

(We also picked up some new retractable

dog leashes because Luna the Rottweiler

has slowly destroyed them all...)

And then we headed 2 blocks away to Sams

to pick up the stuff we can only get

there... it's always fun to do a 

Sams run, and see what's new.

(Not that we buy any of it... lol.)

And then to the Burger King drive-thru

to grab a burger and head back north.

(Since I need to teach tonight.)

MEANWHILE.

While we were gone, Kyle cubed a

basket (or two) of zucchini and got

it into the freezer for over the winter.

He did a total of 8 freezer bags,

and wrote all the numbers on the white board.

33 pounds of zucchini!!!!

We estimate we harvested between 

250 and 300 pounds this year.

I think we can dial back a bit next year.........

Fun Weekend!

 The weekend started with a GREAT market.

We have increased our product line

to six freeze dried products.

We now have:

1. Honey Crisp apples 

2. Granny Smith apples

3. Zucchini sticks with Everything Bagel

4. Zucchini chips with parmesan

5. Cookies & Cream Ice Cream Sandwich bites

6. Salt Water Taffy

We nearly sold out of the taffy.

And the zucchini did really well.

We didn't have a TON of people...

school is in, so families are doing

Saturday morning stuff (like sports, etc)

and it is chilly early these days.

But about 10:00 it picked up.

Our best day so far was the day we

helped sell the stuff for Dave & Mary.

We did a total of $143 that day.

This week, selling our FD stuff as well

as some zucchini, yellow squash, and

lemon cucumbers (once I cut into one and

started handing out little bites they were

SUPER popular...)

we did a total of.....

DRUM ROLL.....

$141!!!!!

Not bad at all!

That included as we were pulling out of

the park, a friend from church and her son

came running up and bought another $20

worth of goodies and when we got to the house,

a lady was there who decided she needed

another bag of salt water taffy since she was

going visiting that afternoon and wanted to share.

(Or not... lol.)

As we were unloading everything,

we got a text from one of the other vendors.

His sister lives here in town, he stops by her

house after market and off-loads all the stuff

that didn't sell - she is a great canner.

Anyhow.

He gave her one of my honey crisp apple sticks

and she was HOOKED.

She has 4 apple trees and just finished picking

the organic "Johnny" apples (a yummy

red apple like a macintosh kind of...)

and wanted to GIVE THEM to us!

So we ran over to her house and picked up

4 or 5 boxes of apples.

Then when we got BACK home, Kyle and I

stood in the kitchen and used our nifty

thing that peels, cores and spiral slices apples.

We did the last of the honeycrisp.

I tossed them in a little pumpkin pie spice

and then we got them on 2 trays.

We will get started on the johnnys this afternoon.

Then we ALL took a nap!

Next it was dinner and then we headed to

the racetrack to watch the season finals.

You can tell you are in the Midwest when there are

modified race cars in the foreground and a

grain elevator in the back.

It was a really fun night.

I went to Walmart on Friday and picked up

some comfy stadium seats that made the

entire event so much better!

It got chilly, but we had jackets and blankets

and were toasty warm.

We didn't get home until about 11:30.

So it was straight off to bed.

The guys had to get up early to be in Salina

(pronounced Sal EYE na) for a 

priesthood meeting at 9:00. 

It's 2 hours away. (Stake Center)

And then we met at the church for

Sac Mtg only at 1:00.

Meanwhile, I got the grated zucchini out

of the freeze dryer and a load of tomatoes

in the machine.

While we were at church, I put a roast

in the pressure cooker so it was all

ready for us to eat when we got home.

And then we rested for the remainder of the day.

This morning I'm starting the day with

bacon, eggs, and fresh okra in the air fryer

(nothing better than okra in bacon grease!)

Now we are off to Home Depot in Hays

to pick up Kyle's lumber order so he and Rod

and start building the decks around his house.

Once the deck is up, they can install the 2nd floor

door out to the deck. (Hard to do with nothing to stand on...)

And I need to pick up some more salt water taffy

and some Skittles from WalMart and get them in

the machine for sale this week.

We had lots of return customers and they all

want to sample anything "new" so I try to add

at least one new product each week.

Plus I got some business cards with our name

and phone number and handed those out and

reminded folks that farmers market season ends

in 2 weeks but we are still here in town and

are happy to take care of all their snacking needs.

Lemon Cucumbers

 I've never SEEN a lemon cucumber before.

But Kyle thought they sounded like fun,

so he planted some.

They were over by the corn that got eaten

by the cows, and since we weren't

watering the corn anymore,

we also quit watering the lemon cukes.

But they held on.

They were struggling.

And kind of slow.

But there they still were...

And then the other day.....

Presto!

Lemon cucumbers!

They LOOK like a lemon.

But they taste like a cucumber.

I detect a SLIGHT lemon flavor,

but it might just be the power of suggestion.

Anyhow, Kyle is harvesting 2 or 3

every day now.

That's fun!

Yellow Squash!

 Today I processed ALL the yellow squash.

There was quite a bit. 

Hahaha.

I just chopped it into bite sized pieces,

and since it's not nearly as wet as zucchini,

put it into freezer bags and when I'm ready

to use it I hope to be able to just take it out.

(There may be "some" sticking together...

but for the most part I'm hoping it will be loose...)

If not, I'll defrost it til I can and go from there.

But I have 10 freeze dryer trays and they

are all busy already.

Anyhow.

While I was doing that, Rod continued painting

the trim around all the bedroom and the bathroom doors.

And then he went out to the farm to help

Kyle take down the barbed wire around the

acres that were in CRP. (land held for

the government - they pay you to NOT use it...

it's a dumb idea and not very much $, 

so we said No thanks.)

Anyhow.

They just got home and I just finished

teaching and I'm sure they are ready for dinner.

So....

Night all!

Typical Tuesday (ie: BUSY)

 The day started nice and early.

Rod got up, did the dishes from

last night (we are guilty of going

to bed with a messy kitchen...

that's what happens when I teach until

9:30 and THEN we have dinner...)

Rod made a yummy chuck tender roast

in the pressure cooker while I was

busy teaching and Kyle was at the farm.

So, then Rod made some pancakes 

for us to eat for breakfast.

(Sensing a theme here? He's quickly

becoming a good cook!)

After that was all done and cleared away,

I finished up the salt water taffy I had

started yesterday.

(I FORGOT it was in the freeze dryer

until nearly midnight! It was done when

I finished teaching, but so was dinner 

and then we started watching our nightly

episodes of JAG on Amazon Prime...

and I just forgot...)

Yesterday morning I unwrapped and cut into quarters

20 candies per tray. I was worried they were too close

together and would stick.

(HA! I can easily do DOUBLE that... good to 

know for next time.)

This is 100 candies, 20 per tray with a total of 5 trays.

(One was still on the other counter...)

So after breakfast, I pulled them out of the FD and

got them all into bags for this week's market.

There are 20 candies per bag and then about

40 in the "sample" jar.

I find if they taste it, they buy it.

At least 50% of the time. 

When originally they just said "I have a

dehydrator..." (like, I can do this myself.)

But once they taste, they usually buy SOMETHING.

(Not always, but samples have definitely

increased our sales...)

Then I got 5 more trays of grated zucchini 

out of the deep freeze and onto trays

and into the freeze dryer.

Meanwhile, the AC guy showed up with his

assistant and they took a look at our unit.

Determined it was over 30 years old and

needed a new fan motor, which 

he would need to special order.

So he'll be back...

Then it was time to get those cucumbers into jars.

This time I decided to do chips instead of spears.

It took FOREVER to slice them on my

mandolin and then get them stuffed into 

the jars so there was little/no air space.

But I got it done.

And now I'm just waiting patiently (HA)

for them do do their satisfying little

POP to signify they sealed.

Next?

Lunch.

Meanwhile, Rod is painting all the baseboards

and trim in the living room.

Kyle painted all the walls when he was here

by himself in March, but he "doesn't do trim". 

HA.

Slow but steady.

We are getting it all done.

Learning New Skills

 We are growing cucumbers!

We haven't had cucumbers in a garden in YEARS.

The squash bugs in Florida were voracious.

But this year we are finally getting a pretty

good harvest of cukes.

And everybody and his brother is ALSO 

growing cucumbers so we don't even

take them to the market.

We have been enjoying eating them

fresh dipped in a little ranch.

Or just pop them in your mouth.

(And they are a great, hydrating snack

while working in the garden, just fresh off the vine!)

However, they are piling up.

So on Friday I tried my hand a pickling them.

But I don't have a canner.

And I'm not ready to buy one.

(Since I have VERY limited storage space in

this little house.... it's filling up FAST.)

So.

I found a recipe online for making dill

pickles IN YOUR OVEN!!!!!

You made the pickles like normal.

I cooked up a brine.

Washed my jars.

Cut and stuffed the cukes in the jars.

Added hot brine and de-bubbled (as

best I could without an official stick... lol.)

And then you take all the racks out of your

oven except the very bottom one.

And set your oven to 310 degrees.

(Yup, 310.)

Then since I'm at the same altitude (2400)

as the author of the post,

I put them in a 9x13 cake pan (with the

lids on finger tight) for a total of 10 minutes.

Removed them from the oven and put on

a towel on the counter and listened for

them to pop. Which they did after about

a half hour.

I only did 4 jars since some of the commenters said

they had been doing this for YEARS and it works great,

while others said their jars didn't seal.

So I wanted to experiment.

Mine all sealed.

So I'm going to process the rest of them today.

They have to sit on the shelf for at least a week.

So on Friday I'll crack one open and give it a try.

I used dill seed for these, but then I bought a

couple of things of pickling spice. I'll try that next.

Anyhow.

It reminded me of all the time Mom spent canning

pickles at Haverhill.

It's a lot of work.

Hopefully it will pay off!

Today we are getting some salt water taffy

into the freeze dryer.

And then we will process some zucchini for

selling - need to cut it in the french fry cutter

and season it up and get it in the deep freeze.

Also do the pickles.

And I need to grind the rest of the tomatoes into

a thick / chunky sauce and get it into jars in

the fridge until there is room in the freezer for it.

Busy day ahead!!!

AND.....

we are keeping an eye out for an email from

the title company.

The buyers waited until the last possible second

to wire their down payment, which meant everything

was held up on Friday.

We finally heard about 6:30 that they had

finished the paperwork but needed the wire to clear.

So they will be distributing the money TODAY!

(And once it clears they will get the keys to

the house and the go-ahead to start moving...)

We are SO grateful to finally close this chapter!

We are so grateful for all your prayers on our 

behalf for a good sale, safe journeys back and

forth across the country, and all the other 

blessings we have been granted throughout this process.

WHEW!

THANK YOU ALL!

And now... breakfast and get to WORK!