An Evening's Labour

When you've worked as hard as that, you want to spell it with extra letters! Older, more expert canners would probably pity my exhaustion, but 9 pints of apple butter was WORK for me- especially doing it alone. But it is worth it to hear those lids go "chink" as they cool.

Wanted to show my mom- these tomatoes on the windowsill were harvested in the past 3 days. The plants are pumping them out! I'm saving seed. It has been an amazing year for tomatoes.

Preserving the Harvest

Today at the Farmer's market I set myself up for another week-end of WORK! I bought a large box (probably a little over 1/2 bushel) of firm little red apples to make more apple butter (we ate a pint this week!!) and 1/2 bushel of unshelled purple-hulled peas. I processed the peas today.

Here they are at 11 AM, in the sack from the farmer.

                                       Shelling 

peas is the perfect game-on-the-

radio, sunny sun-porch-afternoon

 kind of activity.Blogger seems to be malfunctioning, so I'll post the "during" and "after" pics tomorrow.

Mending Pants

I have a Very Indian Looking outfit (shalwar chemise?)- long tunic like a minidress, long loose elastic-waisted pants, very comfy- that I like to wear this time of year. I finally finished the embroidery around the neckline this past year and was happy to wear it. I started it YEARS ago from fabric my mother gave me from her stash that may have been decades old, but was not rotten or anything. Well, I ripped the pants leg, one of those L-shaped tears taking up a square inch-and-a-half or so, coming in from the chiropractor tonight. Caught on a protruding piece of metal on the back door. Husband will repair the door. 

I must repair the outfit. If the repair shows too much, the hemline (it is close to the bottom of the pants) will get embroidery to match the neckline. I will fix it. I like the outfit too much. I'll post pics of the result.

I like traditional garments. When you wear them (not traditional formal wear-traditional peasant or workday clothes), you often find that they are more comfortable, functional (as in you can bend over without giving neighbors any views or get down to play with kids or go up a ladder for something), and beautiful than modern clothes. When I look at modern runway "fashion", the girls look a bit miserable. The clothes are awkward, ugly, and not something you would wear to scrub a sink or feed the kids.

 A shalwar chemise is a wonderfully comfortable garment. So is a simple shirt and elastic-waisted skirt combo like I bought in a traditional shop in Spain. the Spanish outfit is shown here. I bought the apron and scarf, too. I like aprons a lot. I'm too sad to show my other outfit yet.

Yes, those are athletic shoes. I embraced my inner geek long ago. If you like your arches, you should, too. Reaching an age at which you no longer care what others think of your feet as long as you're comfortable is a GOOD THING!!

A Cat Is A Sometime Thing

Jorge was out today. He did not come for morning or evening feeding time. Hope he comes tomorrow. He is male, though, and males do wander. He can hunt, so as long as he doesn't get hit, he can provide for himself.

Today the temperatures fell into the 50s after a day of drizzly rain. Winds from the north are bringing a chilly bite to the air. Eat those gorgeous tomatoes while you can! Winter cometh, when the only decent tomatoes ARE canned- and I have 11 pints of those (out of 13 canned plus 2 frozen containers, from 1/2 bushel of tomatoes bought over the summer). If you buy the "Culls" (tomatoes from behind the stand, separated out because of cracks or flaws), you get a very good deal.

Green Square Feet

I can't really say "Green Acres", because I don't have acres, but the square feet are doing well. The green beans seem to be recovering (enough to produce a side dish of deeply green, healthy steamed beans for tonight). I think the yellow wax bean plants died in the heat of the summer, but the green ones are TOUGH. Kentucky Wonder. 

The tomatoes are still producing, as are the limas, the nasturtiums are back up (but not blooming), the basil is blooming and setting seed and the potted peppers are still producing despite faded leaves and steady production all summer. Did you know banana peppers can turn red? I have one on the plant now. I think I'll take that as a sign of maturity and save the seeds.

That is a good progress report.

Good Harvests

Harvesting continues, pretty steadily. Tomatoes, beans, etc. Husband is reminding me to save seed from the tomatoes. This will be my first year to try to save seed. We'll see how it goes.

I have a big presentation tomorrow at work, gearing up for my proposal in the spring. Must go.

Sweet Potato Blooming

Look at this flower! I was thinking of digging up the sweet potatoes, to see what I have, but this earned them a reprieve.

It's a jungle out there. From foreground to background, there are lima bean vines, sweet potato vines, and tomato plants with a bit of basil on left side of the tomatoes.