August was another hot and very dry month. It also meant time for the county fair, and exhibits. This year I entered 3 items in the "Home Arts" division.
Then I won the "Sweepstakes" award, The best of all entries in the "Home Arts Division" over all entries.
Then I won the "Judges Choice" ribbon. This means the judges thought that of all the canned goods entered, mine was the best.
Trevor received his Associates Degree in the mail, and we are so proud of him for finishing the task he set for himself. Opal, (the cat the was rehomed to us), is becoming more and more attached to us and very loving. Her prior owner said she didn't like to be held, but she is becoming more and more of a "hold me a little and hug me" cat. The last week of the month, Dave and I drove down to Sedona for a spend a very relaxing week just doing very little.
We returned drove home on Friday the 30th to avoid the holiday traffic. And it was a good thing we did. There was so much traffic the closer we got to home. We also returned to a garden that suddenly decided to produce abundantly while we were gone.
September was again another hot and dry month. This summer was the second hottest driest month on record for our state, and it sure felt like it. I picked a lot of raspberries from our bushes, (after 5 years they were finally producing). Autumn and Dave ate a few handfuls, I made raspberry cinnamon rolls, and the rest I froze to use later. I learned not to let Autumn help pick green beans, she would eat as many as she picked. That girl loved raw green beans. And now that she has seen how they grow from a seed to a full sized bean, she loves green beans on her plate. Trevor, Audra, and Autumn went to Oregon for a week and brought me back a couple bags of blackberries that they picked from the farm of Trevor's friend, (where they were staying). I had enough to get 2 pint jars of the most delicious jam from them. I put 1 pint jar back, thinking this will be next year's fair entry. But, the first jar is gone and we've opened the second jar. Our friend, (Dave A), gave me a small amount of apricots from his tree and I was able to get 2 more jars of jam for my pantry. Our peach tree produced really well, and I made 5 jars of jam, froze a couple bags, supplied the neighbors with some, and we've eaten our share. I also was give a box of peaches, pears, and nectarines, so I made 5 jars of fruit cocktail. It turned out really good, Dave says it's better then the canned stuff. I spent quite a lot of time canning green beans from the garden - I got 16 quarts in the pantry to replenish my supply. Autumn has eaten her weight in small yellow tomatoes this year. She gets so excited everyday when she goes out to the garden and sees new ripe tomatoes ready to pick, or new cucumbers. And she's just dying for the carrots to be ready to harvest. One day when we were in the garden she told me, "I know why the cucumbers have little flowers and the squash have big flowers. It's cause the cucumbers are little and the squash are bigger". And she's right. We had 5 beautiful big butternut squash year, planted from seeds I saved last year. And all my cucumbers were from seeds I saved as well. My tomatillos were leftover seeds from a couple years ago, and I just threw them in the ground, and thought "What the heck, let's see if they grow." We have a huge box and now we have a couple bags of tomatillo sauce in the freezer. So our garden has been good to us this year. And Audra's box that I let her use, was also productive. I also have shared so produce with them, and they have enjoyed the freshness from the garden. I will have much more work to get accomplished before fall and winter approach, but it's been a busy life around the house.
