September 2022

September began the riping of our garden, and the work to canning, freezing, and using up the bounty.

Our tomatoes were riping and we had some real nice size ones.  Our friends and neighbors were surprised at how large, sweet, and juicy our tomatoes were compared to theirs.  And our small salad tomatoes were so sweet and juicy also.

I would go out to the garden every 3 days and need to harvest quite a few.  The heat and lack of rain, just seemed to bring on the harvest faster.

And it wasn't just the tomatoes.  The squashes, green beans, potatoes, and corn also were ready almost all at once.

I canned 6 pints of marinara sauce, 6 pints of pasta sauce, and 6 quarts of tomatoes.  We gave away bags of tomatoes to friends and neighbors.  I baked several loafs of zucchini bread and zucchini cakes, and shredded and bagged zucchinni for the freezer to use this winter.  We ate most of the corn, it was so good, I only managed to freeze a small portion.  I put the butternut squash, spaghetti squash, and the few potatoes we dug in the garage to keep for use this winter.

Then I noticed, just as the apples were starting to get their yellow huish glow and getting ready to turn yellow, the birds were starting to flock to the tree.  Once again, it was a race out to the tree to pick the apples before the birds ate all of them down to the core.  They were so sweet and delicious.  We gave bags to our friends and neighbors, and they loved them.  At first they would ask, are they ripe?  We would answer yes, but you can let them set a couple days and they will get more yellow.  Most just ate them immediately.  I made a couple of cobblers, and an apple pie.  I slice some apples and put them in the freezer for this winter.  This was a good harvest from our little tree.

The second week of September, our washer suddenly just stopped working, (it was about 16 years old, we had replaced it when we lived in the West Jordan house).  So, we went to Lowe's picked out a new one, and I had to do one week's laundry at the laundrymat.  Oh, how I hated that day.  I was so delighted when the new washing maching showed up.

Dave and I are doing really good.  His carpal tunnel surgery last month made a world of difference in his hands.  I've been going to a pain specialist for my left shoulder, (she diagnosed it as a torn rotator cuff).  So far, I've had an X-ray, a cat scan, and an MRI.  She said now my next step is to see a surgeon who specializes in this.  My appointment is next month, and we'll see how things go.  We are both still working at Honey Baked Ham, so are days are full and we keep busy. 

 

July and August 2022

 July and August were both very quiet months at our house.  The summer was hot and dry.  Our garden struggled, with the heat and lack of rain, (but we gave it an extra watering late in the afternoon on the days that were over over 100 - where was most everyday!!).  

Due to the heat, our peaches came on early, (the first part of August).  But, due to a late snowfall in April, most of the bloom were killed off, so our mother nature did a natural pruning for us.  Once the birds started flocking to the tree, we knew it was time to hurry out and pick as quickly as possible.  Our peaches were nice size, VERY sweet, and juicy. We gave away bags to friends and neighbors, and took some to work for our co-workers to enjoy.  Since we already had plenty of canned peaches on our pantry shelves and in our freezer we just enjoyed this years harvest as a gift everyday.  I made a couple of nice cobblers, and they were so good.  Anyone who came to visit, left with a small bag of fresh juicy, sweet peaches to enjoy.  There was one small mishap - as we were picking our peaches, there was a small branch, (left on the tree from when we were pruning the tree in the spring, about 7 inches long and 4 inches around, and just my forehead height).  Dave was on the top of the ladder and I was on the ground.  I wasn't wearing my glasses and so I didn't see the branch stump and ran right into it hard.  It knocked me flat on my rear, and I actually saw stars for a couple of minutes.  I had a gash across my forehead, and the worse headace ever for about a week.  Everyone said I had a concussion and should have went to the doctor, but eventually the headache went away and all was well.  Maybe the peaches helped, (LOL).
Dave and I still worked at Honey Baked Ham, which filled most of our days.  Dave went back to visit Jared for his birthday for a long weekend in August.  Dave also had carpal tunnel surgery performed on both is wrists in August.  So, since he couldn't work for 2 weeks at Honey Baked, I covered his shift and mine  - it was long and hard hours.  We also spent time cleaning our items that we had boxed up downstairs, and started downsizing.  Alot went to charity, and some went to book donation bins, and some directly to trash.  We realized that our family isn't interested in our stuff when we pass on, so we decided to deal with it now rather than leave it for them to throw away later.  We looked at some of our memories, talked about them, and then moved on.  Otherwise, it was just a typical summer at home.