The peaches are taken care of, 
bread is baked, and the summer sausage is ready to be mixed well for the second day. I have blueberries and raspberries to wash and dry before putting in the freezer for now. Sound like I could be getting a little bit burnt out with the canning binge? Me? Nope. Just need a few days off to recoup. And still have some cherries to pit. Hope I can remember the gloves this time. Still have dark stains under my fingernails from the last time.
I have some beautiful tomatoes I want to take to mom. Unfortunately neither of us drives any more. And these are REAL tomatoes. Not the cardboard version so many people raise now. Beautiful, ripe, juicy. She loves them so much, and I don’t know how to get them there. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!! Mike can take me in the morning.
And even better, I just talked to Mike, and Noah won Grand Champion at the county fair for his steer and his heifer both. He bought them from his grandpa, who was reluctant to sell them to him because they didn’t look like prize-winning animals, but Noah insisted he wanted them. Now he has two more gold medals and two Grand Champion beasts. Mike said he beat out some professional cattlemen who were showing their beasts at the fair, so that’s quite an accomplishment for a 12-year-old.
Okay, so this picture is of Noah with Big Red, his first gold medal winner. It’s a few years old, but I don’t have any of the new grand champs, so this one will have to do for now. This kid is going to be some real farmer when he grows up.
Do I sound like a proud grandma? Well, I am. I have nine grandkids, and I’m proud of every one of them. They each have their own strong points, and their own personalities, and I love them all to death. I think Noah is the only potential farmer in the bunch though. It makes me happy that one of the nine loves the farm as much as his Papaw.
Meanwhile, back at the ran…um, I mean, the apartment, we’re having beautiful weather now. I took a walk this afternoon after finishing the peach syrup. Had some soup left over from a couple of days ago for lunch, then froze the rest. I think I’ll chop the okra up, batter it and oven fry it tonight. Maybe with some fish. That sounds good to me. And more watermelon pickles. It makes me so sad to think of all the watermelon rinds I’ve thrown away over the years. All this time I could have made pickles.
You know, they say when life hands you lemons you should make lemonade. I have lemons. But I think I’m going to pickle them. Okay, lets slow down here. Didn’t I just say I’m going to take some time off the canning thing? Yep. Just went back and read it. But there are so many things I want to experiment with. Now what to do. Take time off, or experiment? Hummmm. That’s a big question. I’ll just have to ponder a while. I tried that once — pondering. The results weren’t really good, but at least it was fun. Remember that statue of the Thinker? That’s how I look when I ponder. Probably should start by looking the word up in the dictionary. I’ve never really done that before, just always heard the word used. It could have a whole ‘nother meaning.
Shhhh. I’m pondering here.
A.
Angie's Place 