tomato time

in which our plucky heroine maintains forward momentum...

Despite my back still really hurting, there has been more pruning of assorted foliar overgrowth around the yard (by doing it little by little, there is what feels like less wear and tear on me) I want to trim some of the very shaggy bottom layer of the japanese maple, with the thought of it eventually looking more treelike and less shrublike, and allowing the beautiful contorted branches to peep through the leaves. I also began cutting back the persimmon water sprouts, since the plan is to not have fruit growing up in the sky; the plum thicket does more than enough of that, thank you very much!

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Wednesday, at the last farmer's market of the year, I bought another 10# of organic San Marzano roma tomatoes. They are currently waiting (in one layer, on brown paper) on the chairs in my living room, for their turn to spend some time in freezer camp. This acquisition meant it was time to deal with the former 10# that have been resting in my freezer for the last two weeks. Those were all skinned and simmering down on the stove in the maslin pan for most of the afternoon, on their way to becoming tomato sauce for the wintertime pantry.

Tonight the new stockpot worked in tandem with the maslin pan for the first time: 10# of roma tomatoes = 5+ pints of homemade sauce (with lemon juice instead of citric acid*) for wintertime pantry storage... It will be a real delight to add tomato based meals to my wintertime rota.  As well, earlier in the week I finished putting up the third batch of Awesome Sauce, using up most all of the rest of the frozen tomatoes. Mmmm...

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It took a fair bit of doing, but I now have appointments for a flu shot on Friday, and for my COVID booster shot later in October.

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September SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	Greek masks block carved	rodent removal	yard waste bin
2	pillowcases printed	bicycle tube replaced	recycle bin
3	snood for Ariadne	side plum pruned	yard waste bin
4	memorial calligraphy	apple tree pruning	broken oven bits
5	tiny fox "Almandine"	moar apple pruning	old frozen food
6	fig lemon jam 5 jars	added bat embroidery	yard waste bin
7	Almandine clothing	freezer defrosted	yard waste bin
8	windfall applesauce 5 jars	pears dehydrated	recycle bin
9	Nandina blouse	more dried pears	x
10	postcard #1	plums harvested	x
11	postcard #2 and #3	x	x
12	applesauce 16 jars	x	x
13	Awesome Sauce 7 4oz jars	x	x
14	Awesome Sauce 5 4oz jars	x	x
15	5 pints tomato sauce	x	x

today's gratitude - lagniappe: along with the generous 10# of tomatoes, all their shoppers today were given a gift of one of the wee little orange pumpkins. Thank you Bethel Springs Farm, I had been wishing for one of those!


* because citric acid has a disagreeable effect on my insides, I cannot eat most commercially canned tomato products (and a whole lot of other commercially manufactured foods)

a second Chance...

in which our plucky heroine has an adulting sort of day...

Started the day with a trip to the dental school for teeth cleaning. Very grateful to friend Poni for getting up before 6am so she could pick me up at seven for my appointment at 8am. We were both pretty exhausted by the time she dropped me back at Acorn Cottage. But hey, my teeth are cleaned, and the hygienist told me I have been doing a good job of home care for my teeth!

Getting back here before ten meant that I was here when C returned to sort out the stove valve. I was not expecting him to take a day off work, and drive back over the pass, but he was very concerned that I not have to go without hot water for several weeks until their next trip this way. He and his wife have been friends of mine for years. It only took a really short time to fix the problem, and he also re-lit the water heater for me. I miss them both a lot, and the fun times we would have crafting and cooking together when they lived one town over, instead of half across the state...

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~ creativity challenge ~

postcard #4 was inspired by my deep dive into autumnal preserving. Can you spot the error? I really ought to draw from life and not from my imagination!

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My SI joint is still about as crankypants as it was at the beginning of last week, along with some other spots in my back that haven't bothered me for decades (subscapularis I am giving you the side eye). My sojourn in the dental chair of extreme discomfort* did not improve my back one bit.

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this is so good!

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September SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	Greek masks block carved	rodent removal	yard waste bin
2	pillowcases printed	bicycle tube replaced	recycle bin
3	snood for Ariadne	side plum pruned	yard waste bin
4	memorial calligraphy	apple tree pruning	broken oven bits
5	tiny fox "Almandine"	moar apple pruning	old frozen food
6	fig lemon jam 5 jars	added bat embroidery	yard waste bin
7	Almandine clothing	freezer defrosted	x
8	windfall applesauce 5 jars	pears dehydrated	x
9	Nandina blouse	more dried pears	x
10	postcard #1	plums harvested	x
11	postcard #2 and #3	x	x
12	applesauce 16 jars	x	x
13	Awesome Sauce 7 4oz jars	x	x
14	Awesome Sauce 5 4oz jars	x	x
15	x	x	x

today's gratitude -  tiny hummingbird sighting this morning. I walked out the front door to check the weather, and noticed a bit of rustling/shaking in the hardy fuschia. Then my sight shifted and I could see into the shrubbery, where a hummingbird was drinking nectar from the fuschia blossoms... always a treat to see that!

*mind you, it isn't the activity that happens when I am in the dental chair that is the problem, but the extremely poor ergonomics of the chair itself. I was joking to the hygienist that the chair must have been designed to fit "big Swedish men"... and she informed me that in fact, the dental chair company is, in fact, based in Sweden! We both laughed!!

on again off again on again off again

in which our plucky heroine is stiff and sore...

No photos, too tired. Rode back and forth on bicycle to hardware store. Spent the day wrestling with the stove plumbing. Currently have the gas shut off to the house for that reason. Fortunately I have an electric kettle, so hot water will not be a problem, even if not on tap. I lived off grid in Idahell for a year, so have experience with keeping clean without running hot water. Am a bit grouchy, or rather, my back and haunches are grouchy from repeatedly crouching down for turning the shutoff valve on and off, and for getting down on the floor to relight the water heater. But hey, I learned how to do that today, even though it needed to be turned off again. And if there wasn't something really odd going on with the male base that the valve screws into, all this would be dealt with by now...

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September SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	Greek masks block carved	rodent removal	yard waste bin
2	pillowcases printed	bicycle tube replaced	recycle bin
3	snood for Ariadne	side plum pruned	yard waste bin
4	memorial calligraphy	apple tree pruning	broken oven bits
5	tiny fox "Almandine"	moar apple pruning	old frozen food
6	fig lemon jam 5 jars	added bat embroidery	yard waste bin
7	Almandine clothing	freezer defrosted	x
8	windfall applesauce 5 jars	pears dehydrated	x
9	Nandina blouse	more dried pears	x
10	postcard #1	plums harvested	x
11	postcard #2 and #3	x	x
12	applesauce 16 jars	x	x
13	x	x	x
14	x	x	x
15	x	x	x

today's gratitude - I have an electric kettle, and some large kitchen pans. They will give me hot water for washing dishes and for washing me. Chance is coming tomorrow, to sort out the problems