Just Kiddin

Over the weekend they predicted frost in low lying areas and temperatures dipping in the 30's. SO we scrambled to get all the apples picked before a frost. 

And the watermelons that were still in the field. 

So O Wise One spent Sunday delivering baskets of apples and watermelons to neighbors and people he thought could use them.  We kept a few for us too. We certainly have gotten used to our nightly small bowls of chilled watermelon. It has taken the place of any baked goods these days as a dessert. 

I continue to dehydrate apple chips for the year. They are in bags, jars and gallon jugs until I get finished.   

So instead of taking my usual Sunday off I spent the day washing and sorting apples. I saved some for my own family and will store them in the drawers of my refrigerator. 

I filled my crock pot with the last of the horticulture beans from the garden before he pulled up the plants and fed them to the goats. I made beanie weenies. And with fresh potatoes, yard eggs and my homemade dill relish I made a bowl of potato salad to go with it. 

I put a bowl of bread dough on the heating pad to rise. 

The extra french bread will be sliced and frozen for garlic bread in the future. The sandwich loaf we will use for breakfast toast and sandwiches for the next couple days. 

And part of a loaf will go wonderfully with our barbecued beans and potato salad. Cold watermelon for dessert and we will have a last summer meal before that frost gets here. By the way the frost warnings did not come to be. We have missed the bullet for another night or two. 

In the meantime we will continue to deliver apple baskets to our friends and neighbors until they lock the doors and hide. There was a time when the house was full of kids and there was  a need to feed many mouths. Now that this old farm produces more than we can eat and the children are gone, maybe it's  just a new opportunity to help those who do need it. 

So as O Wise One pulls up and stores tomato cages and I struggle to sort and deal with these amounts of fruit I thank God for the opportunities before us and  we continue to work preparing for the eventual cold that will arrive. 

I must admit I am ready for a few winter days under my quilt frame, needle in hand. I have grown weary of the canning this year as It seems to have all fallen together at the same time. The spring crops were late and the summer early making them all come ready together which makes canning particularly tiring when it drags on for weeks day after day. It is time for a rest. 

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter