Windy

Not much going on these days, but we did have sustained 55mph winds for about 2 hours, then down to 35 or so. Of course it was raining, so the windows got a good power washing. The big trees behind the house stayed in the ground, but what was left of the raspberries got blown away and a part of a small tree behind the garage didn't do so well. But hey, it's that time of year here, so more to come. Love me some weather!!

Bye, bye raspberries!

I've been pacing myself (some would say lazy), but I'm going to head up into the mountains around here soon and hope to see some bears. Or a bear. Or a bear footprint. They have kept themselves up in the mountains so far, with just a few sightings reported down by the rivers. The rivers stink with rotting salmon, so I have avoided those areas until the stench and the seagulls both abate!

Peace my friends, I miss you all!

First Canning

Lots of folks can (or use jars to be more exact) up here, and we started our canning experience with mango chutney and tomatoes. Every two weeks a big van comes up here from Washington loaded with fruits and vegetables. I bought a case of peaches, 10 pounds of tomatoes, and mangoes for canning. The peaches need a little more ripening and will have to wait. We are going to can salmon, jams, tomatoes, and whatever else moves to slow! A nice jar of peaches will taste great deep into the winter.

Our spiffy new canner weighs in at 18lbs dry, so we can't use it on the glass-top range. We will be canning in the garage!

Mango chutney cooking.

Squeezing the spices!

Pouring the chutney into the jars.

Yummy!

Skinning the tomatoes.

Delicious!

Since there isn't much of a sun here, Kirsty oven-dried some of the tomatoes, dripping with olive oil.

Peace my friends!