License to Mess

What?  You don't believe me?  Well, that's what the sign above my kitchen sink says, so it must be true!

Is it just me or does everyone end up with a bigger mess than what they started with on a canning day?  Oh wait, every day is a canning day right now.  License to Mess -Granted.

I managed to try out the new/swapped out pressure canner. That was interesting...

Turns out that it wasn't quite working right. And like a boob, I panicked. After a few calls (the Queen about got another email!), a shot and a beer (kidding), we managed to figure it all out. Once it cooled back down, I was able to see that the handle was ever so slightly crooked. So I popped it back in place and tightened it up. I am happy to say, it worked great! I got 5 Qts of stewed tomatoes and 11 pints of green beans done without further issue. It was a relief!

So I wanted to prove that my house is not, has not, nor ever will be...clean.  Oh, and I don't "do" cute.

Crap every where!  Please tell me yours looks just-like-mine!  It seems like every day I start with a clean slate and then BAM!, it looks like this again!

And what I really want to know is...where the heck is my Mom???  If she went to PA and no one told me...oooh!  Send her back!  :0)

Bird's Eye of Today's Harvest (and mess)

Well, everything is put away for the night (sort of) and I have a little satisfaction in seeing the pantry start to fill back up.  It makes it all worth it...

Do you ever just look at your pantry?  I admit that I do.  I love the pretty picture that it paints.  And before you know it, it will be all done and we can relax a bit.  I know my MIL is getting antsy to have me sewing again...

What You Ask For...

I always tell people if they ever want their 'jar' refilled, they better bring it back!  I am like "The Jar Nazi".  No offense intended!

Further, I tell people that if they are out and about and see jars for sale, get them!  I will gladly reimburse anyone for those precious jars! 

Last year I bought hundreds.  This year, I actually acquired some!  Why couldn't that have happened last year??  My brother, step-mom, neighbors...all of them found jars!  It's been great!

Well, the other day, Long and Lanky Loren confessed to me that he had been at a Garage Sale and found two boxes of jars and was going to get them, but upon further inspection they looked dirty.  So he took a pass.  I gave him the usual schpeel and that the do clean up.  He offered to go back for them.  Of course I told him no, bless his little heart.

Saturday I visited The Tin Man and Der Mama for another trip to the Amish area.  Out of respect for their ways, I did not take any pictures.  (Did I pull that one off?)  On the way home, Pig Pen called and said Long and Lanky Loren needed to talk to me.

LLL:  I got you some jars.
TAPG:  You didn't go back there did you??
LLL:  No, I was at an estate sale and got you 8 jars though!
TAPG:  Awesome!  How much?
LLL:  $15.00
pause
TAPG:  Are you kidding me?
kicking myself for never having qualified to the innocent what jars should cost...
LLL:  No I didn't!
phew!
LLL:  But I did get you jars...about TWO HUNDRED of them.
TAPG:  What??
LLL:  Yeah!
TAPG:  How much?????
LLL:  $2.00

If I weren't driving, I would have fainted!  Yes, you read that right...TWO DOLLARS.

I did an official count and he wasn't far off!  There are 165 jars of all shapes and sizes.  Most of them are usable!  There were even some of the Blue Ball jars that I love just for display purposes!

And if you haven't guessed the moral of the story, always qualify your requests and be careful what you ask for!

Have I mentioned that I love Long and Lanky Boys?

On to other things...yesterday I said I only ever get to sit on a certain 'chair'.  I lied...I got to sit for several hours on this...

Can I just tell you I love to mow if for no other reason that I get to sit???  I finally stepped up and got an iPod and new ear buds that fit!  They work great!  So long as you don't put them in backwards, or so I learned!  :)

My Tomat-ho's are comin'!  I have canned about 14 Qts of stewed and spaghetti sauce!  And I picked these too! 

Long way to go on those gals though!  You were all very right in that the beating they took hasn't seemed to hamper their production!  I do however feel like this while picking:

OK, y'all...back to work!  Have a great day!!

Not So Rich, Not So Famous

For those of you who don't know, I was born in the wonderful 70's.  I sorta "grew up" in the crazy 80's so to speak.  As you may remember, in the 80's it was all about Hair...and lots of it.  Back in June of this year, I did a post called How To Make Your Best Friend Hate You.  It included a very scarey picture...

Now, we are not so Rich...

But you could say we are just a wee bit, tiny, teensy-weensy, itty-bitty bit Famous...

Or at least someone got a kick out of it...

"Who?" got a kick out of it you ask?

She did...

Check out the link and our one little, minute moment of infamy... 

Right Here

It's ok to laugh, we weren't thinking.  Well, I sort of was...Julee was Not!

Do you think she hates me now???

My Favorite Place

This is my new favorite place...

It's where I get to sit.  Betcha it's where you get to sit a spell too! 

I have contemplated taking in more water, just so I can visit more sit down occasionally.

Pig Pen said the sweetest thing to me last night before we passed out...

"Thanks babe, for making all the good food for us."

I just love him!

So I thought I would find a place for us to go away this weekend.  Someplace where we could be alone yet together for a bit.  I found this nice spot...

It's rustic in nature, sort of like us.  Don't you agree?

Who am I kidding?  He sits about as much as I do...

Hope your week is full of excess water!

Hot Hot Hot - Dog Days!

Funny thing about the Dog Days of Summer, gardens and groves still need to be harvested.  Like it or not, when it's time, it's time.  That said, I always get a good chuckle when anyone says:

"Don't ya want to wait until it cools off?"

Nope, I wanna sweat my kahunas off. 

Oops, scratch that...I meant "glisten" my kahunas off.

Am I tattling on anyone?  Mmm-Hmm.  The Mom's.  Mine and His.  Both of whom I love dearly, but both of whom have said to me in the last few days that it's too hot to do this or that.  My Mother-in-Law laid the best one on me today though...She said it was too hot to go swimming!  Huh??   

So is it just a Mom Thing?  Dunno, but dern it if someone would let me know how to tell the tomatoes or apples not to ripen in 110 heat indices, I sure would start talkin' to those plants instead of beating them up!  And in case you were wondering, it's all in good fun that I poke at them!

How do you keep cool?  I think Pig Pen needs to put the pool up for next year.  It's just sitting in our barn.  Cuz ya know, he has nothing else to do, tongue and cheek!  That man works harder than anyone I know!!

I drink lots and lots of water and iced tea and yeah...I am one of the goofy ones that can even drink coffee all summer long.  I'm a freak, remember?

But what about the little doggers?  It's not like it's winter and they need a sweater yet...but just in case, my little Ami is all ready to go!

My good friend Tricia, the one who bailed on me and moved to Nebraska, made this!  And the best part - the most AMAZING part - right before she left a couple years ago, I told her she would need a hobby.  So I taught her how to knit.  Basic knitting!  She made me these on her very first efforts:

I told her I would never ever use them because they are too precious to me and someday she would look back and be able to see her progress...And today is that day!!  Hellllllooooo...can you SEE her progress?  She taught herself how to Knit in the Round!  She makes all sorts of stuff and has really come a long way!  I am so proud of her!  And I thank my Tricia for Ami's new duds!  I love you!

Since it is just a wee bit warm for Ami to wear it though, I gave her an ice cream cone so she could 'cool off'.

What?  Doesn't look good to you?  Watch...

So now you know my dog is a freak too, albeit a well dressed freak!!

(I'll crack out the vacuum cleaner and get that someday for ya's)

Have a GREAT weekend all!

Show and Tell

Yesterday was the weirdest day...it almost felt like I should have played the Lotto!  Lady Luck is never mine, but it was so awesome to come home to this...

My first issue of Countryside!  My step-mom had given me her copy last month.  She said it wasn't what she had been looking for...yet right up my Hillbilly Alley!  I love this magazine!  As do some of you'ns!

And as if the Mail Man didn't think that was just the coolest...he brought me this too...

A hook up from my girl MamaTea!  Thanks for helping to keep the skunks out of my garden!  I'll be trying this out immediately!

My darling Pig Pen made me a nifty little gadget...

Something to keep those darn rings and magnet in place!  Neat, huh?

Then, Pig Pen and I took a little trip to the nearest 'supply' store we could find and we carted off with all the gadgets needed for...???...

Any guesses???

Yup...we're divin' in!  Wine and Cider making here we come!  Have you ever just felt all giddy inside with anticipation at something new?  I mean, not like homemade TP, but the kind of anticipation that makes you wanna jump up and down?  I know...we are freaky that way!  This store was super cool!  If I had my head on I would have looked for Mead making stuff too...oh and the beer options...so many things to try, so little time!!!

We no sooner got home and my girlfriend called with a HUGE problem...she decided to finally try her hand with a pressure canner, had everything jarred and ready...and lo and behold...it wouldn't fit under her microwave!  Ugh!  So what are the girls to do?  Swap!  She now has my Presto and I have her double decker Mirro.  Except now I gotta re-learn!  Just when I was all comfy with my needle gauge!  This one is the other doo-hicky thingee.  (??)  No complaints though, I can now stack the pints.  WooHoo!  I think I will force teach my SIL Jen also!  Her freezer just went out...it's time.

And finally, the chicken coop has drains and is ready to pour the concrete!

Pig Pen said we should get a pig for out back...Mmmm...Bacon!  Earlier this week he thought we could keep a cow in the barn.  Hey Look, a squirrel!!

Gosh we need more room and Geez, I wish I had played the darn Lotto!  I never have these kinds of days!  OMG...we shoulda been dancin' in the sheets!  HAHAHAHA!

It's About Time!

So myself, just like all our gardens seem to be running a little behind and not producing much as we would like.  However after catching up on some blog posts this morning, because I am such a slacker, it seems like a few of us are finally getting tomatoes!  I am thrilled to say that yesterday was the first harvest worth more than a darn 'onsey twosey' picking:

I was able to can up 9 Qts of Stewed Tomato, 1 batch of sun-dried cherry tomato, 2 Qts of Green Beans and some more corn as well.  I took some "Stella-r" (wink, wink) advice and tried a little experiment with a recipe my mom grew up with called Harvard Beets.  It's basically a thickened pickled beet.  And I canned them up, gave them to dear ole Mom, and they really turned out wonderful!  Thank you Stella, for the encouragement!

And ya know too, I just wanted to give you guys some proof, that you can put lipstick on a Pig and you can clean up a Pig Pen:

We had a wedding this weekend...note the jeans and raccoon eyed suntan.  Ah, whatchya gonna do?  And like any good redneck, of course we had to stop on the way home to pick up a load.

Hope you all are having a great day!