Filling the jars

Trying not to burn hands while retrieving green beans

10 glorious pints of green beans! I did them all by myself!

The view while babysitting the pressure gauges


As most of you one of my not-so-secret ambitions has always been to be a domestic marvel. It’s only taken me 32 years, a wonderful husband, a new house, a mini-van (so much for the dream to have a Volvo station wagon with the dog in the back), 3 cats (Badgley, Mischka & Spike), a guinea pig (Trigger), 2 chickens (lovingly named Lucky and Skippy), a new baby and suddenly my dream has taken flight. Not only am I actually building up our food storage from the ground up- it’s a slow process but I add a few things each week and hope to be doing some dry pack canning in the near future to increase our food storage.. I am even learning to can fruits and vegetables. I have started with green beans because that’s what Robin planted in her garden that’s ready to harvest so far- tomatoes will ripening shortly and I have the distinct feeling that we will be up to our ears in tomatoes before the canning process (tomato sauce, spaghetti sauce , pizza sauce, etc.) is over. Thankfully the work is made lighter by working together- I don’t understand how people can do their home canning all by themselves. That’s a massive undertaking! We will also be making freezer jam and have frozen 50 pints of locally grown corn so far as well. Back to the green beans- we have now canned at least 35 (I have lost count at this point so there are probably more than that) pints of green beans to date. I’m really excited about this whole process and am having lots of fun. I’m even planning out garden for next year so there will be even more to harvest and can. Thankfully we have plenty of space (just under 2 acres) so we can plant as much as we want now Jon just has to figure out a way to irrigate it all. Thankfully I have all winter to plan- I know you all are thinking the same thing: she has a list if not multiple lists!


Geagen in her swing


The only other news to report is that Geagen had her very first immunizations today. She had 4 shots and actually came through the whole ordeal remarkably well. I was fully expecting the worst- fever, fussiness, soreness, etc. but we were both pleasantly surprised with no side effects. She only cried for a little while and has slept in her swing most of the day- so it really hasn’t been all that different from any other day. She really loves her swing- she sleeps in it nearly every night and prefers her daytime naps there as well. I’m not sure why she had a falling out with the barnyard animals on her Pottery Barn Kids nursery linens (I promise that I will post pictures of the cutest nursery in the whole world soon) but right now they are not currently speaking. We may have to have some sort of peace treaty signed so we can reclaim the living room. Thankfully she is a very sound sleeper so it really isn’t so bad- we can vacuum and make all sorts of noise- we just can’t turn the air conditioner up to “arctic blast” so we don’t turn her into a popsicle. They generally frown on that sort of thing.