Wow, has it seriously been that long?!

Okay, I am officially the world's worst blogger, but instead of dwelling on that, I am just going to start with today as if the past year and a half have not been blog-entryless (yeah, not a word, but it fits).  I might try to do a 2013-mid 2014 update post soon.  We shall see, but for tonight I am going to give a rundown of today as I am hoping to revive this blog as a sort of daily journal for myself.  I would like to write it all down in a paper & pencil journal, but let's face it, typing is easier, quicker, and kinder to my fingers.

Aug. 7, 2014 (Thurs)

     I have been working on trying to get to bed at a decent hour and wake up at a decent hour, but alas, it is not happening as planned.  I did get up early yesterday and the day before (7:30 yesterday, 6:30 the day before), but today I slept hard and late.  I woke up about 10:10 a.m. only to have Clover run in my room and tell me that I HAD to go back to sleep for "just a little bit" so she could "finish (my) surprise."  If you know Clover, you know that this is a time when you are unsure to be excited, or a little anxious, or both, but my sleepiness got the better of me and I really didn't bother to be either.  Finally, at about 10:30 I woke up and announced I was awake.
     She came in my room and told me to go in and check out the kitchen and living room after I got done seeing the bathroom.  In the bathroom, I noticed that the sink, mirror, and even the back and rim of the toilet were wonderfully sparkly and clean.  The toilet paper roll had been changed, the shower curtain drawn, and the normal mess of books, dirty clothes, & dog toys on the floor were mysteriously organized or missing. *Cue Twilight Zone music*  After washing my hands and splashing some water on my face (to make sure I was sincerely awake), I ventured in to the living room to find it had been straightened up including the pillows on the couch....curiouser and curiouser.  Deciding to check out the kitchen before the Cheshire Cat appeared on my mantle, I let my feet carry me into the kitchen.  There, before my very eyes, was a clean-ish (if you could see how many tomatoes have been picked in the last week, you would understand how even "ish" is an achievement) room with counters, floor, & stove all having been wiped down, dishes put away and the dirty dishes properly loaded into the dishwasher.  By this time, my head was spinning with "Oh Lord Jesus, bless her heart because I know she has either broke something very expensive or she is wanting something she knows I am going to say 'no' to."
     When I went back in to the living room, where Clover was sitting with a possum eating poop grin on her face, I gave her a look and then told her how amazing everything looked.  She said, "I bet you wonder why I did all that before you got up this morning.  Don't you?"  I said I figured it was because.... where she cut me off and said "I did it so that we won't have to do chores all day and we can just enjoy the day."  I said, "Hm, that is awesome!  I thought you did it so that I would let you on the computer, or kindle, or some other thing."  "Like the X-box? That would be 'the other thing' I usually want on."  I gave her a knowing "so that's what you are up to" look and she says, "That isn't why I did it, but now that you mention it......."  I told her she could have 30 min on the computer or the kindle.  Normally at the sound of "30 min" she would have rolled her eyes and whined that it wasn't enough time or that she should get x-amount of time because she spent x-amount cleaning, but to my pleasant surprise she said, "okay" and sounded like she meant it!.  I did end up giving her 45 min, and when her time was up, she shut the computer off and went out to round up the "teen chickens" who had wandered out front and were making short work of the 2 raised garden beds out front *grumble*.
     By this time, it was time for Wild Onion to be picked up from marching band.  Quick run down: W.O. was not where he was thought to be and after finding someone who is in band with him, was informed he was on "paint crew" and was out painting the lines on the marching field.  I picked up the 2 movies I had reserved (God's Not Dead and Divergent) and swung by the field to pick him up.  We went to the feed store to get layer pellets for the chickens (who are now all living together in the run/coop...olders stay in the run, whilst the teens prefer the coop), then to BK for burgers for lunch for everyone, then finally back home.
     Shortly after arriving back home, we started the canning process for the 2.5 bushels of tomatoes that are scattered in all sorts of buckets and pails and bowls in our kitchen.  Clover helped in the beginning, sorting good tomatoes from ones that had gone bad, getting the water started for blanching/slip skinning, and getting things out that needed cut to go in to our stewed tomato recipe.  Yarrow then came up and helped cut onions, green peppers, and celery to go into the recipe, and W.O. helped with the prepping of the cans.  It may not sound like much, but just having them near me and visiting with me while the bluegrass music played in the background (Bottomline: Pig in a Pen to be exact) made it all go so much smoothly and quickly (in my mind anyway, in reality, it still took a long time lol).  I did choke up a couple of times for want of Mamaw (as I am as I type this), but knowing that hopefully one day my kids will have an urge to return to times of growing and saving their own food and as their kids or grandkids are there with them, they might choke up as they think back to the times they spent with me, made those moments of missing her somehow softer.
     Total, we ended up with 9 quarts plus 1 pint of stewed tomatoes (and 10 "ping/pops" as the jars sealed made me smile and miss Mamaw again) and an additional 3 quarts plus 1 pint of homemade salsa cruda that is now in the fridge and a pint of tomato juice plus seeds (I like the seeds as much as any other part of the tomato).  The jars look beautiful, the tomato mixture smelled wonderful, the salsa about burned me up but is so very good.  I think she would have been proud of us...all of us.
     Hayseed came home as we were finishing up the salsa and ended up ordering 2 pizzas for supper so that I didn't have to cook anything or clean up even more of a mess <3.  You know it is love when that means more than 2 doz. roses in a fancy vase!  Since every usable space in the kitchen is covered with veggies and cans and supplies, we ate in the living room and watched God's NOT Dead (pretty good movie, a little too tidy at the end, but good movie none-the-less).  Hayseed & Clover both got in bed way too late (Hayseed has to be up for work early and Clover & W.O. start back to school in less than a week), and I have a whole kitchen to clean, complete with way too many dishes to do that won't fit in the dishwasher so I will have to do by hand, but after watching several episodes of Frontier House and then starting (and finishing) the series The 1900s House, I am not feeling so bad about having to hand-wash some dishes.
     Planning on finishing up what we have in the kitchen (either canning or making more salsa) tomorrow, so that I can finally get on with my other work that needs done, and so I can get the stuff from the garden that is not-so-patiently waiting its turn to be harvested.
     Finally, I have decided to keep a journal of  sorts about gardening, food storage, homesteading.  It will include what we have done, what worked for us, what didn't, why, what we would like to do differently next time, and what we would like to try!
The photo at the top of the post may not look like much of an accomplishment, but for me it is a huge success! *smiles*