Harvest Gold

This fall I decided it would be fun to can some fruit. I was inspired after a Relief Society activity about food preservation. Since the only thing I have ever eaten that was home canned is fruit, I decided to start from there. ( I have not yet gotten used to the idea of canned meat.) I went to the farmers market and got 8 quarts of peaches and pears. And I bought a lot of jars (but not enough--requiring a mid-canning run to get more).

Staci, the expert food preservationist, was kind enough to come over to my house to teach me and help me with the process. Fortunately it was a relatively cool day because the kitchen got pretty toasty. We washed, peeled, cored, and sliced fruit, made syrup, filled jars, and finally into they water bath they went. Out they came steaming hot to sit of the counter while we could hear the pop pop of the lids sealing. Every single can ended up sealing.

It was a lot of work but they sure look pretty. In fact I don't really want to open a jar and see how they turned out. (We did open a jar of pears and they were tasty.) We ended up with 18 1/2 pints each of peaches and pears in light syrup.

The jars are still sitting in neat little rows on the kitchen table while I try to figure out the best place to store them. Thanks Staci, I wouldn't and couldn't have done it without you. I may not be ready to try meat yet but I am definitely up for trying something else.

Fiber anyone?

Saturday we went to the Finger Lakes Fiber Arts Festival. You may wonder what exactly that means (like Caleb's mom who thought of things like All-Bran and prunes). But it is actually all about "fiber" which is wool from many different sources including sheep, alpacas, rabbits, camels, goats, etc. We saw sheep shearing, wool in different stages of processing, tons of yarn of all different types, and different items made with the wool.  There was supposed to be a sheep dog hearding competition but we were disappointed not to have seen it.


Camberly picked out several different colors of roving to try her hand at a new project involving both wet and needle felting. She also wishes she could knit better so she could try making some of the amazing things that we saw there.

Ta Da Kitchen

Months after its completion, here is a picture of the finished kitchen. This is the 3rd time our kitchen has had some sort of a makeover since we moved in. This time it got a new tile floor, a fresh coat of paint, and some new Roman shades. Many thanks to both sets of parents for all the time they have spent with us over the years working on this room. It feels so bright and new. It has been a lot of work getting to this point.

1st remodel-removed wallpaper, painted cabinents, painted walls two tone green, new light fixture and drawer pulls, Roman shades

2nd remodel- took out faux brick backsplash, replace countertop, new sink and new faucet, installed dishwasher, repainted the two tone green

In between- new refridgerator, new oven, new ceiling

3rd (and final) remodel- removed linoleum, put in tile, repainted cabinents, repainted walls two tone light browns, new Roman Shades

An Education in the Night Sky

At the end of July we had the opportunity to go on a tour of the Mees Observatory for the University of Rochester. Throughout the summer they do tours. It started with about an hour and a half of astronomy education at the Gannett house. Then the plan was to go up to the observatory and see what we might see.


After weeks of very dry hot weather, that day was on and off clouds. So we were worried the clouds would interfere. Fortunately it cleared up temporarily to allow us to see an amazing view of the Milky Way and many constellations with the naked eye, as well as a double star and Vega through the 24 inch telescope. It was really amazing how many more stars you can see when you are not in the city. Definately a fun learning experience.

A Little Bit of Everything

A couple weeks ago Caleb's parents came to visit. We had a lot of fun while they were here and did a little bit of something from about every category you can think of. We went to the Palmyra Pageant on Thursday evening, the dress rehearsal. It was great. Just like the "real" nights but with a lot less people and no hecklers.

Friday we did tasks around the house. Dale helped Caleb finally finish the base board and transition for the floor in the kitchen. Judy helped Camberly make new Roman shades for the kitchen. That night Dale and Caleb went to a Rochester Redwings game (Triple-A baseball). They said the entertainment between the games was great--Barak Ollama, Harry Canary, Bear Bonds, an octopus thing, etc. After deciding to leave before the fireworks, they got side swiped on the drive home. What a fun end to the night. Camberly and Judy went to JoAnns and got started on a project.
   

Saturday we headed down to Watkins Glenn State Park to see all the waterfalls. We took tons of pictures and got a little wet going under a few of the falls.

Then on the way home we stopped in Cananidagua to go to a Rochester Philharmonic outdoor concert at CMAC. It was a bunch of movie music from James Bond, Rocky, Pirates of the Caribbean, Indiana Jones, and Star Wars. It was a kid friendly concert and so they had characters from Star Wars there walking around and tons of kids had light sabers.

Sunday was for going to church, relaxing, and finishing the sewing project.

Monday we headed to the High Falls in Rochester and then Dinosaur BBQ before Dale and Judy had to head back home.

It was a fun and busy visit experiencing a lot that the area has to offer.

Reunion 2011

Over the 4th we took a quick trip out to the Jeppsen family reunion in Salt Lake.  It was a busy few days but we had a great time seeing everyone and hanging out. Fortunately everyone made it through without injury in the kiddie pool kickball, the relay races, and water balloon volleyball. Nights were rowdy with Wii dancing and raucous Uno games.

Curling was a challenge but lots of fun (I don't think we have any future Olympians in that sport).

 Some of us might be successful if we ever got on to Minute to Win It. And of course there was plenty of time to hang out, talk, swim, and hold any number of babies. 

Caleb ended up with an interesting sunburn and Camberly can't actually have a vacation without a sewing project. We had a lot of fun and look forward to the next one in a couple years.

Marshwiggles

In past years springtime makes our backyard very wet from the melting snow and rain. Usually for about a month it is too wet to let the dogs out to play. This year has been the worst by far. Saturday when I tried to mow, I wore galoshes. I only got about 3 feet from the house before the water and mud was too much. The part I did looks terrible. By this time we expected it to still be wet but not standing water.

We decided to let the dogs out to have fun in the mud. You couldn't really see how muddy Sadie was but it showed up really well on Sylvester. He definitely had fun. It took a really long time to get them clean (grass clippings and mud).

Caleb went and got a pump and hose to pump the water out to the street. It worked pretty well and now hopefully things will dry out. Caleb took the video below to better show just how wet it was back there.