made jam!!

i couldnt help myself. i made my first jam today. cherries with some blueberries. it came out wonderfully.

the batch made 4 1/2 pint jars, which didnt seem like a lot, but should last me a long time since Matt doesnt really like jam, and josh doesnt either. Not sure about how eliana will like it.

it was quite an undertaking actually, mostly because i had never made jelly (actually i did make a concord grape jelly a few years ago but boiled it too much and it was hard and too rich!), and the first time i ever canned anything.

I have a Ball canning kit and pot but i couldnt actually get the water to boil in the huge pot on my stupid electric stove that kept cycling on and off. eventually i scrapped the canning pot and i just used my regular pot and just put the cans inside, not on any rack or anything, but it still worked like a charm. and the final result is yummy!

Also today, i planted my miniature peach tree, and made a rock border around my two apple trees. Everything in homestead-patriquin is slowly coming together!!

Kids are still recovering from camping trip :) so they just hung out today :)

canning plans temorarily foiled

Tried some family camping last night. A local park with some nice campsites. Another family and us, in the great West Keene outdoors. 100 feet from the bathrooms, 100 feet from the local "highway." Some rain, some bobcat (?), some s'mores, etc etc. Needless to say, camping with a 19 month old and two 3.5 year olds for the first time was an..... interesting.... time. Elianas friend had to be taken home to sleep around 3am. I had to take Josh and Eliana both home to sleep by 4:45. (they had gone to bed fine around 8-9). Something about a 3 and 1 year old being completely 100% wide away at 4am just eats away at one's sanity. Slept for 2 hours at home, then went back to the campsite to have breakfast and pack up and go home.

Needless to say, this was an exhausting day. I had originally had planned a "canning party" with a few friends to do some pickles but considering i dont trust myself carrying anything hot, sharp, or breakable, I figured I should postpone.

Folding laundry it is. Hope to be sleeping by 9. I'm sure i'll have two very perky kids come early tomorrow morning!

I was able to make a delicious salsa using tomatoes, pineapple tomatillos, cilantro, onions, garlic and hot pepper from my garden... and lime juice. Yum! Tomorrow I need to plant this most adorable Miniature peach tree i bought the other day. it's crying to be in the ground and i can hear it from my bedroom right now. wait, that's mr. rooster.

Goodnight

Welcome to Discipline

Can I actually be disciplined enough to write a blog regularly enough to mean anything? We shall see. I will try to write in a way that turns the mushed up thoughts in my brain into actual comprehensible sentences.

Lately I've become interested in a number of things. I'm attempting to embrace the rural New Hampshire way, mini-homesteading... As much as I can on our 0.39 acres near downtown Keene. Cooking with local ingredients and trying to use everything I can from the garden has been a fun challenge, mostly because my husband doesnt always like the food (he doesnt like fruit or berries, for example) and Josh won't eat vegetables unless made into a sauce (he loves pesto, and lasagna), or tebouleh. Eliana is my little vegetarian, so she appreciates everything... though torturing Josh while I try to cook does not help me much.


The kids are at ages (1.7 and 3.7) where they sort of play together but mostly prefer to wrestle and fight. So when most of my words to them include "stop biting him" "stop pinching his face" "get off him" "give that car back to your brother" and "LEAVE HIM ALONE," the day can seem like it will never ever ever ever end.



Josh loves water. If there's a puddle, he will sit in it. If there's a pond, he will try to run right in. If we go to the beach, he doesnt get out until he turns blue from the cold. He has a blast, but it's not always fun for the rest of us. That and his limited vocabulary make short trips anywhere kind of a nightmare sometimes!

Eliana loves being defiant. "Honey, do 'this'."..... "NO!" (eliana runs in opposite direction and hides.

This is life right about now. We have had a fun summer though. Matt has been home for a few months (those of you who know me, know he travels a lot) and it seems like we havent stopped Doing, Cleaning, Moving, Organizing, Driving, Seeing, Eating, Spending, visiting family, family visiting..... since he got home. Something makes me think that come the end of August when he travels and the kids are BOTH in "school" I will enjoy my 12 hours of weekly alone/peace time like no other!




Josh was busy doing this