busy, busy, busy

This summer has been crazy busy for us but it has been a good kind of busy.  I doubt that any of you really want a play-by-play of our summer, but this is also my journal (of sorts) so please indulge me a little.

To get the summer started, Ronnie and I took a trip (sans kids!) for our 15th wedding anniversary.  One of these days I really should post about that, but today is not that day.

Last week, our church was in Vacation Bible School and it was a great week.  I don't think I will voluntarily repeat teaching preschool, but it was a good experience and I think I can now say that I have taught every age group in the church (not all in VBS, but including Sunday School as well) except Senior Adults.  According to my kids, the only problem with VBS was that it isn't long enough. I did enjoy the week, but I must say that I am truly glad that it is only one week!

Ronnie and I have also undertaken a major overhaul of our bedroom this summer.  Our room is the "junk/storage room" of the house and quite frankly, I am tired of it!  So, Ronnie took off Thursday and Friday after July 4th and we went to work.  We haven't finished all that we want to do, but we did get rid of more junk than I care to admit, not to mention several bags of kids' clothes and even a bag of my own clothes that are (thankfully) too big for me now!  We still need to rearrange the room, but  I am loving all the space we have since we got rid of the piles of junk!

The thing that has kept me the busiest this summer is the garden.  My Daddy planted more than 100 tomato plants and somewhere around 30 squash plants.  So far, we have put up more than 60 quarts of squash - most of it canned - and I have two drawers full waiting for me to can tomorrow.  The tomatoes have been a bit scraggly ... it was hot early, with no rain, but we'll take what we can get.  Normally we would can the tomatoes in a concoction that we lovingly call tomato relish, though, in reality it is what most people would call soup stock.  The tomatoes are peeled and diced and then we add bell pepper, celery, and onion and simmer the mixture before packing it in jars and then pressure canning the final product.  This stuff is wonderful ... I use it for spaghetti, chili, soups, and in most any other recipe where I would use canned tomatoes.  I absolutely love not having to buy store bought tomatoes with all of their questionable ingredients.  Our unusually busy summer has kept us from being able to actually can any tomatoes yet.  So far, we have just been peeling and cutting up the tomatoes and then freezing them in gallon bags until we have time to do the whole process of canning our relish.  At last count, we had somewhere around 30 gallon bags waiting for us to get our act together ... hopefully sometime in the next couple of weeks.  Oh, and I also have three cucumber plants that are late getting going (the first ones died and we had to re-plant) so hopefully I will be putting up pickles very, very soon!

Our busy summer has kept us from getting as much school work done as I would have liked, but I am just going to call it home-ec and let it go.  LB has learned the process for canning both squash and tomatoes and the boys have both spent a fair amount of time in the garden with my Daddy.  We have done a little math along with the older kids and I've worked with D on his reading, but we haven't had much organized book-work.  I am enjoying the break though, and soon, I'll begin working on our schedule for the new year ... it will be here before we know it!

cannin' maters ... a family affair

My family has been canning tomatoes for as long as I can remember.  I think it was actually my Daddy's sister that got Mama started with the recipe for what we call tomato relish, but over the years she has tweaked and fine-tuned the process to make it her own. 

Now that I am an adult and no longer being forced to can tomatoes, I enjoy the process.  It takes time and a lot of chopping, but it is almost always done with several family members involved which makes the work go faster and the time pass more quickly.  All in all, I find it an enjoyable process.

There are still remnants of my childhood in the process, though.  One thing hasn't changed ... Mama is still in charge!  She freely gives orders to anyone helping, beginning with my Daddy and working her way through any of her kids and their spouses and then on to my kids (if they happen to be close enough to the house).  Of course, she is the one who knows the process inside and out and no one really minds her being in charge.  Actually, I kind of prefer it that way.  Sometimes it is nice just to do as you are told.

For years, Mama was the only person who would actually handle the cutting of the tomatoes.  Any one of us might be the one popping the skins or chopping the veggies, but Mama always handled the actual tomatoes.  Mostly, this was because she didn't trust any of us kids to not accidentally get a bad tomato into the mix.  While this was a distinct possibility back then, the tradition continues now that we are adults (and capable of smelling a bad tomato).  It makes her nervous to watch me (or anyone else) and it makes me nervous knowing that she is watching me and knowing that she can cut them at least twice as fast as I can.

Just for the record, I could can tomatoes at home in my own kitchen, but I would much prefer keeping it a family affair.  There is something satisfying about spending the day in the home where I grew up, doing the things with my husband and kids that I did with my parents as a kid.  I can't exactly describe it, but I know that it is something I will carry with me even after this process does move to my own kitchen sometime in the future.

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The kids did get to have a little fun while we were working last Saturday.  They have discovered the joy of complete abandon while riding their bikes down a steep hill through the trees and into the back yard.  This is something my brothers enjoyed when we were kids, but I don't remember ever doing it myself.  Seems as though I do remember one of those trips down the hill ending in an emergency room trip for one of the boys, but I am trying not to think about that!

Uncle Bob (my oldest brother) riding D on the back of his bike and LB heading back up the hill.

JW getting ready to head back up for another trip down the hill.