preserving the fruits of our labor

Wow, just about a week since I last blogged. Dont know where the time went. However, the last 3 days have been productive. Yesterday I climbed the ladder and picked tons of apples. We have a Goodland tree and last year I didn't even know it was there. Of course, in the fall when there were apples on the ground I did happen to look up and saw a few on the tree. So this year I picked and peeled and preserved. Yes, I made applesauce. I tried 3 jars without the hot bath method and 4 jars with the hot bath. I remember my mom doing applesauce without the hot bath.
Today we went to the Morden Corn and Apple Fest. I sent my hubby to the stall to buy corn and he came out with a HUGE bag (4 doz.) of corn. I got out my vacuum sealer and froze tons of corn.
I called my kids and asked if they want some. My DD was very excited and wants a whole 4 cobs. Probably that is all DIL will take. Maybe 6....Nobody wants more than 6. OK...back to my corn.

Road trip

I am back from a wonderful road trip to Sioux City and Mt. Rushmore and other places. Here is the wonderful suite we had at Sioux City. The suite normally costs $400 but because we were at the Shriner's Convention it was a deal at $150. Just a beautiful place. I loved the decor, very woodsy, mountain log cabin like. We had our own sun room with lawn furniture and a jacuzzi, and a KING bed. I just didn't want to leave. But we arrived there Aug. 11 and left on the 14th.


We rented this little cabin at Hill City, S.D. The first day was extremely noisy because we arrived as all the Motorcycle people were leaving Sturgis from the motorcycle days....seemed like a gazillion Harley Davidsons went ripping by all day and all night.


Our first place to visit was Crazy Horse mountain...an amazing story behind the sculptor. You can read about it here.http:///. sememorial.org/greetings-from-ruth.html On Sat. Aug.14 it was our First wedding anniversary so while we were visiting the shops at Crazy Horse I was watching a Native man painting on this feather...he was just amazing to watch. I bought this as an anniversary present for my hubby. He was very pleased. We drove through the Needles Hwy. beautiful but scary hairpin turns and no guard rails on most turns. Then we went to Mt. Rushmore and drove back on Sat. through the Badlands. It was a great trip. Much has changed since we were there about 20 years ago with small kids. Next year I think we will go on a trip in the winter because when we got back the flowers and garden were in a sad state.

These are just a few of the close to 200 pictures I took. Now to get them all printed out and put in a scrapbook before I forget what each picture is about.

trip

Oh, I am so excited..we are going on a road trip. First stop is Sioux City, Iowa until Sat. Then off to Hill City, South Dakota. We have rented a cabin for 8 days and will be doing all the tourist stuff during the day and coming back to our cabin at night. This year I wanted a cabin rather than a hotel room. We can cook our own meals or go out if we want. I like the choice better than always eating at a restaurant. I have been packing for a week. Today I have to be done but now I forget what is in my suitcases so probably will take everything out and start again. I am so very excited. The bad part is that my Zazu has to be home alone. The dog is going to the kennel and my daughter will be coming to visit the cat every couple of days. Not my idea of a perfect arrangement but my daughter has a cat that is 20 yrs. old and does not take kindly to other animals, so this is the only solution. It worked last year, so hopefully it will work this year.
Well, off to pack. (again)

Zazu

So today I am picking orange to blog with because it is about an orange cat named Zazu. It all started when I decided to clean out my car...oh, what a job. I use my little car for everything and then some. I have Sobey's bags full of school stuff and never have a bag for groceries. Anyways, I digress. I found a little bottle of bubbles so I brought them in and called Zazu. When I call her I chirp and she will chirp back and trots over to me with her tail up. Well, she was wondering what I was up to so I started blowing bubbles. At first she didnt know what to make of it but after awhile she became curious as most cats do. She loved the bubbles and kept looking at the bottle and sniffing it for more. Here are some pics of her playing with the bubbles.

gardens

I love this time of the year when you start to get results from planting. We have been picking some produce but today was very exciting. Look what we found and guess what we are having for supper. I am grilling the zucchini and barbquing some chicken. Fresh potatoes with TONS, of butter, cucumbers with sour cream and fresh bread from the bakery. MMMMM., a meal fit for a queen and king.

While I was weeding the side flower bed I had an unexpected visitor. She was very co-operative and posed for me for quite a while. Then off she flew after she had enough picture taking. But she came back for a couple more shots. Isnt she beautiful?

Long weekend

August 3rd already...where has the summer gone. Soon we will be getting ready for school and going back. Parents are happy to see this time come closer. But I am still enjoying the summer and the best part is still coming in 8 days. We are going to Sioux City and then on to the Black Hills for a couple of weeks. Last time we were there was when our kids were small. We have rented a cabin in Hill City and are going to be regular tourists and see all the touristy things and buy touristy souvenirs.(well, maybe just a couple).

This weekend was quite busy. Sat. we had a barbq with about 20 people. My hubby's sisters, brother and their kids were here. Then Monday we went to another vintage car parade in Gimli. Great day, beautiful weather, even if a little hot. The worst part was driving back in hubby's non air-conditioned car.

That evening we were just chillin and the sky looked really weird. Not tornado weird just weird. The sun was going down and it looked like there was a huge fire in the west. I tried taking some pictures but they never do justice to what I really saw.