Spring Break 2014 - Mostly lists
It's been a busy week here at Spring Break Central.
I haven't been able to do much work in the garden, due to the rain (or thorough sogginess from the rain, even when it's not actively raining). I did manage to get a bunch of weekend done and plant a pack of spinach starts. I also found a dwarf thornless raspberry plant, which we potted up in a large container. But I didn't get almost any seed in, didn't finish the weeding, and haven't done crap on planning what to put where in the backyard.
Instead, I've been doing Master Garden Volunteer hours and playing my bass (after months of not), in part because I've had the house to myself, and in part because I've got a jam coming up. In addition to the stuff I'd already been working on, I've got two new-for-playing-on-the-bass AC/DC songs.
Speaking of jam, I also decided I'm going to enter some stuff in the Multnomah County Fair over Memorial weekend. I've spent the last five days cooking my proverbial ass off.
The final accounting:
6 pints of pickled sweet peppers
2 pints of bread-&-butter pickles
1 bottle of leftover pickle brine (I found out that mixing it with yogurt or sour cream makes it a really nifty base for a chip dip)
2 half-pints of pickled garlic
3 half-pints of pickled mushrooms
4 pints of raspberry-almond jam
6 half-pints of cherry-almond-whiskey jam (I hadn't planned for two almond-themed jams, it just happened that way)
2 half-pints of blueberry/raspberry syrup
3 pints of tangelo-lemon jam (that did not process correctly, so we've got it in the fridge for home use, but I can't submit it)
10 quarter pints of mustard (almost all of which have visible air bubbles in the jar, which means they'll have to be fridged or frozen)
In the process, I:
-had the smoke detector go off 5 times
-did 4 loads of dishes, primarily relating to canning
-did 3 loads of laundry, because I keep going through all the kitchen towels and aprons
-made 2 trips to the grocery store, outside of the usual weekly trip - which was supposed to include all the stuff I needed for canning this week (and not counting Michael picking up a couple of things on his way home)
-discovered 1 broken jar - the hard way
The rest of this weekend: go to karaoke with a bunch of Ladies Rock Camp alumni tonight, do Master Gardener volunteer hours Saturday morning, play bass with an overlapping group of LRC alumni on Saturday afternoon, possibly get a few more things done in our garden on Sunday, and then do the laundry and cooking that needs to happen before going back to work on Monday.
I haven't been able to do much work in the garden, due to the rain (or thorough sogginess from the rain, even when it's not actively raining). I did manage to get a bunch of weekend done and plant a pack of spinach starts. I also found a dwarf thornless raspberry plant, which we potted up in a large container. But I didn't get almost any seed in, didn't finish the weeding, and haven't done crap on planning what to put where in the backyard.
Instead, I've been doing Master Garden Volunteer hours and playing my bass (after months of not), in part because I've had the house to myself, and in part because I've got a jam coming up. In addition to the stuff I'd already been working on, I've got two new-for-playing-on-the-bass AC/DC songs.
Speaking of jam, I also decided I'm going to enter some stuff in the Multnomah County Fair over Memorial weekend. I've spent the last five days cooking my proverbial ass off.
The final accounting:
6 pints of pickled sweet peppers
2 pints of bread-&-butter pickles
1 bottle of leftover pickle brine (I found out that mixing it with yogurt or sour cream makes it a really nifty base for a chip dip)
2 half-pints of pickled garlic
3 half-pints of pickled mushrooms
4 pints of raspberry-almond jam
6 half-pints of cherry-almond-whiskey jam (I hadn't planned for two almond-themed jams, it just happened that way)
2 half-pints of blueberry/raspberry syrup
3 pints of tangelo-lemon jam (that did not process correctly, so we've got it in the fridge for home use, but I can't submit it)
10 quarter pints of mustard (almost all of which have visible air bubbles in the jar, which means they'll have to be fridged or frozen)
In the process, I:
-had the smoke detector go off 5 times
-did 4 loads of dishes, primarily relating to canning
-did 3 loads of laundry, because I keep going through all the kitchen towels and aprons
-made 2 trips to the grocery store, outside of the usual weekly trip - which was supposed to include all the stuff I needed for canning this week (and not counting Michael picking up a couple of things on his way home)
-discovered 1 broken jar - the hard way
The rest of this weekend: go to karaoke with a bunch of Ladies Rock Camp alumni tonight, do Master Gardener volunteer hours Saturday morning, play bass with an overlapping group of LRC alumni on Saturday afternoon, possibly get a few more things done in our garden on Sunday, and then do the laundry and cooking that needs to happen before going back to work on Monday.