Today was an absolutely glorious day - sunny, some small clouds, mid-70's. Such a welcome sight. As hubby and I did our morning podcast (Big Band music.....check it out at richthedj.blogspot.com), we had the back door open. It's fun to do that podcast from the kitchen, and having the door open gives us some "edginess" - you never know when a train will go through town, and they do pick up on the microphone. If it's breezy, the wind chimes can be heard. Sometimes I think the chirping birds could be loud enough to be recorded. But today everything was just perfect.
Since this was the first "perfect" day this week, we used the opportunity to work outside. Hubby used the weedeater while I eliminated the Keebler elf spinach (see yesterday's blog) and planted some beautiful hot pink petunias in those flower pots. It felt good to get the mower out and get the lawn done. The zucchini plant still looks like it's reviving well, and the blossoms on the tomatoes are multiplying. As I mowed past my container of peas, I checked them out - there are pods on those plants! Quite a few pods! With peas in them! I've raised enough gardens in my life that this discovery shouldn't have been so exciting......but it was.
With our unexpected early retirement and my continuing quest for frugality, I keep having thoughts of having part of our back yard tilled up so I can plant a real garden. So far I've kept talking myself away from that idea. I've long since parted ways with all my canning equipment - so not only would I have the expense of having the ground tilled, I'd have to replenish all my canning equipment. Then there would be the storage issue.
Our house was built at a time when people didn't have much - so storage in our house is hard to come by. For instance,we only have one closet. We creatively manage that. And in the kitchen, cabinet space is conspicuous by its near absence. I really don't know where I would store filled canning jars. And I've done plenty of canning in my day - I know what hard work it can be.
And yet, that pull remains. A family I know has moved to a ranch in the Sandhills of Nebraska, far away from the nearest town - the wife writes often on Facebook of all the things she's canning/freezing at home. Every time I read one of those posts, a little voice somewhere deep inside says, "I could do that". She buys slightly overripe veggies and fruit for cheap at the grocery store and cans them - I've actually done that in the past. She also buys bags of dried beans and cans them, she cans potatoes, homemade chocolate syrup......it's really fascinating to read what she's doing.
It's a good thing I raised three kids, because when that little voice keeps telling me I might want to get into canning again - I know how to ignore it!
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