I love to can. I just finished marionberry jam (Steve's favorite) and pickled beets(new for me this year). I am currently working on applesauce. In my opinion Gravenstein apples make the best sauce. My friend gave me two buckets of wormy Gravenstein apples and I spent most of my day yesterday peeling them. I completed a five gallon bucket and got three quart jars of applesauce. I contemplated whether or not it was worth the work but after tasting the sauce I quickly concluded that it was. Warm homemade applesauce. Yummy.
So about my revolving door. I live in a great neighborhood. There are about 70 young kids (mostly boys) that live in a close distance to our home. My house tends to be home base. It is amazing how many kids end up here on any given day. Yesterday I left the house to pick blueberries (yum) and upon my return found a handful of kids playing war in my back yard. Now the funny thing is is that there are kids that come over and are not even playing with my boys. They are in the house playing legos or shooting baskets on our indoor hoop. My friend Meghan came by yesterday and my house was in its usual disaster mode. I was canning and kids were everywhere. I was making excuses to why things were so messy etc. and she commented on all of the kids. I said yeah it gets wild around here sometimes but I love it that my boys like to be at home and that I don't mind the chaos most of the time. She then made a comment that really hit home. She said it is neat that the neighborhood kids feel so comfortable here and obviously have fun.
My mom died when I was seven. I try hard to remember what our home was like when she was alive. She loved to can. Some of my clearest memories of my mom include blackberry jam and green beans. She loved kids. I do remember having my brothers' friends run in and out of our home playing Cowboys and Indians and all sorts of other boy games. Our friends felt comfortable with my mom. She made our home inviting. When people came to visit one of the first things my mom would ask them is "Are you hungry? Can I get you something to eat or drink?" No one felt like a stranger in our home.
So as I ponder the chaos at my house I am thankful. I am thankful that the neighborhood kids find comfort and fun here and that my own boys enjoy being home. I know my mom would have loved to have stayed here on earth with us three kids and all of our mess and chaos. So when things seem out of order and my house runs amok with kids I feel blessed (most of the time). As for my canning. I have lots left to do. My next venture will be beans, then pickles, pickled vegetables, peaches, maybe pears, and hopefully Salsa YUM YUM!
I would love to hear about canning. What do you can or if canning sounds as fun as having the hives. Or any home stories you have especially during these crazy summer months. I hope some of you blog readers decide to start blogging or at least make comments. It is so much fun to hear your stories!
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6 comments:
Honestly the only canning I do is opening cans of store bought goods and then recycling them. But the idea of me in an apron with pots of boiling water around me and lines of sparkly clean jars excites me. I really need to learn more processes in my life. Right now it all about fast and instant.
I would love to hear more about your mom someday. She sounds lovely.
I loved your blog about canning. You described it so well—that warm homemade applesauce—that it made me want to take up that hobby! Although I don't can anything right now, I do hope to do so in the future. Now that we're in our new home, we are just getting our yard established. I would like to start a garden this fall so it's ready in the spring. I want to can tomatoes... we eat so many stewed/canned tomatoes that I know this would be really popular with our family.
We do make homemade strawberry jam every year. Todd's mom Cindy has been really nice about introducing me to some of the family traditions she has established (i.e. homemade strawberry jam) and trying to pass that tradition on to me. I think it's great fun.
On another note, I loved your insightful comments about the home atmosphere your mom created and how your current situation is reminiscent of that warm, loving feeling. How incredibly special. I know you touch those kids' lives and may have impacts that you are totally unaware of. At the same time, I know you're looking for a new home and I think it's going to feel good to have your home "back" again and not taken over by neighborhood kids. You'll find this just as fulfilling, to be able to focus more time and energy on your family unit, rather than on all of the neighbors, as well.
Thanks for introducing me to your blog! This is fun... it's like interactive journaling...
Yay, I made your blog!
Canning is one of those things, like sewing, that I feel like I should know how to do, but didn't care enough as a girl to pay attention to my mom when she was *trying* to teach me. Now, with a daughter of my own, I would love to *try* and teach her someday. I need to take a canning class from you!
Your house really is such a fun place, if it weren't you wouldn't see kids flocking to it everyday. I think my boys fit in perfectly with yours - indoors or out, they all love the typical boy things. And I'm thankful that when my boys wander over to your house, they have a safe place to play :)
You really should have married Ben. You two would look so cute in the kitchen, with your matching red arpons from the school district, rating each other's secret ingredients to your concoctions. Ben's really into the "secret indgredient." And he loves to add an egg to just about anything he makes. Apparantly it can enhance whatever it is that you're making.
But where would that leave Stephen and me? Sitting at home alone, I guess, enjoying the five 50's style dishes our mom used to make for us, all of which go with store bought, canned green beans or frozen nibblets in butter sauce.
So I guess it's a good thing that you didn't marry Ben. That was really a big blessing to both Stephen and me! : )
Sheila, I remember picking green beans and then canning them with my Mom and Grandma. My Grandma would come up in the summer and we would all go out together to a local field and pick cucumbers, beans, blackberries ... everything! Grandma would also make fresh creamed corn which was the BEST! But, it's all a little too involved for me ... I do like to buy bread and butter pickles, though. They're not as good as my Grandma's ... but they'll do.
YEA for you, I think it's awesome that you are WONDERMOM! Obviously all the kids love you :)
I loved this entry. I loved the images it sent through my head.
Thanks for sharing!
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