A very busy day!

I started my day cleaning apples for the dehydrator, a sackful.  The peels and cores went into the pot to simmer for jelly.   There is enough now for another batch, I have been freezing the juice and am hoping there will be enough to make a couple half pints of syrup.  Also,  I made Mojo de Ajo with 8 heads of garlic and Oh my! the house reeks of garlic.  I have not made this before and am looking forward to trying out this condiment.  Baked garlic is so good, but this is DEVINE!!

                                                                                                                

Yesterday someone gifted me with vegie tray leftovers (broccoli and sweet peppers, blanched) that is now dehydrated and my son made 4 pies (2 with a friend).  The vegies will be made into powder along with a half pint of the dried zucchini (from A Working Pantry),  I am hoping the broccoli is not too strong.

And yes, I am thinking of Christmas and have bought a few small things.  I need to start my list!

Sewing

I was sitting at my sewing machine table when suddenly the urge to re-arrange and clean drawers came over me!  Many times they remain open so that dust and lint settles on thread or becomes dust bunnies in the corners.  The tool drawer had accumulated too much non sewing items, so out they went.  I moved my threads to a drawer where they would sit up right, it's a bit harder to sort for colors so maybe a tray will help.  The drawer the thread was in I am keeping my pins, they will still be right beside my machine.  Also,  tools were spread out in multiple locations and now for instance all the hand sewing needles are in the same place, etc.  So far I am not too lost and may like the new arrangement!  I left the bottpm drawer and small cupboard for another time.  The drawer has patterns stored in it, all sitting on edge like files (it was built for this purpose).  The cupboard was probably for current projects but has a hodge podge of stuff now.  This was not on my 'to do list' but needs to be done once in a while!

My dad built 3 of these sewing tables when I was too young to remember.  One for my mom, my grandmother, the third don't know for whom.  I have had my grandmothers table since leaving home.  Mom's was loaned out and nobody knows where it is.  They actually look like a desk with drawers on either side.  He had cut a hole in the top to have the sewing machine sit in the table, the fabric would then be level between the machine and table.  The hole now has a wood piece cover, my machine sits on top of cover.  Mom and I both own Bernina's and the knee lever is a must for hands on sewing, so the modification is OK.  The table is a prized piece to me with generations of history of sewing in my family.

A couple weeks ago I bought 25 lbs of oatmeal and dry processed 12 quarts in the oven, this used approximately half the bag.  Nine quarts sealed, 3 did not.  I am looking to keep about 2 doz quarts rotating thru my pantry to cover a year.  The 3 unsealed quarts will be used right away to test the quality of the dryer grains in breakfast cereal.  The other half of the bag will be make into granola or cooked for breakfast.  Also not on my 'to do list' but may be a good thing to practice!

Visiting preps and pantry

I went thru my preps and pantry,  and rotated everything older into the kitchen to be used.  Newer foods went into some tubs I bought just for this project.  I divided everything between 3 - 18 gallon tubs and added a fleece blanket to each and will also add minor first aid (I have a comprehensive first aid kit).   Also I am going to add composition notebooks and pencils.  I have to shop for some replacement foods and then comtinue to add items each month!  I am using tubs because they will be stored in the basement, my yarn is in tubs also and haven't taken on any bad smells.  So far the year is starting out good.

Zucchini

I have wanted to try dehydrating zucchini, so yesterday I did.  I used a large holed grater so they looked chunky and spread it all out on 5 trays.  The dry zucchini  filled a pint jar 2/3 full.  Not nearly enough but now I am looking forward to using them, maybe in soup!

Accomplishments:

• Sunday 9/1           Picked plums (not ripe enough)
• Monday 9/2          Made 2 batches of jam (they taste very good)
• Tuesday 9/3          Going to my parents (not quite, drove to the VA TWICE, UGH!)
• Wednesday 9/4     Spent 6 hours lugging boxes down a flight of stairs 
• Thursday 9/5         More of the same (exhausted)
• Friday 9/6             And more!   Arranging and post prices for a garage sale.
• Saturday 9/7         Garage Sale day!  6 hours (exhausted)
• Sunday 9/8           About 3 hours to clean up, pack up for goodwill pickup, Finally!
• Monday 9/9          Pick plums, it's hot out there.  Cut up and fill dehydrator.
• Tuesday 9/10         Make a batch of jam (and bread, brown rice and quinoa)
• Wednesday 9/11    Make a batch of jam and half fill dehydrator (used them up).

So the garage sale project has been in the works for 3 years now.  A very good friend of my moms has Alzheimer's (I have know her also for about 40 years).  She was so artistic and had a very large room full of sewing, knitting, floral supplies, paints,   quilting, etc.   Junk had also found it's way in, the theory being the Alzheimer's had affected her bringing home stuff that people had pawned off.  When I first saw the room, my jaw dropped.  It was the show "Hoarders" and I wanted to quit before we even started.  That first year we only pulled out garbage or contributions.  At least 50 big black bags worth in 3 years.   The garage sale was HUGE with only a quarter of what was left in the room, filling 7 tables and in boxes on the floor of the covered parking.  I thought a lot more would go, my guess is we packed up 2/3 for charity.  Sales netted quite a bit at .50 and .75 prices.  It is now finished, what a relief.

The plums came from my sister in law, my trees did not produce this year.  I have never seen so may on one tree.  One branch that was 15 feet straight up had bent over almost the the ground.  The tree is still fully loaded. An overload of dishes!  my guys didn't do any while I was gone and the fruit production has added doubled the days work.  We don't use a dishwasher.  I am tired!

I have also started on Christmas presents!  And a afghan project started before we moved in this house (maybe 7 years ago)  It's called a crayon colored pattern, knit on the diagonal with 2 yarns.  One yarn is the same constant color and the other changes constantly!  It uses up the little leftover balls that sit around getting tangled up.

Midnight Sew

I went to midnight sew with my daughter and a friend, we enjoyed a great evening with a group of about 30 ladies.  Hours of talk, sharing and eating with a little sewing thrown in!  I worked on my denim rug and a crazy  quilt square, this one is a rose.  It turned out great and I did some spiral stitching to enhance to floral shape.  To fix a couple minor mistakes I appliqued 2 lady bugs over them.  With just 3 more to do, I can put it together and finish it.

This week I added to my pantry 4 extra cans of soup on sale with a coupon - .40 each and lemonade (1.59)  - free.
 I need to purchase tubs for storage in case of bug out and to store neatly, this house is not good for organizing.