Some things I do..

Well, there hasn't been a whole lot to report lately. Hubby's job is changing, as it often does with slope work. The contract he's been working under has been bought by a new company, but the company they are doing the work for insisted that the crew he's on stay. So he's in the process of changing companies, which will will mean needing to update paperwork and we're just waiting for everything to be official before we finish all of that up.
Meanwhile, I have spent the last several days doing one of the things I enjoy doing. Canning. Specifically, I've been making jams. I did pickles a while ago. Last year was the first time I'd done pickles in years and I got a bit carried away and pickled everything I could get my hands on. Cucumbers, peppers, asparagus, cauliflower, green beans, pea pods, carrots, etc. They were really good and the kids and their friends ate through most of them and demanded more. So I did a bunch more pickles this year. Jars and jars of them. Oldest step daughter took a dozen of them right off, as an early birthday present for the guy they are house sitting for. Hopefully I've got enough of them bottled downstairs to last though the year.
Anyway, this week I decided it was cold enough to do jams. I had a few bags of frozen fruit in the deep freezer that needed using up, and we had pureed and bagged up almost 2 watermelons this last summer, so I had all of that to do something with. I got 31 half pints of watermelon jelly done yesterday. That was a long day and I was very tired by the end of it, but it's good, and will be going into our Christmas gift bags this year for a nice little touch of summer in the middle of an Alaskan winter. That was from 10 batches of jam.. I have a big bowl of foam and left overs in the fridge from that as well, and am trying to think of something to use it for... maybe watermelon thumbprint cookies?
Today was a much easier day. Only two batches of jam needed doing. I did a batch of plain strawberry and a batch of mixed (strawberry, blackberry, raspberry, blueberry, peach and white grape). Both were very yummy. I got 8 half pints from each batch. I had done an earlier batch of watermelon and some blueberry jam and blueberry syrup this summer, so between it all, and the bottles I still have from last year's jamming, I may not need to make jam for another 2 or 3 years!
Tomorrow, may plan anyway, is to do a couple batches of butter which will then go into the freezer. I also need to do a small batch of cheese to see how well it freezes. I'm really just starting with cheeses and haven't been able to do anything more complex then a simple quesa blanca. I tried mozzarella once, it didn't work out too well, but my hubby thinks he killed my thermometer which may have been the problem. I need to try that again, but probably won't have time for it until after Thanksgiving.
Speaking of Thanksgiving, this is the year we have the girls for it instead of Christmas. This year, because of hubby's work schedule and the fact that the grand baby's birthday (she'll be 3) is on Saturday, we're having the big family dinner and party on Saturday instead of Thursday, and the oldest gal wants to host at the house they're at. Which is fine. It's her first year up here, everyone will be here (except her brother, as far as we know anyway..) and, hey, means I won't have to do the clean up! We've got the menu mostly nailed down and we're splitting it up so no one is doing everything. We'll both be doing turkeys though. She wants to brine one, but because of my blood pressure I am on a low sodium diet and brined turkey is not a good idea when I know there's going to be an abundance of salt in other things (though I'm working on that as much as I can...) so I'm doing a non-brined one, that will instead have a great herbed butter tucked under the skin. It has never failed me. :)

Grandbaby gone...

Well, they got back from their road trip to retrieve car and belongings on Saturday afternoon. So grand baby is back in the care of mommy and I am left without a little one to take care of.. It was only a week, but, darn it, I miss having her around. We just got her on a great schedule (her mom hadn't been able to manage that yet, but then, things have been hectic and crazy...) so mom is going to try to keep her on it, she was surprised I managed it so quickly and with so little fussing..
We seriously need a little one around here on a permanent basis. The tax information I had sent off for 3 weeks ago finally showed up, so we should be able to finish up the paperwork for the adoption here soon, though not sure how much time I will have for that this week. Hubby's sisters and niece and nephew will be arriving Tuesday night and be here for a week, so we might be busy, but I'm going to do my best.
I've already been busy this weekend. Made cheese Thursday, blueberry jam yesterday, blueberry syrup today. Thinking of doing another batch of jam tomorrow (have more then enough berries..) and also thinking of doing a batch of watermelon jelly. Plus I need to make more butter, and probably another batch or two of cheese for everyone while they're here. Oh yeah, and it would be nice if I could get the house cleaned up a bit, do some laundry, etc...
busy, busy, busy...

Day 5

Well, it has been 5 days since the grand daughter was left in my care. It has been a fun and crazy week so far. We have played games, played with the dogs, sung songs, watched cartoons, had a few minor tantrums (mostly revolving around nap and bedtime..)
I've really enjoyed this week.
It has given me the chance to practice some of the ideas I've always had about how I wanted to raise my children. Most of the things I've tried have worked. A few things haven't worked as well, but this is how we learn, and I am regulating her schedule more then she's use to and we have a few "rules" that she's never had before. But she's actually doing really well on our schedule for her. She is getting plenty of sleep, she's eating really well, even occasionally trying things she's never had before (though she gets very stubborn about not trying some things...) She has been having lots of fun playing with her aunts and the dogs, and she has been enjoying our afternoon singing time and our evening bedtime story time.
We only have a few more days til her parents get back, and I will be kind of sad to let her go. My husband gets back tomorrow, so I won't be a "single parent" much longer. :) That will be nice too.
Anyway, time to go start lunch for our little gang today, and get things ready for naptime. While she's down this afternoon I'm planning on showing the older girls how to make a simple cheese. That should be fun, too. Then this weekend I will likely be making blueberry jam and syrup as I have about 10 pounds of blueberries in the fridge.