Will you look at these beautiful, picked-this-morning tomatoes? They are a mixture of Early Girl and Willamette. An aside, here’s a little rhyme for the non-locals for proper pronunciation of the river valley we call home. It’s Willamette, damn-it! While we’re here, I might as well go all the way – this fine state I inhabit is called Ory-gun, not Ory-gone. Glad we cleared that up; you know, because I’m sure it was on your mind! Anyway, getting back to what I was saying. I put the tomato plants in the ground, along with some pickling cucumbers, what seems like ages ago, and slowly, slowly, they made fruits and ripened to this perfect state, ready for canning. This is my third and largest batch.
What is that you say, largest? Yes, largest. With my recovery and putting food by, we take it a little bit at a time. If it weren’t for those meddling kids, I mean slugs (at least for the cucumber plants) and blood loss, I’m sure we’d be doing better: more cucumbers, more zip. I learned at my last appointment that I lost 1500ml of blood during my surgery, which is about 1/3 of my total volume (yikes!). It is also the primary reason they couldn’t complete the procedure laparoscopically and why I’ve been so darn tired!
Despite wanting to get all of my healing done pronto or wishing I could can ONE giant batch of tomatoes and pickles, that just isn’t the way of it. Besides, who am I to argue with the grand plan? There is no magic button to make blood or ripen vegetables at the precise moment of ultimate convenience, no siree. But there is that sense of satisfaction in knowing that there is one more tiny piece out of the way, ready to savor now or at the darkest hour of winter. And savor we shall.
Speaking of savoring, the roses are from my neighbor’s garden (I’ve given up on growing my own – too much work) and smell like heaven. The binoculars are for bird watching. I love this little corner of the world!
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I, too, love the new red roof header! So cute!
We ate green beans from our garden last night. The tomato crop was damaged by the hail, so most of them have big, “oozy” holes in them where bugs are living. We also had fresh basil mashed potatoes with garden basil. Yum! Thanks for the invite for Sept here in Colorado! -
To be appreciative of God’s bounty is a wonderful thing, and very beautifully “put by”. And, beautiful daughter, I truly appreciate you and the joy you reap from the “little” things that come your way. You make my day !
Love You, Mom
The fruits of your labors will taste wonderful mid-January!! Mmmm….
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Your new header graphic is very nice. I keep checking the window for a kitty’s face (or two).
Now we’ve seen what happens to those beautiful tomatos. They’re just as pretty in the jars. Haven’t considered the expression “putting food by” in ages. It sounds quite reassuring, and brings back memories of my mother canning her dad’s fruit harvest, as well as his large tomato crop one summer in rural Oklahoma. He surely appreciated her every time he opened one of those jars that winter.
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That’s just about the same amount of blood that I lost during my last c-section (just shy of a transfusion for you as well, I’m assuming?) and it was more than a week before I could stand up without getting light-headed. The human body (and medical technology!) is amazing. As are those lovely tomatoes (How’s that for a really bad segue?).
See you tomorrow!
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