Making the grade

 This year Covid didn't keep me from entering things in the fair. I had ten entries and had seven blue(first place) ribbons, two second place ribbons, and one third place. My peach jalapeno jam got Grand Champion. Over all pretty happy with myself.

Peach Jalapeno Jam-blue ribbon and Grand Champion

Green beans-blue ribbon

Blueberry jam-blue ribbon

Strawberry jam-blue ribbon

Blackberry jelly-blue ribbon

Pink Violet-third place

Picture of sunflowers-second place

Picture of Lauren (portrait)-second place

Picture of sunrise-first place

Picture of swan preparing to take off-first place

Next year I'm going to enter a cake and maybe a quilt and maybe a collection. Maybe a Christmas craft. Who knows? I can tell you I plan on taking a lot more pictures and focus on portraits. Say cheese (or not-that won't stop me from taking your picture)

The last lesson... a lesson in love

 My precious dog Dixie crossed the bridge. There have been lots of kind words and prayers sent my way and all of them have helped in some fashion, but the best came from Dixie herself.

Let me give you a little back ground on her passing. Every night the dogs go out to play before bed. It gives them a last chance to run off a little energy and helps them fall asleep. Sunday night's temperatures were in the low seventies so it was great weather to run and play. They played and played. There was a cool breeze blowing too so I had my bedroom window open. I listened to them run and play for a couple of hours. It was all horse play and something they've done hundreds of times. Then, I heard one of the dogs scream in pain and I ran outside. Four of them came running up to me and it took a second to realize that Dixie was the last one coming up to me. She was in pain and dragging both of her back legs. I immediately picked her up and looked for some kind of puncture mark and could find none. Dixie was upset, but seamed to calm down with her head on my shoulders and me swaddling her like a baby. Typical Dixie move. She loved to be held like a baby. I held her that way and looked for vets open in Harrison. There were none so I went to the internet and found the nearest Emergency Vet open. Springdale-two hours away. I gave Dixie to Dwight so I could change clothes. Dwight had no sleep and there was no way he could make it to Springdale with me(and I kinda needed him to keep an eye on the boys who were still visibly upset).  He couldn't find the source of her pain. So I nabbed Chris to go with me. I couldn't hold Dixie and maintain a good speed so Chris held her and calmed her down. We got to the ER and again Dixie was calm when I held her. 

She went with the vet and it wasn't long before they called me back to a room. There were no viable options. She let me hold Dixie and she snuggled up to me as they gave her something for pain. Then she looked long and hard into my eyes. When dogs do that they're communicating that they love you and accept you as part of their pack. It was such a deliberate stare that there's no room for misinterpretation. Dixie was telling me that she loved me. That she trusted me. So I had to do what was best for her and let her go. I know she heard me telling her that I loved her. I was saying that and petting her when I felt her last breath leave her little body. She trusted me to do the right thing, but damn that didn't make it any easier. She looked at me and put her little head on my chest. She let me know that it was ok.

Our pack is still here, but we're missing our alpha. Harley keeps sniffing where she's been and has a puzzled look on his face. Oscar cried the first night, but is doing a little better. Sampson and Midnight are confused. Dwight and I are taking it slow and giving ourselves a little time to heal, but Dixie will always be in our hearts. 

Dancing the night away

 Yesterday, I ran across a version of the song "You are my Sunshine". It was sung by Willie Nelson and Leon Russell and had a slight jazzy edge to it. I just love it. Love it so much that I was cleaning the kitchen and listening to it over and over. My poor husband happened to walk through just as the song was starting over and I grabbed him for a dance. He told me he can't dance, and I told him that I didn't care and we danced around the kitchen. He can dance but may not like it but you couldn't tell that he was unhappy by the smile on his face. That smile and the way he looked at me...sigh. This dancing thing might be repeated. It was so nice to see his smile and his eyes twinkle with love. That song has always reminded me of 3 am feedings and singing to get someone back to sleep and now I have one more good memory associated with that song. Thanks Willie. Thanks Leon. 

Blessed

  I've known for a little while so you think by now that the tears would stop coming to the surface, but they just keep coming. Like my blessings. My little blessings. It's really happening. I'm going to be a Granny again. A little part of me(and probably the best parts) will carry on. The only better thing would be to hold this blessing in my arms. I've dreamed of this for so long. I wish I could say with certainty that I want a granddaughter or grandson but I can't. Not really. I just want a healthy baby and I want to see that baby happy and make some memories. I get to watch my children become parents and aunts and uncles and I hope they learned from my mistakes because these kids-deserve the best. The very best. My heart (and yes my eyes) are overflowing....I am so incredibly blessed.

Up to my ears in ears and maters and peppers and beans

 We finally pulled the corn this weekend. Not that I'm finished with tomatoes, peppers, or beans. 

So far I've made three black berry cobblers that require four cups of black berries and I think I've put up six bags of four cups each so if you're not up to the math that's 36 cups of black berries. Plus 2 batches of blackberry jelly. These luscious berries didn't pick themselves. 

Then, I put up 6 pints of green tomatoes. An experiment. Will advise if this is good for humans or gets thrown to the chickens. 

Canned 21 quarts of green beans. Canning isn't the hard part-it's keeping the beans weeded, watered, and snapped. 

Put up two quarts of jalapenos so far (they're just getting going good-the fools love the heat).

Put up two quarts of bell peppers-my colors this year are purple, orange, white, and green. 

I put up 12 gallons of corn and still have some left in the refrigerator to process. 

I've made mint tea and extract.

Two batches of strawberry jam. Peach jam. Blueberry jam.

I've water glassed three containers of eggs (if this actually works I'll write another blog about water glassing).

And sometimes... I'm ready for a vacation.