 |
| A grouse on top of the chicken coup visiting its cousins. |
 |
| 4.2 lbs of rose hips (left) separated from their seed pods (right). |
Wednesday 9/9. After doing the dishes and laundry, I made more rose hip marmalade, this time adding some orange peel. So the recipe turned out to be: 2-1/2 cups rose hip mash, 1/2 cup thinly sliced orange peel, 2 cups brown sugar and 1 cup rose hip juice. I cooked it until it thickened, then ladled it into sterilized half-pint jars. It made three jars plus one cup that I put in the fridge for us. It tastes sooo good!
I also pinched the tails off of all the small rose hips, which took a good hour. Then I washed and dried them, and spread them on two cookie sheets. Put them in the oven where they will dry for about four days, and then be ready for making tea.
It was a warm day with a high of 72, and all the bugs were out en force. My two white table cloths, hung out to dry, were covered with the small, hard-shell bugs we get in the house. Warm, yes, but a Fall warm. Probably Summer's last hurrah.
The rain we received Sunday morning gave us a total of fifty gallons of water in two barrels. About thirty-five in the first one by the wood shed and fifteen in the one by the hen house. We can start using it again for flushing the toilet.
We have had potato salad every day since Sunday and still not tired of it! Same with the pumpkin/peach pie that Mrs. Gridder's Mother made.
JB filled up all the vehicles with gas as he plans to go Down There tomorrow to fill up our gas cans and run a few errands.
It was still so nice out after dinner that the dogs and I went for a walk up to the peak and then all the way down to the north ridge. Such a gorgeous day!
Thursday 9/10. It was 56 and clear this morning, but we could smell smoke again. It was a bit hazy to the west and northwest, so don't know if it is a new fire or just the older ones.
JB left at 9:00 am for Down There. The dogs and I were on our way down the driveway by 9:30 to pick more rose hips before the day got too warm. It was 11:00 before I looked at the time. By then I had already made one trip back up to the house with a load, and just about had another couple pounds. Upon weighing everything, I found that I had gathered 4.2 lbs, which is a record for one day, and goes to show just how many large, perfect ones there were. I washed them all and had them in the juicer/steamer within an hour. They won't be losing any of their vitamins. I used to think that it wouldn't be worth all the time and hassle to prepare rose hips, but, now that I have tasted the fruits of my labor, I know it is well worth it. And every jar of marmalade and juice is worth its weight in gold!
I steamed the hips for 2-1/2 hours for juice and got one pint jar, one half-pint jar and a cup that I will put into the marmalade when I make it tomorrow. I wasn't done squeezing out the seed pods til 5:00 pm and by then was just too tired to do any more. JB bought a box of small jelly jars (1/2 cup) while Down There and I will use those this time.
It was another day with a high temperature of 72. So glad I was able to be outside all morning.
Friday 9/11. A day of remembrance.
It is 62 this morning with clear skies except for a smokey haze to the west and north. Can barely make out the mountains.
Thought for the day: I cannot believe that the purpose of life is to be "happy". I think the purpose of life is to be useful, to be responsible, to be compassionate. It is above all, to matter: to count, to stand for something, to have made some difference that you lived at all. Leo Rosten
No comments:
Post a Comment