Tuesday, August 28, 2018

Thrifty Tuesday

I have just one more mitt to sew up and two Christmas gifts are finished. Since I knit these out of yarn leftover from other projects the cost was minimal. I would hazard a guess of about a dollar a pair. I know you can buy mitts for that price in many areas, but they are skimpy and barely keep your hands warm.

This morning I froze 4 more bags of tomatoes and I am pretty sure that is more than enough to last us quite awhile this winter. Now I will move on to spaghetti sauce. I have lots of containers saved up and it is really quite thrifty to make your own rather than buy it. You also know what exactly is in it.

Also this week we have dried cayenne peppers, I have sliced 2 green bell peppers and popped the slices into a bag and into the freezer. Even did up some more beans and popped those in the freezer as well. 

This afternoon I started to pull out some of the quilt squares I had been cutting out of scraps of leftover material and clothing too worn to donate to the thrift stores. I do believe I have enough to make a darn good start on the patchwork quilt for Kurt within the next day or two.

Using up leftovers is always a thrifty move and that is what I have done for the last few days. Trying my hardest to get the fridge cleaned out so I can give it a good wash before we go.

A couple of years ago Kris got us a Netflix subscription and every year he pays for it. I have started to watch it on my larger TV rather than the tablet. Wow, is there ever a difference!

I have made a grocery list for our trip. There will be one night that we will be eating out (I think the last night of our stay) the rest of the time we will be cooking or packing our own meals. Some of the food will be coming from our home, the rest (think more perishable stuff) will be shopped for when we leave Kurt's place.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Monday, August 27, 2018

Menu Monday

Well, a few changes to the menu for this week. Nothing drastic, just one meal that was leftover from a day late last week.

Monday

Leftover sausage casserole. Harvey says slice up some cukes, tomatoes and green peppers to go along with it and we will have plenty to eat.

Tuesday

Grabbing one container of the leftover chili from the freezer and serving it with pasta tonight. Got to keep working on freezing and cleaning the house, so this will be quick and easy.

Wednesday

Smoked sausages, the leftover pasta (cause there will be leftovers) and a salad.

Thursday

Homemade soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. I am just not sure what kind of soup as of yet.

Friday

Glace, and eggs.

Saturday

Clean out the fridge night. I am sure there will be lots of bits and bobs in there that need to be used up before we leave tomorrow.

Sunday

Eating out after the football game.

So there are the menus for this week. 

Next week we will be gone. Menu plans are sort of made for that week and hopefully we will be able to BBQ and only eat out once.

Everybody have a wonderful day.

God bless.

Sunday, August 26, 2018

Sunday Ramblings

Only three things to ramble about today.

We got rain, not much but at least the ground is slightly damp and there is more supposedly coming.

We harvested a watermelon from the garden yesterday.

So sweet and so yummy.

I have started the tidy up of the house. One must always have a very clean house when you leave on vacation. Especially when the neighbour is coming over to look after your furry friend.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Saturday, August 25, 2018

Saturday Roundup

It has been a fairly busy week. The garden is coming in and I have been busy processing items between making Christmas gifts and cleaning the house. Needless to say the house is not as tidy as I would like, but hopefully that will change next week. I want it spic and span before we leave on our get away. I would hate the neighbour to see it the way it is now (she will be looking after Shania for us). 

First off I made those Christmas tree ornaments. 

Then I have moved on to making the mittens. I have 2 pairs completed and have almost finished the third pair. Hopefully I will have 4 pairs done by Tuesday (will post a picture when they are done).

I have frozen 15 pint bags of beans, 10 pint bags of tomatoes, and today I made salsa (hopefully another batch will be made early this coming week.

I don't know why I can never get a label on straight. 

The last of the beans have been picked and the vines cut down. Oops I notice a little spot on the carpet that will need to be cleaned. Tomorrow perhaps.

Now that the beans are done I can concentrate on the tomatoes and the remaining cucumbers.

I got a bit of a surprise today. I won a draw at one of our cities businesses. I never win so was quite excited to see what my gift was.

I received a tin of loose leaf tea, a candle holder and small tea light as well as a lovely smelling sachet to put in one of my drawers. I may just have to enter more contests, perhaps my luck is changing.

Off to continue on the 6th mitt.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.


Friday, August 24, 2018

Frugal Friday

1.  Downloaded some free books onto my ereader. They will be read when we go on our trip to the mountains.

2.  Using yarn left from other projects to knit 4 pairs of mitts. Two for each of my brothers youngest girls.

3.  Stuck to my shopping list.

4.  Did mending of some of Harvey's clothing.

5.  Still working on using up the pantry.

6.  Doing batch cooking when I can.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Wednesday, August 22, 2018

Quiet Times

This has been a very quiet day over all here on the old homestead. Repairs and maintenance have been completed for now. We will have to put in a new door when we come back from our holiday, remove the air conditioners (probably at Thanksgiving), and do a bit of yard clean up. Those are minor jobs compared to the furnace work and basement redo we needed to accomplish as soon as possible.

There will be a little bit of work to accomplish in the basement yet, but those can be done at Harveys' leisure over the winter.

I have started the first Christmas gift and have managed to get a pair of mitts completed and a good start on the second pair. I was going to make hats as well, but decided if my nieces are anything like my boys used to be two pairs of mitts would be the better gift. I have enough leftover yarn from other projects to complete these without having to spend anything other than the cost of mailing them. My youngest brother will get a card with a gift card as I don't have any idea of what to get him.

There was no food processing here today, but I am sure there will be tomatoes to do at some point tomorrow. Once I have a few more bags of frozen tomatoes I will make salsa.

The sky has been very hazy the last week or so. Many days we have had air quality warnings. This is mostly because of the forest fires to our west. I do think some could be because the fields are so dry and with the farmers harvesting their crops they are stirring up the dust as well. I feel for all those who are facing the loss of their home from those fires.

Trees are turning colour already. I am not sure if this is an indication of an early start to our winter or because the trees are under strain from not having enough water.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Tuesday, August 21, 2018

Thrifty Tuesday

I did some mending and darning of socks today. Mending consisted of sewing a button on a pair of shorts for Harvey. Darning was done on a pair of his rather expensive socks.

The peels, tops and tails of various veggies were thrown into the garden to be worked under.

I finished off the soup that was stored in the refrigerator.

Old t-shirts were made into rags and a badly torn sheet has been stored to use as quilt backing. I also managed to save some fairly decent parts of the t-shirts to be used in making a rug at some point this winter.

I am now knitting mitts to give as Christmas gifts out of some larger balls of leftover yarn.

All in all it has been a thrifty week.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Monday, August 20, 2018

Menu Monday

After our fast food fest at the football game yesterday, I am not feeling up to having more. So I ended up changing the menu for tonight from hamburgers. No biggie I just moved a meal from later on to today.

Monday

Chicken legs with back on, laying on a bed of rice. Served with green beans and cucumbers from the garden.

Tuesday

Those hamburgers will be served tonight along with cut up veggies from the garden and dip.

Wednesday

Soup and sandwiches. I am just not sure what kind of soup I will make. Perhaps some more chicken noodle so I can add the leftover soup from last week. Grilled cheese sandwiches.

Thursday

Chili and toast.

Friday

Salmon patties unless Kris is home and then I will do pancakes.

Saturday

Sausage casserole. This will use up some potatoes, frozen carrots and some frozen peas. As well as an onion or two.

Sunday

One of the leftover bags of roasted ham, scalloped potatoes, and raw veggies and dip.

Pretty easy menus as I work on getting the garden harvested and processed.

Everybody have a great day. Take care.

Saturday, August 18, 2018

Saturday Roundup

Another wash, rinse and repeat kind of day. More beans and tomatoes frozen for use this winter, and a couple of cucumbers made into a salad for supper tonight. 

When we go to the football game tomorrow I plan on taking some beans, cucumbers and tomatoes up to Kris. That will clear things out a little bit (not much as I will need to pick even more cucumbers tomorrow).

I did finish one project though. I made the little hat decorations for our Christmas tree using up some of the yarn from my stash.

Here is a picture of the finished project.
For anyone that has small leftover balls of yarn and are interested on how these are fashioned, I will share how they are made.

First you need cardboard tubes either from toilet paper or paper towels. Mark the tubes in 1/2 to 1 inch intervals (for mine I did 1 inch)

Cut apart.

Once this is completed, you can cut your lengths of yarn. 

I cut mine approximately 8 inches in length. These are then folded in half.

The halved yarn is passed through the inside of the cut ring of cardboard and the ends are passed through the loop at the top. The yarn is then tightened.

Like so. Continue until the ring of cardboard is well covered.

Now you can either tie everything together at the top now. Trim and add a hanger or do what I prefer to do. That is push all the loose ends back up through the center of the covered tube.

Like so and tie, even the puff at the top, and add a piece of yarn as a hanger.

And there you have it. A small and fairly quick decoration for your tree, a present tag or even as something you could make a garland from. Made from leftovers and something you recycle.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.






Friday, August 17, 2018

Frugal Friday

Now how have I been frugal this week.....

1.  Air conditioners off two days this week and only turned on mid day on the other days.

2.  Combined errands to save on fuel plus wear and tear on the vehicle.

3.  Only bought items that were on my grocery list. Once again no meat purchased.

4.  Froze or dehydrated extra from the gardens.

5.  Paid bills online so no stamps used.

I am really happy as my grocery bill this week was well under what I thought it might be. I hope this continues for the next month or two.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Wednesday, August 15, 2018

Dog Days Of Summer

The dog days of summer are upon us. Days are hot but the nights are turning cooler. This makes my early morning walks much more enjoyable. Even the cat wants out in the garden during the early evening. Shania lounges on one of the many chairs on the deck catching the last few rays of sunshine.

It is a wash and repeat time of year. I harvest the garden, process the food by freezing, canning or dehydrating.

I actually think the beans are almost done for the year. One more pick (perhaps two) as the leaves are turning brown on the stalks and there are very few flowers left.

The cucumbers are still growing however and the peppers seem to be starting to come fast and furious. Lots of little babies on all the plants. I just hope they continue to grow.

Tomatoes are slowly turning red. I will probably be starting to freeze bags very soon.

Harvey has been digging up potatoes. Mmmm, nothing beats the taste of new potatoes with a meal. The skins are tender and can be left on and enjoyed. Once they are older the skins get a bit tough.

Tomorrow I freeze beans and a couple of green peppers. Then I hope to dehydrate some lavender to make a few sachets. Pretty sure I have some muslin in my stash that I can use for the inner bags.  I am also going to look for a cold pressed carrier oil and see if I can make some lavender oil. Wish me luck.

Continuing with project declutter here after almost a month of not getting anything out of the house. I plan on doing a bit more decluttering in my closet tomorrow. Today I did tops and jackets (more the suit jacket type). I no longer work so some of the fancier stuff is not necessary to my lifestyle. Harvey no longer works either so fancy is not something we need for outings with his job. I will keep a couple of dresses for family occasions. Guess a person can't wear jeans, sweats, or jeggings all the time.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.



Tuesday, August 14, 2018

Thrifty Tuesday

So today I actually got to make my roast chicken. Harvey picked the carcass clean (well as clean as possible) and I packaged up the bones to make stock a bit later. Then the leftover chicken was packaged up as well and put in the freezer.

The drippings were poured into a container and froze as well. I can see gravy being made to go on homemade fries at sometime in the future. Or I could always use it in the soup stock for a bit more richness.

Our air conditioners were off all day today. Cha ching less money spent on electricity. 

While the next three days will see the air conditioners on once again (temperatures going up to the mid 30's again) the nights will cool down enough that we will not need them on. That is more the temperatures we are used to at this time of year.

I did some darning of a couple of pairs of my socks, washed rags and hung them out to dry.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Monday, August 13, 2018

Menu Monday

We  had some very hot days last week. Too hot to cook really so some things got changed around. As we are having cooler weather the next couple of days I am going to try and get things back to the menu plan.

Monday

Ham casserole served with a salad.

Tuesday

Roast chicken, mashed potatoes and green beans. Probably have the leftover salad as well.

Wednesday

Leftover Ham Casserole with raw veggies and dip.

Thursday

Chefs salad (using up some more of the frozen ham and some of the leftover roast chicken). Supposed to be pretty warm once again.

Friday

Tuna casserole.

Saturday

Chicken breasts on the BBQ along with those raw veggies and dip. I think I will make some rice to go with this.

Sunday

Off to the city to watch a football game and so will be grabbing something to eat before the game.

This will put us almost on track once again. Looking forward to that as I feel unorganized.

Everybody have a wonderful day.

God bless.

Saturday, August 11, 2018

Saturday Roundup


Pretty much the same happenings here this week. Picking and processing the garden, trying to stay cool (which is a chore in and of itself when it reaches 40 C) and getting a few things done around the house.

Picking the garden only happens in the early mornings or in the evenings. Much too hot to even try to harvest during the day.

Today I picked more cucumbers (most were given away) and tomatoes (some given to the young people next door). Tonight I picked more beans and probably did not get all of them though I really tried before the mosquitoes drove me inside. Hubby will have to finish it off. I do think that I have at least four or five freezer bags worth though.

I finished my knitting project. Wove in the ends of all previous knitting projects. Started to do the embroidery project I set aside when it bothered my wrist and arm too much. I hope to get that finished quickly so if the weather cools I can move into the sewing room and start those sewing projects that have been waiting for me.

I have cleaned cupboards, wiped down the fronts with Murphy's Oil Soap and given them a coat of lemon oil. Now they look brand new.

I have cleaned the stove (much too hot to clean the oven as of yet), did a few switches on the monthly menu, and read, and read and read.

I have also watched 2 seasons of Poldark and am looking forward to the next three. Then I will figure out what to watch next on the android box.

Decluttering has pretty much come to a standstill for now, I hope to start that up again very soon as I need to step it up in order to meet my goal. Once the major cleaning and harvesting is finished I should be able to get in the use it or lose it mode once again.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Friday, August 10, 2018

Frugal Friday

Really even though my grocery bill seems to be getting slightly higher (mostly due to buy in more Canadian products) than I think it should be I still have a few frugal saves.

1.  Got free plums from our next door neighbour.

2.  Saved $16.89 on my grocery trip through buying sale items.

3.  Finished off a lovely scarf that will be used as a Christmas gift.

4.  Bought no meat while shopping this week.

5.  Started the freezing process so we have lovely fresh tasting food this winter.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Thursday, August 9, 2018

Thursday Tidbits

Ahh, the dog days of summer are upon us. Little to no rain and scorching temperatures.

Today we had a bit of a scare. The window air conditioner in the diningroom seemed to have stopped working. We did manage to get things working again, but this just shows me it is on it's last legs and we will definitely need to put in central air for next year. No way do I want to be without air conditioning when the temperatures are in the mid to high 30 C range. We would not be able to survive.

Most of today (well at least the morning) was spent in the garden picking.

Three more green peppers. The last few I picked were sliced and frozen yesterday.
Then I picked the beans.
Harvey found a few that I missed. Since I still have beans in the fridge these were snipped and snapped and frozen to add a taste of summer to our winter meals.

Just a few of the tomatoes. Harvey found another 5 when he was out in the garden. Looks like I may actually get a few bags in the freezer.

And of course the never ending cucumbers (I notice a few more while taking a couple of pictures of the watermelon and cantaloupe.

One of three of the largest watermelons. I think they could be ready to pick very soon.

One of the cantaloupe that are starting to appear. One minute they are tiny little balls and the next minute they have grown.

I used the electric roaster on the deck yesterday to make meat loaf. It turned out wonderfully.

Tomorrow I will pick more cucumbers (and give them away) as well as some herbs and the jalapeno peppers for pickling.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.






Wednesday, August 8, 2018

So Hot

We are into the dog days of summer here on the prairies of Canada. While these are usually some of the hottest days of the year, this year they are even hotter than normal. The grasshoppers are finally out and I will be spending walking time trying to avoid being flown at or attacked (hate them as much as wasps, give me a snake or bat any day of the week).

By Saturday we will reach almost 40C, which makes doing anything outside almost unthinkable by mid afternoon. I know we will be doing lots of watering just to keep the plants alive which will mean our water bill will be outrageous this month. This temperature and the heat wave that most of Canada is under right now is very unusual. Yes there are 40 C temperatures often, but we are not used to getting heat warnings for over a week. We are also under a smoke advisory as the forest fires from British Columbia, Alberta, Northern Saskatchewan and some of the United States are causing air quality problems. I truly believe in climate change and our part of the province is undergoing a change from a semi arid region to almost a desert type of climate during the summer.

Now while we are facing these high temperatures I have to think about our cold winters of -40C temperatures. We go from one extreme to the next with nothing really in between. I will not complain too much because once the snow arrives I will no longer be able to do my outside walks. Too afraid of falling and injuring myself once again. I really do not need another broken bone. Especially since I do not have a doctor as of yet (something I am working on, but two steps forward and one step back it seems).

I have been spending mornings in the garden harvesting veggies and watering plants. Managed to do a bit of dehydrating as well yesterday and hope to do a bit more tomorrow. I am really trying to get everything picked and processed. I do need more mint, basil, thyme, oregano and sage to see us through the cold winter months. I have been looking at mint tea and since most is made in the U.S. I need lots more dried for tea this winter. I do love me a cup of mint tea when I am feeling a bit stuffed up or have a cold.

I did use the electric roaster today as an oven. My meatloaf turned out wonderfully and I did not heat the house up. Tomorrow I make pasties, but I am not sure if they will turn out properly using the roaster. So it might be oven time for the pasties and the roaster to make a coffee cake. We shall see.

Off to do some knitting to use up a bit more of that stash.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Tuesday, August 7, 2018

Thrifty Tuesday

A few thrifty things happening around here. Not as many as I would like, but enough to keep me moving forward.

I have a friend who is saving me cardboard tubes for my upcoming Christmas decorations. That means I don't have to madly use paper towels in order to get as many as I think I will need. I will still save them, but at least there is no rush as the next thing I am going to use them for is as pots for starting seed in the spring.

I noticed some seed pods forming on my moonflower plant. These will be collected come fall and saved to be used to start new plants in the spring.

I have collected a few orange seeds and will pot those up very soon. I want to see if I can grow an orange tree (just a small one) in my house.

Collected and washed a couple of glass jars (need a few more) so I can take cuttings of the English Ivy, root them and then plant them for use in my pots next year.

Harvey decided to paint the Adirondack chairs and found some rotted pieces. He had more than enough treated lumber to replace them. Now comes the measuring, cutting and fixing.

We had paint leftover from doing some white touch ups outside, so Harvey used some of it to paint the park bench we have by the firepit. There is enough left over to do some touch ups on the few windows we have with wooden frames. That will have to wait until the temperatures drop a bit as it is hotter than Hades outside right now.

I used some ice I cleared out of the bottom of the fridge to water my front plants after it melted. Must do this more often.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless. 

Monday, August 6, 2018

Menu Monday

A new week and it is going to be a scorcher. We are already being warned about temperatures reaching the  high 30's C starting tomorrow. This could mean a bit of a change from my menus to more light main dish salad type meals and of course the old BBQ.

Monday

Chicken drums and backs done on the BBQ. Serving this with the leftover cucumber salad, and tinfoil potatoes with onion.

Tuesday

Leftover beef roast. I think I just might make a salad out of this.

Wednesday

Supposed to be meatloaf (I want to make extra to freeze for a meal later), but if it reaches the temperature they say it is going to I may just be trying this out in my electric roaster and sit it on the deck. Serving this with mashed potatoes, and green beans.

Thursday

Temperatures will be dropping a degree or two. If they don't my meal will be Ham pasties. They don't cook very long in the oven, the recipe makes 4 large ones and so two can be frozen for later. Raw veggies and dip for the sides.

Friday

Soup and sandwiches. I have celery that needs using so cream of celery soup (will be enough to freeze for another meal or two) and egg salad sandwiches.

Saturday

BBQ pork chops, tinfoil potatoes and carrots. I will probably have cucumbers along with this.

Sunday

Roast chicken (perhaps in the electric roaster outside), mashed potatoes and any leftover veggies we have.

Lunches will be catch as catch can. When it is this hot no one feels like eating very much at all.

Everybody have a great day. Take care.

Saturday, August 4, 2018

Saturday Roundup

This week has been a fairly busy one. The garden is starting to produce and it seems like there is always something needed to be picked, then frozen or processed.

Harvey has decided that we are always going to be planting pole beans. No kneeling or bending over, or at least the bending over is at a minimum. So far we have been out every three or so days picking at least enough beans to give us a side dish for two meals (by this I mean 2 meals for each of us). While we aren't freezing any as of yet, if the flowers are anything to go by freezing will be taking place shortly.

We dug up two potato plants and managed to get three meals for both of us from the plants. Harvey hopes that the other plants are a bit more prolific.

What has been really prolific is the cucumbers. Today I picked 12 and some were very large. I managed to use up a few of those previously picked in my Pickles in a Bucket, and some were made into spears and eaten with our supper (the remainder of the spears are in the fridge to munch on).

Peppers were sliced up to be munched on and three were cut into strips and frozen.

Blueberries were frozen this week.

Dehydrating happened pretty much every day.

Bread was baked twice, and tonight I took some muffins out of the downstairs freezer to be used for breakfasts and perhaps a mid afternoon snack or two.

The remainder of the Christmas gift list has been planned, and yarn picked out for those projects. They need to be done first as the finished gifts need to be sent away.

I have read my book (my heavens the Game of Thrones series is taking a very long time to read), and I have sat down with pen and paper and listed items that need using up first from the pantry and freezers.

Budget was inputted and from a previous post most know while I was sort of contented with the result I am hoping for better results this month. However if the first grocery shop was any indication this could be a bit of a flop. Buying Canadian does add to the bottom line.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Friday, August 3, 2018

Frugal Fridays

Surprisingly enough most of the frugal happenings here are the same. I really need to step up my frugal habits.

1.  Made bread.

2.  Only used the car twice this week.

3. Worked on using up produce harvested from the garden. Still have lots to do.

4.  Air conditioners off two days this week.

5.  Found free wood for the firepit. The wood needs to dry out for a year, but we have a great start.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.


Thursday, August 2, 2018

Budget Round Up July

The past month was just so, so as far as sticking to the budget. We were under on some lines and over a tad on others. 

I had hoped to be lower on the grocery budget line, but I think buying more of our food and other products from Canadian companies instead of American added a bit as far as spending goes. To help this out this month I am trying to eat down the pantry, freezers and fridge. You know, making do with what I have on hand. 

Even buying the bare necessities seems to cost more with the ever rising prices everyone seems to be facing. Having a garden does help a bit though and now that things are coming in fast and furious I hope to be able to cut this budget line down a great deal.

I will be trying to make more from scratch, not buying expensive desserts or side dishes. Trying more of the cook once eat twice types of meals and making sure that nothing goes to waste. Today I froze blueberries to make sure I could keep them longer. 

While electrical and gas costs were below budget, having the very hot weather we seem to be getting has caused us to use the window air conditioners a bit more. I get all excited when we have cooler weather and I can just leave the windows open.

Television, mobile phones, and internet take a big bite of the budget and I need to figure out a way to lower those costs. I may look into getting rid of the landline and just rely on our cellphones. It scares me, but we no longer have children at home so babysitters do not have to get us for any problems. We like our faster internet and really use it for movie watching, playing games, and just putzing around on the computer. Television, well once we get an android box for the TV downstairs I think we could drop some of the packages we have cutting our costs down a bit.

Fuel goes up and down and usually we are well underbudget. This month however there were numerous trips to football games and my vehicle needed a service job. Those oil changes seem to cost a great deal, but Harvey does not or should I say will not do his own and as he does so much other maintenance in the house and yard I am not going to ask him to add this to his repertory. 

I guess all one can do is cut a bit here and a bit there and perhaps by the end of the year there will be big savings.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Wednesday, August 1, 2018

The Past Week In The Kitchen And Garden

The past week has been a busy one in the kitchen and garden. Harvesting has begun in earnest and processing everything that comes out of the garden is taking some time away from other projects.

First off I made relish.

This is Harveys' moms recipe which is wonderful. After having the chopped veggies sit overnight,  and draining them come morning the rest of the ingredients were added and cooked down.

I ended up with 11 full jars and one about half full. The half full one went into the fridge, the rest still need labeling and then storing away.

Picking beans was next on the list of harvest/kitchen jobs.

Right now we are eating the beans almost as soon as we pick them. This bag will give us a couple of meals now that they are washed and snipped. I have stored them in a bag in the fridge.

It was back out to the garden to pick yet more cucumbers (what on earth will I do with them all???? Pickles in a bucket coming up).

A few left over from relish making.

And these that hadn't been added to the bowl as of picture taking time.

I picked three green peppers but two were cut up and eaten with dip. 
So I only have this lonely fellow left to do something with. I think I just might slice it and put him the freezer. He will be joined by friends very soon.

I even managed to pick this small bowl of strawberries.
Harvey managed to gobble all these down pretty much right away.

I noticed lots of jalapenos, cayenne peppers and little green peppers. Should be picking lots of those. 

Tomatoes are eaten as fast as they ripen right now, but I am sure I will have lots to make salsa or freeze very soon.

Cucumbers will be gathered again by the end of the week. Some will be sliced to be eaten with dip, others gifted to those without gardens, and yet others made into those pickles in a bucket.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.