First time Canning!

Started the adventure yesterday! 15 pints of Blackberry's and sugar, canner and all types of utensils needed for canning. It was spread out ALL over the place.
Went about as smoothly as a first time canning could possibly go I believe. Think I walked about a mile in the kitchen, chasing this and that, utensils that I left over here and there. Wasn't able to keep my "stuff" together in one spot. Did discover that this kitchen IS NOT set up for this type of cooking. So I'm going to re-evalute how I should do this in the future to optimize the space and time.

In the end I have 7 pints of Blackberry jam. Now I'm waiting to see if the seals are good or if we get to start eating blackberry jam by the pint just about as quickly as we can before it all goes bad. Will keep you posted.

p.s. All of the lids sealed! Yipee for me!


p.s.s. I've already picked out multiple other canning recipes. Time to try something else...

Canning, Karen and Yes! more knitting...

Life goes on.

Kristina has her new vehicle to roam around in. She's gone shopping for her prom dress and found a lovely one with the shoes and clutch bag. I'll post a picture when prom arrives...
A few more flowers (Viola's) found their way into a couple of pots on the deck along with a nice Basil plant for the herb collection I've started.
David had a birthday! Instead of his usual chicken fried steak with biscuits and gravy request he surprised me with wanting Chicken Piccata, Linguine, tossed salad and the coup de gras - Chocolate-Bourbon Pecan Pie without the Bourbon if you please! Mom, please note the cast iron pan the chicken is in. Look familiar?

The weather is definitely changing for the better. For the last couple of nights we've stayed out on the deck, quite comfortably I might add, with a nice fire in the fire pit to keep us company and ward off any slight chill. Looking for satellites, making smores/roasting marshmellows and enjoying playing 20 questions with the kids. We've had quite a few interesting moments with this game. This picture is of the area stripped for the dust storm we're expecting today. I'm hoping that its over rather quickly so that we can get it all set back up for another night on the deck.
My friend, Karen, who moved from here in '07 and last visited in the fall of '08 finally made it in for a visit this week. She has so many folks to visit with and see that we were flattered that she wanted to stay with us for a night. So we prepped and lucky for us David's birthday fell this last week so we delayed the celebration until Sunday and Karen was able to celebrate with us. We sure have missed having her here to see and visit with more often. But she is moving from N. Carolina to Texas this fall so maybe we'll get to see her more often.

Canning!? Yep! I'm getting into canning and the first thing I'm starting with is Blackberries. Going to hopefully make jam and freeze some. Sunflower Market, our poor man's Whole Foods, is having a sale to beat all sales. Bell Peppers (all colors are 10 for $10), cucumbers are 10 for

$10, Eggplant are 10 for $10, Pint size containers of Blackberry's are 10 for $10. The list goes on and on! All of the produce is just beautiful. This is not like Walmart, Safeway, etc. that puts their stuff on sale just before going bad. Sunflower is now our "Go To" place for all our produce wants and needs. This is a flat of 12 pints for $12. They also have beautiful herb plants.

Knitting. Yes, knitting. I finally finished one of my shawls. Now, taking into account my lack of ability where taking pictures are concerned..... please know that this shawl in person is quite lovely. It measures almost 40" square. Nice size for a cuddle.

Spring returns... kind of

First! Happy St. Patricks Day everyone!!!

Colorado has been experiencing temps in the 60's during the day for the last week. Last night I got a nice fire going in the pit and we sat around just enjoying the warmth of the evening and the slight breeze that cooled us until we needed light blankets to cover ourselves with. We've started looking for all the satellites that we usually see in the evenings while sitting on the deck. Last night I spotted 2. I know there are more out there....

Today David tempted me with a trip to the local Lowes and then Sunflower Market to look for herb plants. He went shopping the other day at Sunflower and came home talking of these beautiful herb plants on sale. So being that we had to go by Lowes anyway I felt compelled to stop and see what Lowes had to offer before heading to Sunflower. Needless to say .... our Lowes was lacking in the plant department for our area at the moment. So off to Sunflower and their wonderful selection of herbs to peruse. What a great time I had. So after all the fussing over which ones looked best I chose these 6 to bring home. We'll hopefully have a delightful crop of Mint, Lemon Thyme, Sage, Rosemary, Oregano, Golden Thyme. I still want to get some Basil and Lavendar. I think Lavendar in the bathrooms would be a nice touch. I love seeing all this green. Can't wait until a bit further into the season for more planting.

Hi from Cisco...

Done.

Got the car this afternoon and she is now out checking it out. PT is going well. As a matter of fact I picked Kristina up from PT in her new car. Unfortunately she didn't have her license with her so she didn't get to drive it home. But it was fun to see her face when I pulled the car from around a large truck. She was just a little happy.

Possibilities...

Well we went car shopping yesterday. This is what we found. Nice?! We think so. They are holding it for us.

Hope to have it home for Kristina in a week or so.

Can't say enough about Aristocrat Auto Broker in Colorado Springs. They are great! This is the place we purchased her previous car from. If you happen to be looking for a car check them out.

Kristina is doing great. No broken nose, no cracked teeth, a bruise on her knee, wrenched back (which she'll be starting PT for on Monday). She does have a concussion on top of the concussion that she already had from snowboarding, so we're watching her carefully and have kept her home from school this week. My assumption is that she'll be returning to school next week, full time. But we'll see.

Totalled...

I guess that about covers it.

Emergency Addition... and update

Boy did memories come flooding back this evening when the phone rang and I heard, "Mom I've been in a wreck." This time it was Kristina. Thankfully she is o.k. and so is Clay. A friend of theirs stopped when he realized who it was and helped them out until we could get there.

When we arrived there was the firetruck and police car. From there a Ambulance arrived but was sent away, thankfully no one needed it. Another police car and then the tow truck. When all was said and done Kristina's Jeep was the only one in need of a tow. So her Jeep is now sitting in the lot at Advanced Towing.

We'll see what information tomorrow brings..... UPDATE: the car will be looked at by an adjuster on Monday.

Breakfast Yum!

Breakfast this morning! I love this meal and its all good for you. Low carb and low calorie.