I was off to the gym this morning and when I returned, it was to a mind exercise. I had to trick the dogs into going into the upper pasture that is now secure so they would be with the sheep. They’d so much rather be close to the house. So I felt that I had exercised both the body and the brain.
Then it was time to read email and download the grocery freebie. Our grocery store offers a free item every Friday. It can only be downloaded on Friday. Often it is something we don’t use, so I pick it up and it is always welcome in the food collection basket at the church. Some of the items are things the grandchildren will enjoy – like the gummy bears.
By then it was lunchtime. So that accomplished, I went to the grocery store and bought some petunias for the front yard as well as the few groceries. Petunias always look so happy. I will try to get them planted Monday, because it is forecast to be in the 90s for Saturday and Sunday. So I’ll leave them in the shade until I plant them.
Does heat encourage you to take a siesta? We did and then it was time to feed animals again. I am not complaining about the heat, but I do go just a bit slower. The weather is certainly not typical as June is often a very rainy month. These are August type days. So I just keep watering and try to keep up with the most important things and my sewing/quilting has to take a back seat, just as the plants did during the winter.
The relish I started last night turned into a lovely product. I made a double batch and canned 11 cups of relish. DH can’t have sugar, but can have honey. So I substituted 1 cup honey for the cup and a half of sugar. Next time, I may go down to 3/4 cup of honey. It does have salt, but I’m hoping that if he eats a little once in awhile and we aren’t using salt other places, he can get by with it. If he gets swelling in the legs again, I’ll be sharing it with the children instead. If you are interested in the recipe, let me know and I will share. Thank you so much Dar for sharing with me.
I am linking to 
Dar, one of the readers here, sent me a relish recipe to try. This is as far as I am. Everything is cut and salted and spending the night in the refrigerator. At least when I tackle that tomorrow, it will be half done, so it won’t seem like it is taking so long. I am nearly caught up on the cucumber issue. Next I’ll tackle the zucchini. I can grate that and put it in the freezer to make items during the winter.
Then I crumbled some in the blender for sauce or soup so you could see how that looks.
This is a quart of dried basil. Growing and dehydrating basil takes so little time and is really cost effective.
but progress is slow right now, and there are many small pieces.
The garden also beckons me and there are now 9 trays of cucumbers on the dehydrator. These will be great for sauces, dips, and flavoring. Although there are still many cucumbers to share. I am only making a very few pickles this year, because there are still some from last year. I am also looking for a great relish recipe if anyone has one and is willing to share.
Summer and it’s produce have official arrived. We are scheduled for an 80 degree week and we have started picking zucchini, cucumbers and tomatoes. The tomatoes and zucchini, I’m fine with. And I can make some pickles, but these plants are loaded. Besides pickling and eating fresh, how else does one save cucumbers.
And we now have 12 cups and 1 pint of strawberry jam. In this house, it’s not good to run out of strawberry jam or peanut butter and we ran out of both. Therefore, tomorrow must include a run to Costco for their Kirkland brand organic peanut butter.
Linking up to 
Washington state quilters to finish the Sparkling snowmen
Yes, we have lemons – that is 4 lemons the size of cherry tomatoes. It’s time study up and see what went wrong. The little tree is now full of fresh blossoms and seems to be very happy out in the hoop house this summer.
We spent much today shopping for essentials. That is if you call tractors and washing machines essentials. We looked at both and will take the next week to make decisions. The tractor salesman may have talked himself out of deal. He is coming over next week to look at the land, but really thought he knew someone who would do the work we need at an incredibly low price. But then sometimes that is too good to be true. We will wait and see.
What do I do when overwhelmed and understaffed? I make more and more detailed lists. At the top of the day, when I wasn’t sure which way to go, I started writing down all the things that were bothering me. I knew they couldn’t all be achieved today or even this week. On paper, they are not bogging my brain down. Having made these lists, I could then do a better job of prioritizing. And yes, more was added as the day went on. I mean who knew that
the washing machine wanted to die today? And who knew that when I went to REI to get a pair of gym pants, they would have nothing casual? Every pair they had were meant to show every wrinkle in the skin. So after an hour of driving to and from REI, I went to my list and added, “shop for pants and a washing machine” Costco is sending me pants to try and probably Sears will be delivering a washing machine (still deciding). Now that was so much easier and better than chasing all over the countryside, wasting time and gas. I do love some of these modern conveniences even though I believe that we should know how to be self-sufficient.
What did I achieve today?
Did you notice how many of these items only took a few minutes? What did you achieve today? I’ll bet it was a lot more than you gave yourself credit for. Make a list of everything you do in a day. It will surprise you, because normally one gets to the end of the day and can’t think of much that was accomplished. At least that’s what happens here. When I make a list, I can see that something is done which in turn makes me feel better.