A Beautiful Day

Yesterday we went to Interstate Park to meet our friends Sarah and Dave and their kids, who were camping there. It was definitely the day to be there! The colors were just awesome. We took a one-mile hike around the lake (with all nine kids) and then played for a while on the playground next to the hiking trail while the dads went to pick up the hot dogs and buns we were supposed to bring for supper but forgot (oops!). Of course, while they were gone, it started sprinkling (Naomi was counting the rain drops – she got up to 32 before she got distracted . . .) but we stuck it out, and when our knights (in a white van, no less – but with a squeaky alternator belt, which rather lessened the romantic effect)

Ahem, when our knights arrived to rescue us we went back to the campsite to cook the hot dogs, where it proceded to rain cats and dogs on our cooking dogs! I had been pestering our friends to come back to our house for the night so we could have some more time together, and the pouring rain (and the neighboring campsites quickly filling with college kids with lots of beer) finally convinced them to come back and have a nice, dry evening in Cameron (I think the showers and flush toilets helped, too!)

So we had a nice, sleepy chat last evening, and a fun morning (although JD was disappointed that the surprise in the chicken coop was eggs, not toys) They left in time for naps, and now Peter is working on installing my dishwasher and I am off to take a nice, warm bath in preparation for going out for dinner and a movie tonight. Life is good.

Sonnet for the Twelfth of October

I got this via email this morning from my lovely and talented friend Chris, and I loved it so much I just had to share it. I think this is my favorite birthday present so far!

All hail the great Homesteader of the North

On this momentous and beloved day,

For it be right that we our cheer outpour’th

To honor well this loveliest sun’s ray.

She is not only mother to a brood

As charming, fair and clever as they come,

But also, with great care and fortitude,

Tends garden, orchard, fowl, and kiwi – yum!

And still wise teacher of the youth she be!

And much the paint on coop and more she flings! (I love that line!)

And all the while, with great consistency,

Sweet love, contentment, happiness she brings.

So let us to this lady, fair and couth,

Hurl festive wishes. Happy Birthday, Ruth!

Guess what, Mom?

You CAN re-down the whatchacallit!

I love my mom, and one of her endearing quirks is her penchant for odd and interesting remarks. I was roused in the morning with “The squeaky wheel gets the worm” and “turn the window off, it’s cold in here.” On one fateful day, as I was fiddling with the “safety button” on the top of a jelly jar, she finally cried, exasperated, “Stop doing that! You can’t re-down the whatchacallit!”

I was reminded of this incident yesterday, as I finished making two small jars of apple jelly (this was step two in a three-step apple processing process. Step one was to can apple sauce and pie filling, step two was to use all of the peels and cores to make apple jelly, and step three was to feed the leftover pulp to the chickens to make eggs! I declared my self The Ultimate Recycler for the day. Aren’t you proud of me, Kirsten?)

Anyway, I only had enough jelly for two pint jars (which knowing my kids will be gone in under two weeks). Figuring they would store in the fridge that long, I wasn’t planning to can them, so I just pulled out some old used lids and screw bands from the cupboard and slapped them on. Well, apparently the jars were still hot enough and there was enough seal left on the lids, because I heard that miraculous “pop” as the whatchacallits most definitely re-downed!

So there you go, Mom. Proof positive. Now I must go tell the girls to put their sweatshirts on, because I’m cold.