A bit of this and that...and GOOD.

More salsa from another year...I sure would enjoy some of it right now!

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You know sometimes life is a bit challenging.  Sometimes I am a big wuss...no courage or backbone at all.  To say it has been a bit challenging for us is putting it lightly.

Roger was always able to make about anything or fix anything.  And though I was not Mrs. Fix-it, I could work and accomplish things.

Last year because of my accident, we paid to have the yard mowed.  In the previous years Roger had used the riding mower and I did certain parts of the yard with push mower.

It is not a big yard, so thought it would be good for me to mow it this year.  Or at least try to mow it.  I thought it would help get me back to walking normal because I would be concentrating on mowing rather than worrying about hurting my foot.  Well, we went out there the other day and the mower would not start.  It had always been easy to start.

Our neighbor saw us and came over and tried to pull start it and couldn't.  Today I looked at Amazon trying to decide on a new mower.  Even though I thought it was something simple with the old, it is just beyond Roger.  That is why I was thinking about a new one.  I set and looked at Amazon while we ate breakfast this morn, came home with the intentions of ordering a certain one.

But it has a bag, and it is self propelled....I have not used a self propelled in years and years and years, but I didn't enjoy it when younger and was afraid I wouldn't now.  And it had the bag, and we had one one time with a bag and didn't like.  So, got to looking more.  I spent a good two hours looking, reading reviews, etc and still could not make up my mind.  Just so indecisive I drive my crazy.  But it actually might have been a good thing this time.

This evening, I had given Roger his meds and we had set down for the night.   I thought I heard someone at the back door...went in there and it was our neighbor...he came to get the mower and is going to see if he can fix it.  And he is good at stuff like that so it will probably be fixed fairly soon.

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Roger has his allergy shots tomorrow...Friday is a doctor's visit.  He has to go to get prescriptions renewed.  But also has nodules on his thyroid and we have to see our family doctor to see about getting them checked.  He had a CT scan a while back to check that the spot on his lung had not changed and they seen those nodules.

Plus they seen 'something' on his kidney...the previous year's scan did not go far down enough to see it.  So we don't know how long it has been there.  It may just be a cyst.  And the girl said that 99% of the time the nodules on the thyroid are nothing to worry about.

Monday I take him to have a CT scan without and with dye to check the kidney thing.

Just a bit more salsa...

My older daughter came by this morn...I had done washed jars and was in the process of gathering ripe tomatoes. I did the skinning of the tomatoes...you know where you dip them in boiling water for just a minute then dunk them in cold and the skin comes off real easy. And I cored them and handed them to her to cut into chunks.
She cut them in really big chunks, plus took out some of the juice/seeds in the hopes that it will be a bit more chunky. I think she will be better satisfied with the result. She did take a couple jars of the juicy salsa home with her to share with friends when they are over.
I got five more quarts out of this batch...I cannot even think how many that makes....but I am about to call it quits on the salsa. I think I have close to enough to last us. Though if Rachel likes this, we might make another batch.
And do you see that funnel in the second picture...that is the funnel my mom had. I would love to know how many jars it has been used to fill. I bet most people would be amazed. I know a few people who can, but they don't can in that amount. Other than my sister-in-law and another neighbor down home, I can not think of anyone I personally know that really consistently cans or freezes most of the vegetables and stuff that they need.. I know I sure don't.

I can remember my mom talking about so many people only know how to go to the store and buy cans of goods, little realizing that one of those days I would be one of the people going to the store. But I do know how to can, and if I can't remember I can always ask my sister-in-law. It is a lot of work, but I remember feeling so thankful to look at the rows and rows of jars full of food.

And the other thing I think about in regards to canning...well, in relation to canning and 'going green'. Does anyone besides me ever think about how much less garbage there would be if everyone canned the majority of what they used. The jars are used over and over...I have two or three jars that I bet are at least 40 or 50 years old, maybe older. They are from home, and were old when I was a kid.

The only thing to throw away is the little dome lids that seals the jar....that is less than one end of a metal can of something.

Garden views

The other morn when I had my camera out I took these photos....I like the simplicity of them.
I planted some birdhouse gourds along the fence....I can't even remember if I have ever planted these gourds before. I was hoping they would grow up the fence....
and they are, but they are also growing up my tomatoes and the tomato stakes. I almost feel I am in a jungle when I am out there.
But I am still glad I planted them. I just hope I have some gourds that reach a good size.

And they don't seem to slow the tomatoes down....I made 4 quarts and a pint of salsa night before last, and need to make more. I like making salsa because I cannot find any to buy that tastes good consistently. Year before last I made 26 quarts of it, which lasted Sarah and Jeremy and us till this year. Though Sarah may have been out a little while.

Our other daughter, Rachel, likes thick and chunky salsa, so she had rather buy her own because my salsa has lots of juice, which is the way I like it.

From the back yard garden spot

I decided to see what was out in the garden this afternoon...and thought I would show you what I brought in...
or most of it. I did gather a few more full-sized tomatoes but did not try to fit them in the picture.
I could not believe all the cherry tomatoes...they are big cherry but little when compared to a regular tomato.
I have never used them to make salsa, but they seem to have lots of flavor. And I actually used enough of the Super Fantastic tomatoes to make more than half the salsa. So, it should have lots of flavor. My salsa has a lot of juice, which is what I like. I just hope I get to can several more jars.

As for the bell peppers, we cleaned them and I cut them into strips. I put a handful in a sandwich baggie and close the flap. Then I place all the pepper filled sandwich baggies into a large gallon sized Ziploc baggie and freeze for later use. I use them in chili and sometimes spaghetti sauce. And instead of making stuffed peppers, I make a bell pepper casserole. I also will use them in stir-fry if I don't have a fresh one available.

I sure enjoy eating tomatoes straight from the garden...right now I am eating them with salt. Later I will start using Italian salad dressing part of the time. And have you ever taken your favorite veggies-- in my case it is tomatoes, cucumbers, cauliflower, onions, bell peppers--anyway, cut them in bite sized pieces. Use a big bowl that has a lid, and cover with Italian dressing....let soak over night preferably. They are so yummy and refreshing on a hot summer day.