Winding down

Summer is, that is. We've certainly had a whirlwind of activity this summer. This past week I was on tour with Brian's band, the SmallTown Heroes. We traveled to Bloomington, IN and then on to Tennessee and North Carolina. It was a lot of travel time and we learned lots about how to do this the next time, as the learning curve was kind of big. But, it was lots of fun to see them play and visit some friends and meet some people and see some new places--like Asheville, NC--a very cool town I'd love to go back to and explore some more!

I've been in a flurry trying to deal with my garden that has been sorely unattended for 2 weeks + at a very pivotal time for harvesting. I feel like between trips I've been picking lots of overgrown things and trying to figure out what to do with them (make zucchini bread and freeze shredded zucchini, lots of refrigerator pickles) and the canning has begun!! So far this year I've done salsa, green beans, banana peppers, and...drumroll, please....peaches! I picked 3/4 bushel today at Annie's Orchard out near Ross Camp. So today has been all about peaches. I made a pie first thing, then set to canning and freezing some. Tomorrow I'll do some more peach jam. Tomatoes are going to be ready soon too. Although of the 16 plants, it turns out that about 12 of them are cherry tomatoes. I am trying to figure out what to do with them. Can them? Juice them? I just don't know yet.

We're starting to prepare to go back to work/school. We haven't actually done anything yet. It's more of a mental preparation. ; ) The kids are excited--especially Mary, since she is starting kindergarten, we are not. I could use another month, but I'll be fine.