Summer has set in with its usual severity.
~Samuel Taylor Coleridge
My return home from the Buffa10 garden bloggers meet-up was timed to coincide with hubby’s first full week of summer vacation. Not surprisingly it also coincided with an abundant flush of ripe fruits and vegetables in the garden. Beans, summer squash, onions, garlic, potatoes, carrots, blackberries, peppers and herbs were ready and waiting for me, a few tasty recipes and the canning kettle.
Of course the teens were not thrilled at the thought of me working away their father’s precious days off, so we decided to enjoy family time around my harvest and cooking schedule. I started canning each morning at 6:30 a.m. while the kitchen was quiet and relatively cool. I accomplished cooking several batches of salsa, a batch of pickles and a few varieties of jams and jellies. By the time the kettle was washed and dried and the sticky spots of jam scrubbed from the stovetop; the teens were up, fed, dressed and (sort of) awake. That’s when the ‘vacation’ part of the day began.
We stayed close to home last week, enjoying favorite day trips and activities we don’t always find time for with hectic schedules. We canoed, attended a baseball game, picked currants in the rain, returned to Buffalo one day with our eldest daughter tagging along, and toured the butterfly habitat at the Strong National Museum of Play right here in Rochester. We’ve had fun, enjoyed a much-needed break for a few days and took quite a few pictures for our scrapbooks!
Here are a peek at what we’ve been up to while the garden was growing:
The USS Little Rock, a WWII missile cruiser.
The Sullivans WWII destroyer. Four brothers died together on this ship.
Family fun should always include a ball game!
Perfect seats...three rows behind home plate!
The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra played after we WON!
Blue morpho butterfly with wings closed.
Hairy moth on a leaf.
We have a lot of heirloom beans in the shelley stage...my favorite!
Making maple bread and butter summer squash pickles.
We saw several large herons along the creek as we paddled.
It doesn’t matter how far you travel, as long as the family is along for the fun! Now back to the garden….
Lisa,
Looks like you all had a great time. I love old war ships. We have one near us that we have slept on called the USS Hornet im told it is very haunted! We also love to go to baseball games. I love spending time with the family. I have been canning away myself, I forget how much work it is. Luckily we have late winter and early spring off from canning so much. Have a great day lisa!
Jenn
Aww, thank you Jenn! You’re right, spending time with the family is my favorite… goodness it gets busy as the kids get older! It was nice to take a break and have some fun. I hope your family is well and you’re enjoying every minute of summer!!
Sounds like you had a fun week! Love the photos of the butterfly,heron and moth. You must can all summer! What fun.