Canning Storm

Spent the better part of the last week canning.

Picked up a huge box of pears from my house that I rent out, and then picked up two lugs of prune plums in Rio Dell.

Add three quarts of huckleberries, and this is what you get:

I love canning.   The whole process is just enjoyable labor. And I enjoy the fruits of that labor all year long.  The Christmas gift baskets this year are going to be mighty scrumptious, I do believe.  :)

From left to right, pear sauce, pear butter, plum butter, plum jam, lemon-ginger-plum jam, royal plums.

From left to right, royal plums (repeat), harlequin pear jam, pear chutney, pear marmalade, Asian pear sauce, plum chutney.

From left to right, plum chutney (repeat), pear jam, spicy plum chutney, hot pear chutney, huckleberry jam, canned pears.

Not pictures: 6 pints of dried plums, 4 quarts of canned plums, and two quarts of plum juice.

Phew.  I think it will be a while before I pull out the blackberries, peaches, and nectarines in the freezer to make jam!

I'm a Barn Cat

Bobby, 2005

Bobby, 2011

Anyone who has spent any time at my friend Sharon's pasture knows Bobby. He's a barn cat with a rap sheet.  He was kicked out of several barns before landing with Sharon, where he's lived a great life. 

Phenomenal hunter, he weeded out all the weak quail until the flocks that dared to live in his field were slim, fast, and wary.  He slimmed down the population of gophers, as well. Many a riding lesson has been interrupted with a gift of a severed gopher's head, laid in the dust.

Bobby and his Sam, June 2011

Take 2, June 2011

Bobby and his boy, in the grass, June 2011

Bobby was a force to be reckoned with, and not a cat to be trifled with. If he wanted petting, he'd let you know. And when he was done being petted, he'd let you know that, too. Part Bobcat, Bobby had tenacity and fire, legs that could send him in a vertical leap a kangaroo would be pleased with, and a wrestlers bandi-legged walk.

Bobby is well loved, and he leaves a large hole in many lives.  He will be missed and remembered.
Rest well dear Bobby.

Bobby, out standing in his pasture, 2011

A video from Youtube, "I'm a Barn Cat"   dedicated to Bobby....