The week before this past Saturday, we took the morning and early afternoon to can some fruits. We had bought 20lbs of apricots, 20lbs of peaches, 10lbs of cherries, 10lbs of blueberries and 5lbs of nectarines. We froze the cherries and blueberries but needed to can the apricots and peaches. We thought we could can all of the apricots and peaches in the morning but only made it through the apricots by mid-afternoon. It was much more time consuming than we anticipated.
We were tired and burned out of canning so we decided to go to Trillium Lake and try out our new inflatable kayak. We bought it before we went on vacation and couldn’t wait to try it out. Trillium Lake is at the base of Mt. Hood and has a beautiful view of the mountain at the head of the lake and a reflection of the lake in the water. We partially inflated the kayak at home and headed to the lake. We inflated the large tubes on the sides once we arrived as they are the easiest to inflate. We headed out on our adventure. The water was like glass in most areas. There were a lot of people there that day so it was a little crowded, but not too bad. We cruised around for an hour or so and the sun began to set behind the mountain. It was pretty warm when we got there but once the sun went behind the mountain, it began to cool off. We headed to the shore and set up the grill for dinner. People were starting to clear out but we hung around. We had a great meal and then headed back home.
We finished the peaches the following Monday evening. If that wasn’t enough, we bought 20lbs of apples and made applesauce. In addition, we picked about three gallons of blackberries. We froze some, made blackberry syrup and blackberry jam out of the rest. The blackberries are free and grow wild everywhere. They are so good but so dangerous to pick. Dad has to venture into some of the patches and always leaves with a few scars!
Our garden has been producing unbelievable amounts of green beans. After the deer had eaten the tops of the plants on two separate occasions, we didn’t think we would get much. Dad picks a large handful every day and we get enough for a meal. We have been freezing some and eating some. The cucumbers are also doing very well and we have given some away and eating the rest. We are getting a couple a day on average. The artichoke plant is growing but no artichokes so far. We are anxious to get some. We are wondering if it will produce the first year or not. It is a perennial plant. We have also planted five blueberry bushes in the yard and multiple strawberry plants. Next year we hope to be swimming in berries. We also plan to expand our garden area to plant more beans.
The yard is also coming along nicely. We have spent a fortune on water for the lawn and it is filling in. We have more weeds than expected but are also working on getting rid of those. It still has a long ways to go but is getting there. These pictures were taken a couple of weeks ago and it looks 1000 times better now.
A woman from work and her family spent Wednesday thru Saturday with us. Mom took them to the zoo, the coast and Mt. Hood. It was nice to have company. Linda and Loretta will be visiting the end of this month and that is most likely it for the year. We have been blessed to have had; Rachel and Dean, Caleb and Camber, Todd and Jerolyn, Kari Burkhardt and her son Geron, Nellie, Ann (from work) and her family and Linda and Loretta. Grandma Georgie and Bud were going to come in May but had to cancel due to Bud’s chemotherapy. Grandma Marcell was here last November so we have had a lot of visitors.
Dad was in Kansas City last week and back on Friday, just in time for the company picnic on Saturday.
