Have I Ever Told You

(I don't know how these things keep coming out in reverse order)
How much I LOVE to put things in bottles and pressure cook them? I get such a sense of accomplishment. A sense of "hey this is my contribution" It's hard work, it takes a long time, and it is completely rewarding.
I had all but given up on thinking I was going to bottle this year. Our tomatoes haven't gotten much bigger than a Roma, and I dreaded the thought to peeling 1000 tomatoes that would only yield a batch of sauce. But, I got a call yesterday from a friend who knew where I could get a decent price on tomatoes, "did you want any?" Sure, bring my 2 bushels. Well, I got 1/4 of the way into them and realized I didn't have enough lids. SO I peeled and cored 1 bushel, did 2 batches with the lids I had left, and still felt good. I still need to process the other 2 batches, but that's the easy part. Then tomorrow I'll do some whole and maybe some paste. I think I am going to try to cram as much canning into the next 2 weeks as I 'can'. This is going to be easier with 2 kids, than 3. I wish peaches pears and apples would get ready before the end of September.
Off the canning topic, I have decided I REALLY like our dog. It was a little touch and go those first few weeks. He barked and barked and barked the other night, and kept me up almost all night. In the morning we found out someone had been in our yard. Good dog. that's what they are supposed to do. If you know where our house is located, you would know why, a dog is a must. So this morning, my mom calls, and about 10 minutes into the conversation, I realize I hadn't seen 4 of 5 for a few minutes. That is always really bad. I always keep the doors locked, and make eye contact with her every 10 minutes or so. So I look up stairs down stairs, out in back, I can't find her. I think, just go check the front door. It's closed, but not locked. Crap. So I go outside, there the 2 of them are feeding weeds to the chickens. It's odd, because the dog takes off if he gets out. And, 4 of 5 takes off if she gets out. But there they were just sitting there. The dog even went to the fence to get back in, when I told them to go inside. I think, we'll keep him. Until he does something dumb, like eat the cherry tree, again.