You were a good one. Busy, joyful, full of family and friends.
The lake was warm, the cherries plentiful, the trips to the Peach Man as successful as ever.
There was music. And plenty of food.
Ice cream.
And another Banjo Man-pleasing summer of Working on the Cabin. I mean, Working on the Bunkhouse.
Yesterday Banjo Man received some great news. His recent blood test (he has one every three months) showed that his cancer is still being treated successfully. Very successfully. We are celebrating today by going to the Pie Hut in town for lunch.
So now, breathing sighs of relief, we can look forward to fall.
I sure don’t want to say goodbye to the summer of 2023, though. It may have been our busiest, but it sure was a heck of a good time.
It’s been four months since I’ve sat down at a sewing machine, but today’s the day!
The Funny Grandson is starting 7th grade, which means playing football. With a helmet. And pads. And everything.
He loves to tackle, but he would oh so rather be a wide receiver! That’s what his dreams are made of.
Because he’s not totally grown up yet, the FGG said he’d like a pillowcase with the team’s colors. And his practice jersey’s number is 16. I’m not going to iron on the number until I’m sure it’s his game jersey number, too.
The photo makes one of the greens look aqua, but it’s not. I just double-checked and it’s greener than green, which is what it has to be.
“Just like Baylor’s colors,” the FGG informed me. I wandered around the quilt store holding up my phone–featuring Baylor’s football website–to bolts of green fabrics.
Not like the Green Bay Packers, I was told. Sure enough, the Packers wear a slightly darker shade of green, though the gold looks the same.
Who knew it would be so complicated?
Have you ever made a pillowcase? Here’s a link to the instructions I use:
Many weeks ago Banjo Man declared that he wanted to go to a bluegrass concert. For his birthday. Because there would be a…wait for it…banjo.
The Travelin McCoury’s were coming to town.
The who?
I had no idea. But there would be a you-know-what on stage and that was all that mattered.
Brother George was in town, so he joined Dancing Mandolin Player and her boyfriend Bob for the show, too.
The musicians–playing banjo, guitar, mandolin, bass and fiddle–were all at the top of their field. Amazing, even. We were in awe of such talent.
I did not recognize one song because my Pandora playlists don’t play that kind of bluegrass. My tastes run to “rockygrass” and other variations that are a bit more modern and a lot more crazy.
But it was a fabulous, joyful show and everyone left smiling. That’s always a good thing!
When I discovered the steamer canner I bought in 2021 would not work on my new induction cooktop, I was very, very sad.
But Retired Mountain Lady came to the rescue and showed me hers. She even let me borrow it.
After using RML’s to can plums I couldn’t order my own fast enough. Because you are steaming and not submerging jars in hot water it is not nearly as heavy to deal with. A few inches of water in the bottom of the pan and a nifty temperature knob on the lid make canning less strenuous.
This summer I returned to the water-bath-canning method for my jams. Over forty years ago my mother-in-law taught me to invert the jam-filled hot jars, tip them back right-side up and then wait for the lids to seal. It worked for many, many years. But now canning lids have changed to thinner models and water-bath canning is the safest way to go.
Hence the mega-use of my new steamer canner.
In case you haven’t guessed, I like to make jam. And the speedy, hot, consistent temperatures from my new induction cooktop have Made Making Jam Great Again.
Plums were tempting this summer. In my younger days I had two plum trees and I spent many hours canning plums for Banjo Man’s winter snacks. Plums are so easy to can, make jam with, dry and bake with…if they are one of the freestone varieties.
The above plums were not, so pitting plums took over my life for a while.
Don’t look too closely. My plums are floating, meaning I didn’t pack the jars full enough. I remedied this mistake in following batches.
I made plum jam. And plum compote (a yummy blend of plums, cherry liqueur and walnuts to serve with cheese). And plum cakes!
Two at a time is the way to go.
Banjo Man declared the plum jam the best jam I’ve ever made. And then he said that about the cherry jam. And the apricot jam.
In other words, he loves jam.
I have finished making jam, by the way. I have finished canning peaches.
Check it out. This garden surprise is almost as long as a foot-long Subway sandwich. After three months of watching and watering my zucchini plant and having very little success in growing any, this morning’s monster was a bit of a shock.
Where has it been all my life?
I thought it was big in June. Little did I know it would triple in size.
My recent gardening woes are many. Grasshoppers ate my precious basil plants. I grew one–ONE–glorious cucumber. This endeavor has never come naturally, despite the encouragement and advice from my Master Gardener friends. For them growing things is as natural as breathing.
It’s what they do.
Me? What I do is whine.
The zucchini plant had lots of blossoms, but they were all male. I researched it, by the way. I even learned how to pollinate them and I tried it once. Yes, I really did. The flowers bloom for one day and if you take a Q-tip and swab them, you might luck out.
I didn’t. Turns out plant gynecology is not my thing.
Some little zucchini’s grew three inches long and then died.
Retired Mountain Lady even gave me a pity zucchini. Kind of a good news/bad news gift. And appreciated.
So…I do have cherry tomatoes and they are lovely. One of my basil plants has survived the invasion of grasshoppers. And my pot of sunflowers remains cheerful and blooming.
The weather was perfect. Warm but not too warm, sunny, breezy and bright. No thunderstorms on the horizon this year!
The parade had a record number of vintage automobiles. So gorgeous!
Watchers from the roof of the Pantry.
Dancing Mandolin Player marches with the Cougar Creek Band!
We’re having a good time at our usual place in front of the school.
Not too old to hang out with Grandma before the parade, thank goodness.
Yes, he’s growing up. A little too old for catching candy from the parade “floats”, but still enjoyed being squirted by the fire truck hose and running in the races after the parade.
Afterwards there was time for swimming. Naps. Burgers and hot dogs on the porch. And cherry cobbler! Amber had pitted an entire case of cherries and Dancing Mandolin Player shared her mother’s cobbler biscuit recipe, so dessert was a big hit.
And then we waited for dark.
Will built a campfire. Ben and Amber enjoyed the sunset while the Funny Grandson ran around the beach moving chairs and collecting firewood.
We expected the fireworks display to start at 10:00, but not much happened for another 30 minutes. The fireworks were few and far between, with Banjo Man suggesting they were coming from a neighbor’s yard high above us to the east. I assumed it was a particularly flawed and sparse display this year.
The boats were allowed to come into the bay, which was good, except for all the music. Whoever dreamed up building speakers on boats should be banned from outdoor events for life.
Just sayin’.
At 10:30 the “real” fireworks started! Oh, the relief! I could almost hear a sigh of relief from the cars and boats ringing the bay.
When it was over at 11:00, we staggered up the hill and went to bed. No one wanted another helping of cobbler or a bowl of ice cream. We wanted our beds, covered with quilts, to snuggle into.
Banjo Man isn’t on the construction crew, but he is definitely enjoying his supervisory role as the Bunkhouse–Formerly Known As The Annex–becomes a reality.
Banjo Man had his crew–Ben, Will and the FG–painting siding on Saturday. Today the metal roof goes on and tomorrow the siding is installed.
There are rumors of a camping trip coming soon. The weather is perfect for an overnight adventure.
The guys (of all ages) are heading up to the hill soon to help unload the metal roofing. The FG has a pair of steel-toed boots, jeans and work gloves, so he is an important part of the crew. Almost thirteen, he is a hardy kid who likes doing “guy stuff”.
Summer has begun. And no one is having a better time than Banjo Man.
is there any more pie? 