My Current Mindset...

After a full day of (for me, arduous) work, this is where my mind is today. I got the dogs out for a bit of romping, made coffee, and Handsome and I are currently enjoying our morning cuppas.

My knee hurts. My shoulders are sore, and my mind is weary. I'd love to stay in bed and sleep, but I'm too achey to be comfortable. 

So instead, I'm going to sip my coffee with my feet up, be grateful for another day, and not complain. I'm going to simply "be" for a bit, and decide where the rest of this day will lead me.

If you're feeling the same, know you're not alone. You're never alone. Someone you may not even know loves and cares that you're here. It's okay to just "be". 

Have a blessed, peaceful day, my dears.

Baking For Barter...

Shelly and Andy gave us some beautiful eating cucumbers and a watermelon they grew next door, so I wanted to reciprocate to say thank you. For me, that means baking. I've made the same arrangement with my friends, Dawn and Pete.

I wanted to try adding a new ingredient to my cinnamon rolls, and then make caramel pecan rolls to add a new variety to my repertoire.

I made a sixteen rolls, sending half to Shelly and Andy and their grandsons who are visiting. The rest stayed her. (I have to test them, after all!) Sorry, I didn't stop for pictures until the big tray went next door.  

Handsome tried the pecan rolls, and allowed as how I could make them any time. Later I got a message from Shelly that they loved the new ones, too. That means now I can offer cinnamon rolls, caramel pecan rolls and/or farmhouse bread and hamburger buns to barter for fresh produce for eating and canning.. I feel really great about that.

I'm back to work today, but I wanted to tell you my schedule is changing. Beginning August 17th, I'll be working Mondays from 6 am until 10 am; Tuesdays from 6 am to 10 am (instead of  6 am until 4 pm or my previous 10 am to 4 pm); and then my regular Friday evenings from 4 pm until 6:30 or 7 pm. 

I'll have this schedule (by choice) until I have my knee surgery in October. I'll definitely need to get to bed early on the nights before my new work days! I'm looking forward to it, too!

I'd better get crackin' now, though. I still have two six-hour Tuesdays before I start the new schedule. I don't want to be late, so I'll see you tomorrow!

 

Pizza Sauce...

I had four quarts of tomatoes left in our freezer and decided to use them for homemade pizza sauce. I left them to thaw overnight, and yesterday morning, not only were they ready, but all the excess water from the tomatoes easily drained off.

I removed the cores and skins, and then put the tomato "meat" in my small electric roaster. I added chopped onion, and added garlic, fresh basil leaves, Italian seasoning, and two twelve ounce jars of my homemade Rotel to liven it up a bit.

Once in the roaster, I set the temperature and let it cook down for a couple hours. When it was ready, I put 1/2 tablespoon of lemon juice in each jar and filled them with my pizza sauce. Into the water bath canner for twenty five minutes, once the water is at a hard boil, and it's shelf-stable until we need it.

Now, we have more pizza sauce to refill what we've been using. I'll share stitching progress photos tomorrow, but had to share these beautiful jars first.