Yesterday & Today

Here is our mouser cat.  Her name is Tina. Her purpose is to catch, kill, and eat mice and rats that invade our yard.  

These are jars of grape juice canned with Grandpa & Grandma Great's grapes. This juice is fantastic! 

Canning fun

I decided to try again with some canning. The tomato sauce didn't seal properly but it didn't leak all over the water bath either.  It wasn't until I took it out to let it sit that it started to ooze out. Andy noticed the ring was slightly bent and after removing it we noticed the seal had the same bend. So that was a bust. 

The second attempt was to use the Oscar carcass to brew up some ever useful pints of chicken stock. It yielded five pints.  I can't wait to use it in a recipe!  

I also dried tomatoes to use in ketchup and I dried the skins (of the five pounds of tomatoes used for the tomato sauce) to make a powder. I can add the powder to water to make fresh paste anytime I need some!  

Mini Greenhouses

We decided to place jars over some of our seedlings to give them a little extra warmth. We have had ups and downs with the weather lately, so I hope it helps a little. The biggest problem with this idea is providing adequate air flow. Our plants need to breathe, so I'll have to give them some fresh air in the morning.