Raspberries and Cherries

Last week Kristina and I picked and canned Raspberry jam....aren't they so pretty?

Then on Saturday my mom and I went to pick cherries on the opening day at Shady Lane Orchards. There were so many people there that it felt like 1/2 of Roseburg was out picking. Cherries are one of our favorites, and there was a boutiful supply. Tomorrow we will be picking blueberries at our favorite place. However, the berries around here are kinda scarce. Two main suppliers have now gone to strictly commercial selling. Lately, I really dislike other pickers, especially when they come onto the row that I was assigned, or when they reach their hands through the rows to my side, I just want to slap it. I am hoping to show a some restraint tomorrow, but if another picker dares to cross me I am not responsible for my actions =0)!!

Another Year Older

Tuesday was my birthday and I had a great day. I REALLY wanted and needed new car mats for my car. My old ones were nasty, deformed, and never stayed in place. Jason got me the best car mats I had ever had...who knew car mats could be so exciting? We went down to my parent's for a family celebration. They gave me this huge heavy box. I tried to guess the contents, but failed. When I opened it up there was a humongous brick wrapped in the Sunday ads, along with the product description of a Kitchen Aid food processor, which was something I really wanted with all the canning we do. It is supposed to arrive sometime today, and I can't wait. I just get excited looking at it online. It slices, diced, chops, shreds, purees, juices, has a citrus press, and comes with all the high speed blades and gadgets!Kristina got me the jars I have been admiring and they were filled with my favorite goodies from Kruse Farms, along with some home decor. What a great day!

Strawberry Time!

One of my favorite signs of summer is when the strawberries are on, which means the start of the picking and canning seasons. On Friday I showed Kristina how to make jam at her house. Last year she and I canned and made syrups, pie fillings, salsa, peaches, whole tomatoes, roasted tomato sauce, peaches, and apple sauce. This year we are going to enter some into the county fair.I always make sure that Kristina has enough ingredients on hand. She was sure she had enough sugar for the jam, and I just knew she didn't. So she had to leave in the middle of jam making and bought a 25lb bag of sugar. I didn't even know sugar came in such large quantities!!
This is about 1/2 of the jam we made. She got 32 pints and 40 half pints...all in a day's work!

Unwanted Visitor

I hate raccoons! We had this huge raccoon who would come and harass our outside kitties nightly. Finally we tried to trap him. However, this isn't an average raccoon. He is the FATTEST one I have ever seen. His rear end was so large that he was able to walk out of the first trap backwards because of his huge rear! When we got a bigger trap he was caught, however no one slept that night. He was so loud, pulled off the piece of plywood that covered the top of the trap and growled, hissed, scratched, and literally used his body to rock the trap the entire night. I wanted Jason to shoot the creature into smithereens. We live close to being out side city limits, but Jason was worried about being fined. So a trapper took the raccoon away and relocated him. However, there is a new raccoon that I saw last night visiting.....grrrr!

The Best Day Ever

Today was the last full day of school, and tomorrow we have a half day left. Two nights ago Susan and I went shopping for an end of the year gift for the kids. We got them sand buckets and filled them with a $5.00 DQ gift card, summer goodies, coloring books, math flash cards, etc. The kids had no idea.

I couldn't resist capturing the looks of their faces when they first walked in!

At the end of the day, the kids (and Cheryl and Jessica) gave me a framed and signed photo collage that was mounted and the kids signed their name on the mounting. Then I got three gift certificated to my favorite places!! I guess they had been planning this for a while and even sent home notes to parents.....I was shocked that the kids kept the secret for so long....I was totally clueless. Never in my six years of teaching have I received a gift so generous, personal, or so nice. I even got a little teary. I am a little saddened though. This class has been one of the better classes I have had in a while. They are also my last second grade class, as I will be teaching first grade next year. This time of year is always a little bitter sweet for me! I just love and get so attached to my kids. They truly are a wonderful group and I will miss them bunches!