A Day at the Lake

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When I am an old woman with feeble legs and wrinkly, thin-skinned hands...I think that days like yesterday will pleasantly fester in my heart. They will simmer with fondness and warmth.


I will remember the cool crystal water and the tiny pebbles between our toes.


Lake chelan emma rocks1


I will smile as I remember the playfulness and the feelings of being utterly carefree.


Lake chelan hannah splashing1


I will laugh at the sound of girlish giggles and games involving ducks, both imaginary...


Lake chelan duck duck goose1


and real!


Lake chelan chasing ducks1


I will taste the warm fruit we ate- fresh from the tree,


Lake chelan sharing fruit1


and recall six little friends who's company could not be paralleled.


Lake chelan group shot1


Mostly, I will remember the smiles of my impish children and how their paunchy bellies poked out from behind their bathing suits.


Lake chelan laurel on beach1


I will long for the days when they called me "Mama" and stole away from their play often for a quick kiss.


Lake chelan us1


I will remember our summer days at the lake and feel young again.

Storing up

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It is usually about this time of year that I start freaking out when I think about the coming winter months and the lack of fresh, local, tasty food that we are enjoying right now.


There is just something so comforting about putting away food from our own garden into our own jars and saving it for later.  I am making more of an effort this year to preserve what I can.


Last weekend I put a dent in the ridiculous amount of cucumbers piling up around here.  I made pickles using this recipe (I added a little red pepper to mine and used the dill growing on my deck).  There are mixed reviews on whether or not to process them in a water bath or not.  Some say that it makes the pickle mushy.  I chickened out and put the jars into the canner anyway...I have to wait two months to see how they turned out!! 


Pickles1  


I also made some apricot jam with the apricots that my friend picked for me from her in-law's orchard.  This was super easy.  No peeling or chopping!  I just split open the apricots with my hands, pulled out the pits and dropped them into the food processor.  I pulsed them until they were somewhere between roughly chopped and pureed.  Then I mixed them with the pectin (low sugar recipe this time) and cooked it like usual.  I think it would make a great Christmas gift along with some homemade whole wheat pancake mix. It looks so pretty...I might make some more. 


Apricots1  


On our trip over to the beach we stopped at the berry farm in Olympia and scored some blueberries.  I bought two flats and brought them home to freeze (just wash, drain, and put them in gallon size baggies).  We use them in muffins, smoothies, pancakes, pies, crisps, etc. I did this last year and we had eaten all of them by November! I ended up with 5 gallon sized bags.  I am rationing already :)


Blueberries1


Still waiting for tomatoes, green beans, green peppers, and squash!!