Summer Finally Got Here!

I'm pretty sure I mentioned some time back that when it got hot I would be moaning, so here I am-moaning!  I am drinking so much water I can hear my stomach slosh, I have the urge to eat salty foods, and I do not wear makeup as it will just run down the side of my face!  I am one of those people for whom summer is not fun, I am a naturally warm person (body temp and heartwise!!), I have reached the age and weight that although I can put on enough clothes in the winter to stay warm - I cannot decently take off enough in the summer to stay cool.  (people would probably pay me to put them back on!)  We do not have air conditioning in our home, so the constant hum you hear is the multitude of fans.  The good thing about having active sweat glands is that if I stand in front of a fan I become my own evaporative cooler!  :)

almost big enough for sweet pickles

OK - I got that out of the way, I love what the heat is doing in the garden!  June was pleasant for me but too cool for huge growth in the garden.  The past few days of heat have just made things pop!  I have 6 cucumbers and a large turnip in the fridge waiting to be eaten.  The corn is growing at a noticeable rate as are the beans, the peas are like me - happier when it is cool, but the sunflowers are getting tall.  This year more of my herbs came up but I am not sure my dill will get big enough before I need it, may have to buy some for the early pickles.  I cleaned out the pickle supplies when we went to California as the kids were all out so I am hoping to have

Waist high already

plenty of cucumbers for both sweet and dill this year.  I would also like to get enough red beets to pickle a couple of jars so we shall see.

The cherry tree was loaded this year and we ended up with a total of 5 gallons of cherries!  They weighed about 25 lbs and at the going rate in the stores that is between $80 and $100 worth of cherries!  (organic cherries were as high as $6 a pound this tree is definitely organic borderline wild) That from a tree we don't even water!  Thank goodness the cherries are done now so I can do a new manicure!  The pitted cherries filled 9 quart jars and I added medium syrup (2 cups water and 1 cup sugar) I water bathed for 20 minutes and they all sealed!  Two years ago I did some pie filling and some in heavy syrup, this year just did the one thing which is perfect for ingredients for many desserts.  I have learned my lesson, this is much easier and gives me more options when I am ready to use them.

So now I am going to drink another glass of iced tea, focus the fan on me and try not to move enough to sweat!!  Oh and by the way kittens are little heaters!!!  (And they both want to sit on me! It's some kind of conspiracy!)