Snapshots from the Harvest

• Vats of applesauce
• Scads of potatoes (115 lbs) - the fingerling, La Ratte!
• Tomatoes up the wazoo - sauce, salsa, soup
• Green tomatoes under paper in the root cellar
• Shelling the dried beans from the dried-up pods
• Sore wrists and fingers, work-worn
• Shorter days and a frenzied pace to get everything done before cold weather
• 9:00 pm evening meals
• 5 quarts of salsa fermenting on the counter
• Tru-babes potty-training all the while (it is going so well)
• Sweet Diego helping, and being of actual assistance, on the potato dig - so sincere and happy in his efforts (with the added joy of finding worms)
• A slowly-filling root cellar, the scales balanced with a steadily-emptying garden
• The feeling of true anticipation for winter -- snowed in with nothing to do
• Looking at the root cellar and feeling a sense of accomplishment and pride
• Happy, the end (not really)
• 1 more month to go!

Queen Victorious

After a pleasant work day with a friend - with an evening break for berry-picking - 60 lbs of tomatoes and a variety of peppers and garlic and onions became 16 quarts of salsssssssa and 3 quarts spicy tomato juice. It pretty much rules.

Needless to say, I am very pleased with myself.
Now . . . shower, and bed.

But it was so fun

Did I really just spend over an hour perusing Facebook while my children were sleeping when I should have been hanging laundry, making breakfast, and prepping for salsa-making?

Oh yes, I did. And that, my friends, is why I only go on Facebook once a month. It becomes my own personal black hole.

Harumph!

I don't know how he does it

Some how, some way, this little turkey wakes up an hour and a half into his nap, pretty much on the dot. On the dot. How?? But the better question . . . why???

There are no 2-3 hour naps for this kid (which is what Diego always did, and I see how wonderful that is now). It's an hour and a half -- one-point-five. He sometimes goes back to sleep if I snuggle with him, but not always.

And it has been that way from the start.

I wish that blessed nap was longer --

Good thing he's so cute.

♥ Trubies ♥

Megajam

The stats:

• 20 lbs of Concord grapes, now grape jam (done with Pomona's Universal Pectin with 1/4 of the amount of sweetener, so you can actually taste the grape-y-ness of the grapes - totally tubular)
• 10 more pounds of grapes, waiting to join their jammy-brethren
• 60 lbs of tomatoes, now 15 quarts of tomato sauce
• 30 lbs more tomatoes sitting in the kitchen, waiting to become tomato soup to go with our grilled cheese sandwiches this winter
• After that, salsssssssa
• 4 trays of apple leather in the dehydrator, drying
• 1 gallon of apple wine fermenting
• 10 lbs crab apples picked
• 100-ish? lbs of apples picked
• 6 guomi bushes discovered, loaded with berries (1 pint picked before twilight, mosquitoes and a crabbing 2 year old put a stop to the festivities)
• 1/2 pint raspberries picked
• 1/2 pint dessert gooseberries picked
• (All the fruit was picked from our neighbor's place: the Polish beekeeping bare-footed 82 year old beauty queen, Walentyne . . .)

Yessssssssssssssss. It is so satisfying.

Jamming

My cousins' cousin plays the upright bass in this stringband, Pert' Near Sandstone. I've been listening to them the last week and this here is my favorite song. It's terrific, and hearkens back to a period of time in my and Squeeze's relationship that felt very much like this. (We just couldn't get enough of each other, though.) ♥

Oh, and I spent 12 hours in the kitchen yesterday processing and canning 8 quarts of Barbara Kingsolver's tomato sauce (Animal, Vegetable, Miracle) and 5-ish pints of grape jam (picked at our neighbor's place, the beekeeper). It started out as 30 lbs of German Pink tomatoes and 10 lbs of Concord grapes at 2:00 PM. I went to bed at 2:30-ish AM, but it was well worth my efforts. Delish.

Where I've been these past two weeks

My brother and SIL were here all last week, with Meeeeeeeellllviiiiiiin; with another brother and cousin here last weekend. Their visits overlapped on Saturday. It was pleasant visiting and good quality-time with my kinfolk.

Other than all that, I've been up to my eyeballs in grapes, tomatoes and apples - converting into jam and sauces - and we have started the process of bare-buns potty training with Little Truen. He is taking it very well, extremely responsive and totally pumped about his new Star Chart.

We've been crazy-busy. Now look at some pictures.

Melvin, obsessing at the Prairie Preserve

Andrew and Brenda about to disembark

The boys were not cooperating
(but snuggles o'plenty after the picture)

Looking off into the wild blue . . . corn

Heartening

Two interesting links:

First off, check out this story about a preemie born unexpectedly at 24 weeks due to an infection of the womb. She had an irregular heartbeat, wasn't breathing, and was placed on her mother's chest to die -- but she didn't -- her mom's skin-on-skin snuggle brought her back. No joke!

Secondly, check out this Etsy shop, Star of the East. Dreamy.

Understatement of the year: the most amazing sky ever

These pictures were taken well over a month ago; but, in spite of their age, are well-worth posting. The sky was the most spectacular shades of blue and purple and red. The texture of the clouds made it seem as if you could eat them, and all the earth was tinted red. (Baby Truen, playing in a puddle in the driveway, was an orangey-pink, both hair and skin.)

Every part of the upper atmosphere - north, south, east, west, and every combination of direction - was different, and wonderous. It was an incredible sight; all we could do was stare upwards and try to take it all in.

House jargon

Diego says,

"Skeeter Bikes", instead of Speeder Bikes
"Damana", instead of banana
"Audweady", instead of already
"Imn't", instead of I'm not


Truen says,

"Nuggle", for snuggle
"Buh-doh", for butter
"Bruh-doh", for brother
"Wey-si", for raisin
"Manana", for banana

And I'm okay with that

Aside from being a little flummoxed about my un-announcement, I truly am okay with not being pregnant. A few people have asked me if I'm okay . . .

And, yes - I'm fine. A bit perplexed with a dash of embarrassment, but I'm good. Though I was starting to get excited about the idea of a new baby and the thrill that goes along with it, I really did want more space between Two and Three.

As for the future, we shall see . . .

This happens all the time, right...?

So, in light of my last post, albeit rather dramatic . . . ahem . . . I'd like to un-announce my pregnancy.

Yes, that is correct. The friggin' doofus that I am, I'd like to un-announce my pregnancy. Take back. Renege. Recant. Withdraw. Retract. Un-announce.

Un-un-un-un.

Unbelievable. So yes, while most everyone thinks I'm happily humming through my twelfth week of pregnancy, I am here to say, officially, that I am, in fact, NOT pregnant.

I thought I was.

Yes, I thought I was, but I am not.

How is this possible? What it does explain is my lack of extreme exhaustion and need to eat like an overworked team of oxen. What it doesn't explain is the strange tightening of my waistband, the ever-present need to pee, sore nipples, and why I hadn't had my period since the end of May. Shoot, I just figured every pregnancy was different.

Things this past week were starting to feel a little goofy, like, shouldn't my belly be a little bigger than this? . . . and why am I not tired at all? . . . and most alarming, . . . blood. So we decided it was time to take a pregnancy test. [Ahem, a first for this time 'round . . . coughcough . . . mmmmph]

Negative.

So, ladies, please: un-congratulate me. I am NOT pregnant. What I AM, however, is a complete and total nincompoop. This whole deal was announced to my entire family while I was home (too-good-to-be-true, everyone-in-the-same-place-at-the-same-time) and then, doorknob that I am, to the entire internet via my blog. Yes, I thought I was, but I am not.

Most definitely not.

Un-un-un-un.

Don't do the math, it doesn't add up

9 years married +

13 years together +

11 weeks NOT pregnant =

TOTAL DWEEB

Happy Anniversary!

Checking in

Head on over to my SIL's blog, "Rock Garden" for an in-depth photo montage from some big family events. That sibs picture just cracks me up!

Secondly, I'm re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-obsessed with the Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator. Go! Take the test and report back in the comments. I'm very curious to hear your results.

Once you get your letter combo, i.e. ISFJ or ENTJ, google it and click on "Portrait of..." Make sure you click on the Relationship section.

Muy interesante.

Sibs

Two girls, three boys

The girls in "bookend" position in birth order

Brown-eyed boys - Blue-eyed girls

e/infp, enfp, istp, infp, infp

(an astounding ratio)

24, 31, 30, 21, 26

Love 'em

Scenes from my brother's wedding

This one's for the boys

KT, tell Luuuuuuke; and Amy, tell RC.  Shooooot, Dist - if you're looking at this, tell T. Spence, too.  (I don't think Runyan ever cared, but maybe he did.) 

I trimmed the old pits (with scissors) upon their suggestion, and I must say - I like the new look. 

Think bunny tails vs. Wookie.

Chillin' in the heat

It is downright sweltering in Western WA.  Seriously. 

Haaaaaaaaaaaat.

I don't have much else to say other than that.  We've been spending a lot of time with grandma and grandpa, great-grandma, and the great-aunts.  Think, "Gwamma, will you play Star Wars guys with me?" or, "Gwampaaaaa!" [insert frenzied snuggling here] and, "Gweat-Gwamma, I founds lots 'n lots of moths outside last night!" etc. That, and being serenaded by, "Life is Like a Mountain Railroad" by my grandma.  

[For Ashlik: "woof-woof, boom-boom - merry christmas, happy new year"]

Tru-babes [or "Do", as Diego calls him] has started a few new tricks, like throwing and hitting.  Think lots of, "Maaaamaaaa...Do hit me!"  Oh dear...  It doesn't help that Diego can be heard, on the presumed-sly, saying, "Do!  Hit me!"  Too tantalizing.

We are getting the house ready for my brother's wedding next weekend.  The ceremony and reception is going to be right here, at my parents' place.  It should be lovely.  I am really looking forward to it.  And my new(ish) SIL.  Awwww, shucks.  What a gal.  I'm quite fond.  I just went to her bachelorette party last night and watched her "pin the junk on the hunk"; though she was the last to go, and, instead, pinned her junk on another previously-pinned-junk.  Ha!  It was fun to see her outside of a family event.  I learned quite a bit of interesting tidbits about my brother, too.  (Another HA!)  It was fun.

And now, adieu. 

Glazed

Here I sit, enjoying the silence, with my mom asleep behind me and my boys sawing logs above me, and my lover 1,300 miles away.  And all I can do is stare.  My mind is blank.  

zzzzzzzzzzzz

G'night!

Here we are...

At home, in Western WA

"More later"