Making Sweet Pickles

Our garden is bursting with tomatoes and cucumbers! Even the hailstorm a few weeks ago could not deter these hardy plants from their destiny. Of the six tomato plants Graham put in, the Juliet is the reigning champion! The fruit from that plant look like miniature Romas and they grow in clusters, like grapes almost. Every day we fill the windowsill.

The cucumbers have been close to overwhelming too. The seed packet Graham bought is for pickling cucumbers, so these grow to only 4 - 5 inches long. They are perfect for bread and butter, or sweet, pickles. It only takes about thirty minutes after the initial ice bath (which is a leisurely three hours).

The pickling process takes the iced cucumber slices and onions into a pot of boiling vinegar, sugar and spice mixture. The sterilized jars are then filled, fastened and placed in a water bath.

Once all the jars are covered and submerged, the bath needs to boil rapidly for ten minutes.

After the jars are removed you can hear a musical popping sound as the lids are securely tightened. In the limited experience I have with canning, I find sweet pickles to be the most satisfying, both for their methodology and their flavor.

Baby Presents

Several of my family and friends are having babies this summer. And they are all having boys. The last little baby girl is now a year old and my pink stash has remained hidden away in the quilt closet.

I had plenty of time to make a quilt for my great niece in Pennsylvania. She isn't due until September. I picked a pattern that was new to me and really enjoyed learning a new skill. Putting the requested blues and greens together reminded me so much of the first quilt I made for Adrian. Meredith also selected blues and greens and his quilt turned out beautifully.

While waiting to take the top to Kingsland for finishing, I decided to make a pillow cover to match the quilt. I had one set of "geese" left and turned it into a pocket for the pillow. It will be a nice place to put an extra diaper or two.

I had a real surprise in my email last week with the announcement that our friend from Romania and his wife are expecting a baby boy in June. Yikes! That's not nearly enough time to make a quilt, so I peeked on her registry and saw some monkey themes and found some cute fabric for a pillow cover with a pocket to hold a burp cloth. We're so happy for Razvan and Anissa, and especially for Razvan's mother in Romania who has wished for this day for many years.

Once a Mom, Always a Mom

Just when you think you've outgrown the stage of "motherhood," Mother's Day rolls around and your lovely children remind you that your position will remain with you forever! What a privilege.

Reaching into my vast storehouse of wisdom (crack a smile when you read that!), I find two wonderful truths about children...

Daughters will give you grandchildren.

                   And sons will give you flowers.

This and That

I'm titling this picture "Pensive Puppy." I was heading up the stairs and saw this sweet little face watching me. Fortunately I had my camera in hand and snapped this memory. She must have been waiting to see if I was coming back up before deciding to come down herself. I love these moments.



This is our first attempt at growing carrots in the garden. These look like they're going to be delicious, probably in another month. Maybe we'll get to eat one before we leave for France. Because we started a lot of our veggies in pots, some how we managed to get a little confused in identifying what was what! So we have a little wager going as to what is growing behind the carrots. We were guessing cucumbers, but our yardman thinks it's cantaloupe. Only time will tell!

Pickles... er, rather, Cucumbers! We have a whole mess of cucumbers growing in this part of the garden. Last year I made several jars of bread and butter pickles, and I can't wait to harvest enough cukes this year to do the same.





The Juliet tomatoes are producing like rabbits! This one plant has taken over a big part of the tomato section and has dozens of tomatoes on it. We have already picked a few hands full and enjoyed them on our salad. We've also cooked a pot of green beans from the little bush bean plants - very tasty and tender beans. Looking forward to some yellow squash and zucchini soon.

Graham and I went up to Kingsland again last Wednesday to take a quilt top to the quilter. Her shop is just across the way from the Colorado River where it flows into Lake LBJ. There is a photo stop at the top of the hill where you can park your car and get out to enjoy the view. And what a view it is! We love the short drive there and, especially, having lunch at different restaurants before heading back home. There's some really good catfish in Marble Falls.

Okay, one last picture of Savannah. She so loves to be outside and she especially loves it when Graham and I are outside with her. then she can really show off her stalking and chasing skills. We keep the squirrel feeder stocked with corn and the squirrels have figured out that Savannah is more bark than bite. They still run across the fence and into the neighbor's yard when she chases, but that does not deter their frequent return.

Looks like it's going to be a good summer!