Since yesterday was rather stressful I fixed myself a nice cup of coffee in the French press before I got settled in my recliner. It really did the trick and was very easy and quick to prepare. Coffee prepared this way has a richer taste than coffee made in the drip maker. The rest of the day went pretty well until the evening when I texted our daughter, Audrey, about a conversation in my knitting group about canning.
She’d had a pretty rough day and apologized if she’d been snippy or rude with her dad or I. She hadn’t. I told her no problem. It’s the first week of October and we understand. It’s the anniversary of the birth of her stillborn baby, Jeremiah. He would have been ten years old today. I knew she wouldn’t get much sleep and I had a feeling that neither would I for that matter. Brad brought me a glass of The Glenlivet to sip on before heading to bed.
Change of subject:
I really, really, really will get some knitting done today! I’ve been reading quite a bit in between housework and puttering in my studio so I’ve not got more than a few rows done on the green lace socks in the past week and that was while I was at the chiropractor’s office yesterday morning. But I’m enjoying the Dragonriders of Pern series and after reading the first trilogy I skipped ahead to Dragonsdawn when the settlers from Earth arrived on Pern 200 years after the exploration team had been there. The original designation for the planet was P.E.R.N. meaning Parallel Earth, Resources Negligible, recommended for colonization. The amazing thing is that I remembered that after decades since I first read the series!
Back to the online conversation about canning:
A couple of the ladies mentioned storing empty canning jars with water in them after putting them through a ten minute water bath. The sub-zero temps in Texas in early 2021 was mentioned and I thought that would be a great way to store water safely and not have empty jars sitting around. If you end up not needing the water all you have to do is pour it out and you have clean jars ready to use.
I just happen to have a huge aluminum kettle out in the garage that I’ve had almost as long as we’ve been married. My dad bought it at a sale when Sherman High School was moving into their ‘new’ building in the 1970’s. There is a newer ‘new’ HS building now on the west side of Sherman. After 50+ years it’s not unusual to need a new High School. Same for Denison where I went to school. Their new building is north of town with plenty of room for expansion. Hard to believe it’s been fifty years since I graduated from DHS. Yeah, now I’m feeling old again!
There had been many a pot of soup made in that thing over the decades when it was in use at the school. I used it quite a few times myself to soak yarn or fiber before dyeing it in enamel pots outdoors. I never used it for a dye pot though, only enamel or stainless for me! I’ve also got a couple of propane tanks and burners to go with it so Audrey can use them outdoors for some of her canning instead of heating up the kitchen. It will easily hold her two-quart, wide-mouth jars. I’ll need to clean everything up well before taking it out to the farm. I’ll wait until she lets me know that she’s ready and has a place to put it all before we transport everything to her place.
I’ve got plenty to do today and pray for a peaceful, quiet, productive day. I pray the same for all ya’ll. God bless.
Rural Texas Knitter 