First canning of the year

The nectarines on the tree in the back yard ripened the other day.  When they get ripe, they ALL get ripe.  They don't last long, either, so you have to watch them, collect them and use them or put them up quickly or else you are left with nothing but a bunch of mushy rotten fruit.

This is one of the trees I pruned this year.  It REALLY made a difference.  I bet last year we got maybe 40-50 nectarines total.  We ate some of them and I had enough to make a cobbler.

This year was different.

This year I had two big red bowls full.

PLUS this big metal bowl full.  This bowl is quite a bit larger than my wok, to give you an idea of the size.

I treated them like peaches and cooked them down for jam.

It turned out really pretty, I think.  It's pretty tart, though.  I like tart stuff, so I'm good with that.  The kids, not so much.  More for me!  :)

Another friend with chickens update

They have a coon infestation out there!

As of this morning they have caught SEVEN.  They caught two in the same trap last night, which we all found a bit odd and amusing.

Two days ago I heard of a young man with some pullets who was downsizing due to his step-mother's ill health.  I went out there and came back with two silver laced wyandotes and three black sex links.

We took them to our friends in a pet carrier and told them we'd caught a coon, too, so we brought it to them.  They thought we'd lost our minds!

Then we told the kids to look carefully in the carrier and they were SO excited!  I'll have to get pictures of the chickens the next time we go over there.

It worked out well, we were able to help our friends replace some of their lost birds as well as assure that young man that his pullets were going to a home with three kids to spoil them rotten and love on them.  :)  

Second update on friends with chickens

So far they have caught three raccoons.  They have not caught the opossum yet.

She showed me one of the cam pics from last night.

You could clearly see the raccoon that was in the box trap.

Along with FOUR MORE standing around staring at it!

Update on our friends with chickens

I just remembered that I never updated you on this!

When our friends got back in town the killing continued.  Something got another one the first night they were back, another the second night they were back and three during the day/afternoon of a work day.

They'd finally had enough and went and bought a trap.  The first night they caught a raccoon.
The second night - nothing in the cage but digging all around the coop where they'd tried to get in.
Third night - nothing
The next day we borrowed a trail cam from another friend and took it out there so we could see what they had coming in for dinner.

That night they caught another coon on camera.  As well as a great big o'possum.

That night they got pictures of the coon lifting up the end of the cage trap to make the food fall out so it could eat it.  We'd warned them that they were smart!

The last two nights they've both been back but they haven't caught anything in the cage.  The cage is pegged into the ground now, too.

Wishing them luck!

Busy and fun weekend

I told you before that we're staring a brand new Boy Scout Troop.  This weekend we had our first camp out as a new Troop.  We had some families out of town but I think we had about 15 boys the first night and 10 the second.

It was hot, dirty, messy and a ton of fun.  I didn't stay out there with them over night because it wasn't a family Scouting trip and DH was already there, so for me to stay the other two boys would have to stay, which would make it a family outing.

Anyway, I did spend most of the weekend out there, starting Friday afternoon when we were setting up and dropping off.

It was sort-of-organized chaos.   :)

Saturday morning we'd set up a secret outing for the men to take the boys on.

While they were gone, I took my younger two children back to their camp and we moved the tents around, switching their places.  We also took neon colored streamers and 'wrapped' the place as well as decorated the cots and hammocks of the men.  I realized half way there I'd forgotten my camera but didn't have time to go back and get it, so I don't have pictures of it.  You'll have to trust me that it was colorful.  We weaved the streamers on and across the tents, hooking them together via streamer and going across the door ways. We did the same with the chairs and picnic table.

I didn't know when they'd be back, so we were hurrying.  When we were leaving out of the long road out I saw their vehicles coming.

Darn, busted!

The first vehicle's driver is a friend, he saw me and waved as he passed.  The second car's driver didn't notice me.  The third was my husband and we stopped.  The fourth saw me because he had to wait for DH to pull off the road to talk to me.

I went back out there Saturday in the early evening and found out that none of the men told the boys who did it.  They just said it was a Mom.  lol.  NONE of the boys noticed me driving by and my son didn't ride with DH, so he didn't realize Dad had stopped to talk to Mom.  So we pulled it off after all!  lol

I did own up to it after about an hour of them asking me repeatedly and they thought it was funny.

I'm glad they enjoyed it - because I have plans for future trips, too!

Integrity

So, our house back home is empty again.  The renters that were in it, a newlywed couple with one child from her previous marriage skipped out.

The man worked for a construction company and he said that the company was shut down by the IRS.  This was at the beginning of May.  The realtor told him he'd work with him as best he could, just keep him up to date on what was going on.  They had been good tenants, paying on time, keeping the place mowed, etc.

Well, to keep this short, he told the realtor his unemployment would start coming in last week and he'd be paying, just late.  We agreed to work with him and waive most of the late fees and the realtor told him so.

The realtor called a few minutes ago.

They skipped out over the weekend.  They left some trash in the house but he said it's not too bad.  They didn't bother to leave the keys locked in the house, they took those.  We'd rekey it, anyway, but still.........

And you know, if they'd have been honest and said they needed to move, it would have been fine.  Annoying, but fine, because they were honest.  We could have put the ad in the paper and had it in Sunday's paper.

But, no.  Why be honest and up front with people who have been working with you and trying to make it work for you?

People suck.