Another Monday...ready or not!

Why does the weekend always have to go so quickly? This weekend was a busy and relaxing one for me. Saturday I worked on finishing up canning the tomatoes and applesauce that I didn't get to during the week. It feels SO good to have that done for now. :) I'll do more tomatoes IF I come up with the money for them before the frost comes, thankfully I've gotten enough done that it wouldn't be the end of the world if I didn't do anymore. I'd LIKE to have some tomato sauce done up, but won't feel like a failure if I don't. I LOVE being in that place where canning is concerned! Don't you?

Sunday was spent just relaxing, for the most part. Three of us are either suffering from a nasty cold or feeling one coming on so we were home all day. The rains were heavy at times, but it sure felt good...a really "fall" feeling day! The only thing that was missing was a fire in the wood stove, but it was just not cold enough yet. The temperatures were actually rather warm and muggy, everything just "looked" like fall. :)

On Saturday, while I was canning away, Wade and the boys were working on cutting out some limbs from some trees and also taking out a few in our side yard. These trees were totally shading our fruit trees and we finally decided to deal with them. It looks completely different out there now and we gained a bit more fire wood in the process. The goats LOVED the fir needle treats. :) I really don't like taking out trees on our place, but these trees were just not allowing our fruit trees to really grow properly. Sure, we could have planted our fruit trees in another spot, but you know what they say about hind site. :)

This week is looking much easier than the past few. I have VERY little canning to work on. That will allow me to work on some baking, cleaning and a bit of relaxing....OH MY! :) It's amazing how much my house suffers while I'm busy canning, I know my family will appreciate a more normal routine this week. My body will appreciate a bit slower pace and my house will look better for all of the extra attention. :)

So, how is your fall going? Is your pantry fuller? Are you still canning? I still want to can some pears, apples and some dry beans. Not sure where I'll put them, as my shelves in my pantry are FULL, but I'll figure out something. :) My hubby may have to sacrifice a bit of space in his shop for a few shelves. :)

Another canning project on my horizon is some more beef and chicken stock. I actually have a crock pot full going right now. I'll get at least 7 quarts of rich stock from the carcasses in the crock pot this round. It's so easy to do, I just let it simmer away in my crock pot for a day or even two...one of those projects that I can work around my schedule. The longer it cooks, the better the stock. My house smells wonderful in the process! :)

Have a wonderful week!