Canning

Despite all the work it takes I really do love canning. I really love it when you take the jars out of the pot and you hear the popping sound. This sweet sound tells me that it actually worked and my jars have sealed. This year I canned tomatoes and raspberry jam. Since I didn't plant any tomatoes this year I had to buy some. The one year I really need to can tomatoes is the year I don't plant any. Oh well that's how life goes. I spent a good part of the day last Saturday dedicated to canning. I made a mess of my kitchen and my feet were killing me for several hours later but it was worth it. I got 16 pints and 3 quarts of tomatoes and 10 pints of raspberry jam. I really love the sense of accomplishment that comes with canning. So here's some pictures of my accomplishment.


Before


My big mess


After

State Fair

It is tradition that Jon and I got to the State Fair each year with Jon's parents. I look forward to this every year. The animals are always fun to watch and pet. I also enjoy looking at all the crafts, food, pictures, etc. that people in our state submit. My mother-in-law and I were looking at the canned items and it was really interesting to see what people made. For example, geranium jelly (who knew you could do that and how do you make it), basil jelly (I can't imagine putting that on my morning toast), pickled watermelon rind (I would never think to do that with a watermelon rind), but there were also items that were a little more common like raspberry jam. Besides all the usual items you look for at the fair there is also the joy of people watching. That's a joy in itself. So here's my tribute to the Utah State Fair!

The sheep sleeping on each other


All the cows in a row - so well behaved


Here Bessie!


The goat is trying to escape


Jon petting a goat


Now that is one ugly chicken


This one was just singing away


Lop eared rabbit


One of the tigers from the India Tiger show


Cute little piglets


That is one big pig

LABOR-less Weekend

Labor Day Weekend Jon and I went down to St. George for a little fun in the sun. My parents have a timeshare down there and it was their week and since they weren't going to be down there till Sunday night (along with my sister Nancy) they invited us to use it for the weekend. It was nice to get away and just relax by the pool and play a little miniature golf. Our main reason for going was to scuba dive Sand Hollow Resevoir. This dive experience was much better than Blue Lake. We could actually see where we were going. Sand Hollow has a section roped off for just swimmers and this is where all the scuba divers go. In this section a local dive shop has sunk an airplane and then they also have an obstacle course which is pretty fun. We went with my sister Nancy and met up with our friends Steve and Tiffany. It was a great weekend and just nice to get away.

Here's a picture of the sunken airplane. This was taken about two years ago, now its covered with a green film.