#busydaysarethebestdays

[akwardkisses]

Obviously today was a canning day. There will be many more in the days to come. I made homemade chicken stock and canned it, garlic dill refrigerator pickles, and orange jelly. The pickles are made with my homegrown cucumbers and garlic. The orange jelly was an experiment. I've never done this kind before, but it's really good and I'm definitely going to make more. Tomorrow I might make apple jelly or maybe syrup. Homemade apple syrup over hot buttery sourdough pancakes is something special and not to be missed. Maybe I'll make some this weekend. I think it might be bedtime soon, it's been a long day. #poverty_hill #homestead #canning #canningseason #canningday #projectpantry #stockingtheshelves #stockingupforwinter #stockingthepantry #busydaysarethebestdays #refridgeratorpickles #garlicdill #harvestseason #planningforabundance #ruralpa #keeperoftheoldways #simplelife #countryliving #slowliving #stayinghome #stayinghealthy #makingmyownfun #myhappyplace #myhappylife (at Pennsylvania) https://www.instagram.com/p/CDkb0vogoUH/?igshid=122a67j8iuf33

[akwardkisses]

It's been a day. I canned the chicken stock I made yesterday and it's cooling on the breadboard. I'm trying out some reusable canning lids to see how I like them. I did the math and even though these have a higher initial cost the price per use is only seven cents. But actually it'll be less because only the gaskets need replacing eventually and they're even cheaper. Best of all I'm not tossing a lid everytime I open a jar so this is by far the more sustainable option. I've got cucumbers coming out my ears that I really need to pickle soon and a bushel of tomatoes on the front porch waiting thier turn. This is on top of the usual farm and household chores, plus a little sewing. Canning season is about to get started here, I've got potatoes and carrots to harvest soon and I plan to can corn if I get enough. Oh and then there's the pumpkins. I just walked down there the other day and unless something untoward happens I'm going to have an unreasonable amount of pumpkins. Unfortunately the pumpkins got a bit rowdy and pulled the fence down allowing the neighborhood deer to decimate my green beans and summer squash. I know, I'm broken up about it too. I'm hoping they recover and I get something from them. The deer and birds have also wiped out the blackberries, again, seemingly overnight. If I want blackberry jelly l have to buy blackberries. It's not fair and I'm going to complain to management. #poverty_hill #homestead #busydaysarethebestdays #canningseason #chickenstock #uncivilisedcucumbers #gardening #gardenharvest #growsomething #stockingtheshelves #projectpantry #reusablecanninglids #reducereuserecycle #sustainabilitymatters #simplelife #slowliving #countrylife #ruralpa #stayinghome #makeyourownhappy #myhappyplace #myhappylife (at Pennsylvania) https://www.instagram.com/p/CDh5U9egqpr/?igshid=yko2v6thpl8j

[akwardkisses]

Today was an absolutely gorgeous day AND the first power outage of the season. So you know that was fun. I have no idea what caused this one. Someone could have hit a pole or tripped over a wire at the power plant. Maybe a squirrel farted in the general direction of a transformer, it could have been literally anything. The grid isn't real stable here. It only lasted a few hours and it let me know what works and what doesn't about my backup system. It did pretty well but I think I'll be adding more batteries. It was down 12% before power was restored. I think we can do better. We don't use that much power durring the day at this time of year anyway so everything continued on as usual. Potatoes got planted, garden beds got prepared, plants were watered, and dinner was cooked. Dinner was a fresh salad and salmon patties on homemade rolls. The candles were just to look pretty because I totally had electric light to eat by even if the power was still out. I also still had interwebs, you have to have priorities people. So that was my excitement for the day but it was still a pretty darn good one. Happy Saturday my friends, I hope you enjoyed yours as much as I enjoyed mine. #poverty_hill #homestead #poweroutage #backupsystems #busyday #busydaysarethebestdays #gardening #cooking #cookingfromscratch #realfood #slowfood #simpleliving #slowliving #stayinghome #ruralpa #myhappyplace #myhappylife (at Pennsylvania) https://www.instagram.com/p/CARXliDgOG3/?igshid=1jjt99i0im9j8

[akwardkisses]

Today I woke up and felt the need to get shit done, and so I did. I'm trying to clear out my freezer so it can be moved so I gathered up most of the frozen fruit I had left and made mixed fruit syrup for homemade pop (soda for those not in Pennsylvania). I have a soda stream so I can make sparkling water myself and that's all it takes. Syrup and sparkling water in whatever proportions make you happy, some ice if you want it and it's so good. The leftover fruit was blended smooth and is hanging out in my dehydrator making fruit leather. I also needed to make brown sugar because baking season is upon us and that stuff is unnecessarily expensive if you buy it pre-made. Cinnamon rolls and pepperoni rolls were made because I knew my Mom would be asking for cinnamon rolls soon and I wanted to beat her to it. They always make her so happy and I love my momma. Dad doesn't mind me bringing over baked goods either and I like it when he's happy. I mixed up a batch of sour dough pancakes for tomorrow morning because my starter was threatening to escape it's jar and I'd rather use it than throw it away. Overall I think think it was a productive day, I know it was a good one. Not bad for a Tuesday anyway. I hope you all had a good day too my friends. #poverty_hill #homestead #homemade #homecooking #homesweethome #wastenotwantnot #useeverybit #frugalliving #lovemyparents #familyiseverything #foodporn #carbtastic #cookingfromscratch #realfood #slowfood #playwithyourfood #busydaysarethebestdays #bakingfun #sourdough #ruralpa #myhappyplace #myhappylife (at Pennsylvania) https://www.instagram.com/p/B2iFQ7bgcfw/?igshid=r1636h2ehxdr