Tuesday Twitterdeedum

All is well.  "Dancing with the Stars" has returned to the television air waves.  Or, iz that not so good?  Does that mean we're settling in to winter?

I noticed last evening that by 7:30 barn critters were buttoned up for the night and we were in the house, done with the day's outdoor projects.  

Darkness doesn't need weather predictions.  It comes and goes on schedule regardless of how Mother Nature's feeling.  

Furthermore, darkness does bring on the usual changes in routine as we tred the pathway toward another several months of spending more time indoors than out.

I spent more time inside than usual during the daylight hours yesterday.  Those peaches brought home from Central Washington needed attention. 

So, I found some wide-mouth canning jars, lids and rings, pulled out the sugar and boiled up water to loosen the peach fuzz.

Like everything else I do, peach canning will happen in increments.  I looked at that box and projected that my winter supply of peaches would canned by the end of the week.

Yesterday I filled five jars---three quarts and two pints of delicious red and yellow fruit.

There was also enough fruit left over to add to the bowl set aside in the refrigerator for ice-cream topping. 

It's been a while since I've put up peaches, probably at least ten years.  

I can remember when my mother would can dozens of jars' worth every September---Elberta peaches.  They said Elbertas were best for canning while Red Havens were better for just plain eating.  

Of course, they would get eaten no matter what, but I'm guessing those Red Havens may have given the food preservers more fits.  

At our house, the peaches, applesauce, plums and whatever else Mother canned went in the fruit room off the porch.  

I remember when a padlock was added to the fruitroom door.  That was after my dad started finding empty quart jars out in the stump hollows throughout the woods.  He often found a spoon inside each jar too.

Those findings matched up with some of my mother's discoveries when she'd go to the fruit room and get the distinct impression that the inventory was mysteriously dwindling. 

When they compared notes, I'm sure there was a discussion at the dinner table.  Somehow Kevin emerged as the person who seemed to know the most about what had happened to Mother's peaches.

The lock appeared on the door, but that didn't necessarily mean the peach supply would remain intact.  Kevin was pretty smart about picking locks.

I don't think I have to worry about anyone pilfering my peaches, unless the mice come up with some methods for fruit-jar invasion. 

So, we'll plan on pulling out a jar every so often and enjoying the fruits of this week's in-house labor. 

~~~~Yesterday turned out to be a very nice day after a good rain in the morning. When it warmed up in the afternoon, I saddled up Lefty and rode him for about half an hour.  

Each time I ride him into some new areas around the yard and pastures, and eventually, I'm hoping to have the nerve to ride him on the road WHEN cars and trucks are coming.  So far, he's remaining fairly relaxed during our rides.

The more chances I get to climb on, the more routine these rides will become---and that has been the goal for this year with the young horses. 

~~~~Bill has headed off for work as usual, and I'm wondering what's going through his mind each day as he gets closer to the LAST day of his career with the Idaho Dept. of Lands on Sept. 30. 

He says he still has a lot of work to do, so he's remaining fairly disciplined about the whole retirement situation.

We've discussed the transition involved with his being around the place a lot more than ever.  Basic rule:  clean up after yourself.  I'm sure that's fairly universal for most hubbies.

I also learned from a friend another interesting statistic universal to a man's retirement.  

Plan to buy more toilet paper, she said.

On that note, I'll wrap this up, go to the grocery-storage closet and see how many 1000-foot rolls of Scott tissue we have on hand. 

If it suddenly starts disappearing in big numbers, I'll just go to the woods and check the stumps.

Happy Tuesday.