Tuesday

Hope you are all having a great day. It is very windy outside here and expecting storms later. They are predicted to be severe~hope not as severe as the last round. So many people across the country are suffering from those storms.

I've been helping hubby with some of his work and also working on a writing project. I am starting to get summer decorating fever. I love having all my stuff around me in the winter. It makes the house seem cozy and warm. But once it starts warming up outside, I want all of it put away. I like a lighter, more spare look (not that it's ever really spare in the cabin, LOL) for summer. Are any of you like that?

I've been taking things off of the walls and changing out the curtains for a 'lighter' look. Still have plenty to do and boxes to put away!

Writing Wednesday & Herbs

It is Writing Wednesday, and other than posting on a few blogs, I haven't done any writing today. One thing I really need to do is organize my writing desk. While I am not an organized person, I usually know what is in what stack of stuff--but the time has come to get it all cleaned up or soon there won't be anymore room. I did recently purchase a bulletin board and that has taken away some of the notes that I keep sticking everywhere. Do you keep your writing area organized?

I am still working on editing my novella. My daughters looked at it and gave me a few suggestions, so that will be my job for tomorrow. I don't think I have too many changes to make--other than the ending. I think endings are hard to write. I always know HOW it is going to end, but when I finally get there, it is always a challenge to get it right.

I spent the morning working in my little herb garden. I planted rosemary, oregano, and moved a sage plant. I also made a bed for some mints. I love being out there and seeing how it come along. I bought a food dehydrator, so I'm hoping to dry lots of herbs and veggies this gardening season. Have any of you dried herbs in your dehydrator? Several women at my church are going to be trying it this summer.

Tomatoes

I've been surfing around the web, trying to find a tomato canning recipe like the woman told my mom about. This woman dips hers in boiling water, then in cold to remove the skins. They are put just like that in hot, sterilized jars, along with lemon juice and salt and sealed--she says the heat from the boiling water keeps them warm enough and they make their own juice. She has been putting them up this way all her life--just as her mother did. I'm not sure what makes the jars seal, since the tomatoes aren't hot.

I love Janet's easy method of freezing the tomatoes that she mentioned in her comment. I have frozen them whole on cookie sheets, then put them in a freezer bag. Run hot water over them after they're frozen and the skin will slip right off--then add to homemade soup. My main problem with freezing them is lack of freezer space.

The method that Tipper described, involving boiling the tomatoes in a pot and then putting them in hot, sterilized jars, letting them seal themselves, is the way my grandmother used to do hers and I guess it is safe enough. For me, I think I'll stick to the water-bath method. I'll admit that putting up my own food, other than freezing it, or making jam, always makes me a little nervous. I've never known anyone to get sick off of home-canned food, but there are all those horror stories that you here about whole families getting extremely ill, or worse.

Hooray~I think I've found all the words the program botched in my writing project! As it stands right now, I have about 19,500 words written. I think the requirements are 15, 000-20,000, so I have room to shorten it and tighten it up a little bit.

April Gardening and Writing

Good morning! We are usually slow to get our garden in, but this year we already have out our green onions, onions, potatoes, broccoli, and some lettuce. I also have several heirloom tomato plants ready to put out. Our last frost date isn't for another week, but the weather looks like it will be warm enough to take a chance on getting them out. This will be the earliest we've ever had tomatoes out!

A woman at a local nursery recently told my mom that her method of preserving tomatoes does not involve water bath canning. Have any of you ever heard of such a method?

WRITING WEDNESDAY:

I am busy editing my writing project that I recently finished. It is a Christmas novella and I'm anxious to get it ready to send off. I have several other Christmas writing projects in mind, too. I'm hoping to work out a schedule to let me both garden and write, once the growing season really gets going.

I had an interesting experience with my Microsoft Office today. I decided to change the name Hank to Hattie. Nothing complicated--just an animal's name. Anyway, I did the find and replace thingy--now everywhere in my novella that I typed the word thanks it says thattie, thankfully has become thattiefully, etc. Live and learn:).