Going South Today

On Tuesday. while talking to my sister in SC it was decided we should come for a visit while the garden was full of fresh vegetable to can and freeze for the winter pantry. DH is not a par-taker of vegetables but I love them, much prefer them over meat or pasta. (He, being from an Italian family, would eat pasta of any kind three times a day and love every minute of it.) So, we are leaving shortly after my hairdresser's appointment going south for a few days.

I spent a great deal of time yesterday, preparing, gathering all my empty canning jars and putting them in the dishwasher for a good wash, checking on lids for the jars and finding I didn't have enough (DH went to the local feed and seed and bought them for me), catching up on the laundry, keeping my appointment with the cardiologist, and best of all, preparing dinner for Dariana and her mom and dad. I had to see Dariana before we left; of course I wanted to see my daughter and son-in-law too, but I couldn't bear to leave without seeing little Dari. It was such a treat watching as they turned into the drive and to watch her being helped out of the car, all the time watching for her grand mama through the kitchen window. Then, as she comes up the walk and up the steps, she is calling grand mama, grand mama. Grand mama opens the door and Dari jumps into her arms with a big hug and kisses. What more could one ask for? After dinner Dari and grand mama sat in the floor and played make-up. This time we had lip glosses, rings, and paste-ons that shine and glitter. The lip gloss was a Vaseline base and Dari was very generous in making up herself and her grand mama. I still have glowing, sparkling stickers on my arms and hands this morning and I still have a star and sparkles on my nails from my Fourth of July manicure by Dariana. Dariana is two.

Maestro is whining to go. We made the mistake of saying we were going to see my brother-in-law and Maestro recognized the name. Now he will beg for us to 'hurry up' until we are in the car and on our way. He loves 'going on vacation', a phrase we use to let him know the ride in the car is going to be a long one.

I have started another tote bag for my ITE-IV partner and it is packed and ready to go on the trip with me, along with material for the lining, a couple of pairs of handles and some rings in case I decide to use them, and everything I need for finishing the bag. I will work on it in the evenings after we have done our day's work in the garden and the kitchen. I don't think I mentioned the bag I originally made for my partner met with a felting disaster, totally my fault from following the pattern. "Sorry, my brain, for not listening to you." The bag is supposed to be in the mail by the 18th and I think it will be. I've let my partner (and posted on the ITE-IV blog) know what happened and that another, and different bag is in the making.

So now I'm off to can butter beans, peas, green beans (snaps to some people), and vegetable soup. I will freeze okra and corn and if there is time and squash available, will make squash pickles. We make squash pickles almost every year. They are so good on a cold chicken, turkey or roast beef sandwich and we give lots of them to friends when they drop by for a visit. We plan to make our friend Ray and his wife a 'personal batch' because they enjoy them so, and because they are such good friends and we love them.