Pears, Pears and More Pears

The photo shows 7 of the 42 pints of diced pears that I started canning Friday and finished on Sunday. I was also able to make 2 pear crisps and put enough diced pears in freezer for a batch of jam.

Today I will be dehydrating the 30 pounds of apples that we picked at a friend's home over the weekend. I still want to buy some more apples to can........the ones from our friends don't can in slices very good. They make better applesauce and apple butter.....maybe I'll make a batch of apple butter. My maternal grandmother made the best apple butter, pear butter and pear preserves.

Seems like I keep finding more canning to do to keep me busy everyday. I want to can some veggie soup and carrots too!!!!

43rd Annual Pioneer Days in Canyonville, OR

Saturday Rich and I attended the 43rd annual Pioneer Days Parade and festivities in Canyonville, OR. It is always the last Saturday in August. The parade is about an hour long and then they have bed races down the middle of town afterwards. I didn't get photos of the last of the parade or the bedraces......batteries went down on camera and I had forgot to bring extras. After the parade we walked over to the city park and walked through all the booths. We had decided earlier to go to Burger King for lunch. We used one of our coupons out of the recently mailed booklet and saved $3.49. After lunch we went over to a friend's house and picked about 30 pounds of apples. These will be dehydrated. We worked on canning more pears that evening. Will finish up pears on Sunday afternoon.

Plain and Fancy Glassware

Yesterday on Gina's blog she posted about her everyday and special dishes. I made a comment about how I loved old dishes........actually I got carried away and wrote a small book in her comments. She emailed me and asked me to post some of my dishes. I can post a few.....most of my glassware that I have collected over the years is packed away in storage. I hope to get it out soon. Anyway I have posted a few photos.

The place setting is our everyday dishes and silverware. They are sitting on a tablerunner that I made.

I love my collection of Cobalt blue.....I found the Arizona Tea Bottle on the side of the road coming home from Reno, Nevada. The tall round vase or glass was given to me by a friend......he was using it for a drinking glass. I admired it and told him I collected Cobalt Blue glass and he gave it to me. I have 3 of the snowflake jars. I recently found the shot glass at a yard sale in a free box. The tall blue bottle is full of Oregon rain water.....Rich found it at the store one day and bought it for me. He also brought home the small Guarana bottle from work....one of his co-workers was throwing it away and Rich asked for it. The vase with the clear glass surrounding the neck was found at a yard sale. I have several more pieces that are packed away.

The rest of the photos are Floragold glassware made in the 1950's. All of this dishware is packed away so I found some photos online to let you see their beauty. The set belonged to my Mother-in-law. She received it from her secret sister at church in the 50's. After she died my sister-in-law inherited it. One day she called Rich and asked if he wanted the old dishes that had been Mom's. Rich told her he would be there right away to pick them up. When we arrived she had them stacked in a box (with out being wrapped) on the porch. We wrapped them with care and took them home. We had already found some of the pieces that were being thrown out to be burned. Another story!

We have a service of 6 luncheon plates, 6 bowls, 6 saucers, 6 bread plates, 6 - 8 ounce tumblers, 6 - 12 ounce tumblers, pitcher, pair of candlesticks, salt and pepper shakers with original tops, cream and sugar bowl, candy dishes, 2 sizes of serving bowls, butter dish and some other small pieces. My sister-in-law kept the sandwich platter.....Rich is still trying to get it from her.

Also packed away is my china. It is white with a black band and silver edge. I have a set of 12. I bought it when Safeway was promoting it in the early 80's.

I have lots of other glassware packed away. I have Fire King teacups and saucers, various patterns of china teacups and saucers, Berry bowl and 8 small serving bowls, Cranberry Red from Avon and numerous other pieces of old glass. Mom and Dad worked the flea mart circuit for over 30 years. During that time she collected numerous sets of glassware for my 3 sisters and myself.

Mom collected glassware for herself, too!!! She collected an extensive set of all kinds of Forrest Green, Cobalt Blue, Reds and Pink. After she died we packed it in several boxes to one day be divided between us girls......in the meantime it is at Dad's in a closet.

It's a Miracle!!!!

It's a miracle!!!! Jaycee Lee Dugard has been returned to her family after being kidnapped over 18 years ago in the South Lake Tahoe area.

Rich and I lived in South Lake Tahoe when Jaycee was kidnapped. We had went up to Oregon for a weeks vacation. When we returned home there was Pink Ribbons everywhere. We found out from friends that Jaycee had been kidnapped. Rich worked with Jaycee's Mom at Harrah's Casino and Resort on South Shore.

Rich and I often prayed for Jaycee and her family over the years. We prayed that she would be returned to her family one day and her kidnappers would be caught......that prayer was answered on Aug. 26th.

Our continued prayers for Jaycee, her daughters and family.

Catching Up

Our beautiful Misty taking a catnap!

This is a old cart that was used in the Nickle minds around Riddle and Myrtle Creek, Or. It now resides behind the MC hardware store. I love the way they plant flowers in it every year. It is right next to the post office so I see it often.

This is some of my sunflowers.......look close and you will see a honeybee!

Rapunzel....one of the Fairytale Dotees I have made lately. I also made Mary Had A Little Lamb and Little Red Riding Hood. I still have Goldilocks to make and swap soon.

I was lucky enough to catch several photos of this beautiful dragonfly in my garden area.

Rich at Mildred Kanipe Park just outside Oakland, OR.

One of the beautiful peacock at Mildred Kanipe Park.

Me at Mildred Kanipe Park.

One of the old homes in Oakland, OR.

Oakland, OR.

Oakland, OR.

I was able to get this close-up of one of the peacocks at Mildred Kanipe Park.

50 pounds of cherries from Kurt's place.

Time to do a little catching up. Rich took a weeks vacation in July. We mostly stayed home and worked around the house, canning cherries and took a few day trips.

We went and picked 50 pounds of sweet cherries from Kurt's (Rich's fellow employee) place. He has 2 huge trees and he only eats a few of the cherries. He lets us pick the rest. We picked about 50 pounds this year. We canned 47 pints of pitted cherries. Yes, pitted! I found a cherry pitter on Ebay for 99 cents and $3.99 shipping. We set up an assembly line for canning. I would was and make sure there was no bad ones. Rich would pit enough for a cannerful of jars. I would get them going in the canner. Then we started all over again.....until we had them finished. They look wonderful sitting in the pantry.

One of our day trips was to Oakland, OR. It is about 45 minutes north of us on I-5. The town is about 2 miles off the freeway. The town was established in 1851. In 1872 the town was relocated to be next to the new railroad. There are several old brick buildings that are used for businesses today. There are several old homes located around town. Rich and I both would love to own one of the homes built in the 40's or 50's.........especially if it had a wraparound porch. I love my friend, Gina's home......it looks so cozy and warm. We also went to a nearby park for our picnic lunch. It is Mildred Kanipe Park about 8 miles northeast of Oakland. The park is 1,100 acres. There is so many sights to see......old home of Mildred Kanipe, old barns and outbuildings, old school and the grounds are so beautiful. There is peacocks everywhere. I was fortunate enough to find one of the long tail feathers while on a walk. While having our lunch in the picnic area several of the peacocks decided to join us. I was able to get some great photos of the peacocks. Of course, they didn't cooperate and show me their plummage in all its glory. Maybe next time. Yes, we will be going back to enjoy the park again.

My garden has been doing so so!!!! The weather has been cold one day.....blistering hot the next. I mean we went from 111 degrees one day to 79 degrees the next day. Poor garden doesn't know if it should grow or hibernate. I've been getting some nice tomatoes lately.

I ended up with 6 sunflowers this year. If you will look closely on the sunflower you will see a honeybee. I have seen lots of honeybees this year.....last year I hardly seen any.

One morning Rich told me to be quite and bring my camera out to the porch. He had spied a beautiful red dragonfly. I was fortunate enough to get several photos of it landing on a tomato cage.

I just recently went over to Dad's for blackberry picking. Dad, Mae and I picked about 8 gallons of blackberries. I canned 27 pints of pure blackberry puree, 3 pints of Blackberry Jelly. Rich loves blackberry cobbler but doesn't like the seeds in it. I experimented and found that running the berries through the juicer it makes a thick puree. I then thicken it a little with cornstarch before adding to baking dish. Then I add my cobbler topping and bake. Ta-Da........Blackberry Cobbler......no seeds. The blackberries are still ripening and I might go pick some more....not sure.

I bought 25 pounds peaches at Brosi's Sugartree Farms in Winston, OR. They were so sweet and yummy. I dehydrated them and had enough to fill 2 quart baggies with the dehydrated peaches.. I was able to freeze enough peaches for 2 batches of Peach Jam and 3 Peach Cobblers.

We went in to visit Rich's Dad and Stepmother in Medford, OR. They had recently moved into a Retirement Home. They have a 1 bedroom apartment. It has the one bedroom, handicapped bathroom, living room, combination dining room and kichenette. They have a 2 burner range top, microwave and small refrigerator. They don't have to worry about cooking as 3 meals a day is provided in the dining room down stairs. They also have ice cream and pie socials often in the dining area. Just recently they had a Hawaiian feast outside on the patio. They had Hawaiian music for entertainment. They were able to enjoy the feast and then go back to their room and listen to the music through their window that overlooks the patio. They have lots of trips, games, entertainment provided for them. They have a laundry room and beauty shop just doors away from their apartment. Rich's sister, Donna picks them up for church services. They can schedule their doctor appointments on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesdays and the shuttle will take them to their appointments. They also have shuttles for shopping trips. Rich is so happy that they moved into the retirement home. They had life cords in each room in case they fall and need help. There is staff there 24 hours a day. The manager took us on a tour of the facilities and Rich was able to talk to her about his concerns about his Dad. He is getting to the point that he needs a scooter to get around. She said she would look into the situation.

While we was in Medford we went and spent the afternoon visiting with my sister, Bobbie and her husband, Mike. They are getting ready to remodel their kitchen. Their home was built in the 1940's. They have already remodeled the bedrooms, dining area, bathroom (adding master bath and walk in closet) and added a 3-car garage. They are supposed to start remodel around Labor Day. They had samples of the countertop, flooring and cabinets and was asking everyone's opinion. I chose the same countertop material as Bobbie. I can't wait to see it finished. Bobbie will finally have a dishwasher......she's looking forward to that. They are putting pull out drawers in all the bottom cabinets. Bobbie has arthritis in her knees and has a hard time getting down to see whats in the bottom cabinets.

We went to visit Danny's Mom and Brother, Lonny. They live out in Sams Valley, OR. Mom G. is like a Mom to both Rich and I. Rich and Danny became friends in the third grade in 1959. I met Danny and Mom G. in 1972 and Rich in 1973. We have all spend lots of time fishing, camping, and visiting. Lonny was in a horrible car accident years ago and is paralyzed from the waist down. That doesn't stop him from camping, fishing, gardening or doing most everything he wants. He lives with Mom G. and she is his official caregiver. They took us out to show us their garden. It was beautiful. They had corn, all kinds of squash, melons, tomatoes, beets, cukes, carrots and even tobacco growing. They shared their bounty with us.....we brought home tomatoes and zucchini squash. I dehydrated both as I had several squash in the frig and a big bowl of tomatoes on the counter.

Last Friday I bought 50 pounds of Bartlett pears at Brosi's Sugar Tree Farms. I'm still waiting for them to ripen enough to can. I swear Rich can eat a whole pint of my canned pears in one sitting. I'm going to dehydrate a few.....maybe. I might have to go back next week and buy another 25 pounds. We'll see how many pints I get canned out of the 50 pounds.

Ive been busy making Dotee dolls that I swap all over the world. I recently received Dotees from Germany, England, Australia and Russia. I doing several series of Dotees right now. One is Gone With The Wind, Circus Players, Fairytales, Monsters from the old black and white movies and Alice and Wonderland. I'll have to take a photo of my Gone With the Wind ones. So far, we have done Scarlett. I did her in her finest curtain dress. Next we will be doing Rhett. I'm trying to decide what costume I want to use for Rhett. I do extensive research for my Dotee dolls.

Misty.....is being Misty. She loves her Friskies Salmon Pate and her frequent catnaps. We are thinking about getting her a little sister soon. We think that she is bored is why she spends so much time under the bed sleeping. We are in hopes that a little sister will entice her to play and not sleep so much. I mean she sleeps under the bed for at least 12-16 hours a day. She comes out to eat in the mornings and to play with Rich when he comes home from work. She hardly comes out during the day.

Well, I better get going and check on those darn pears. I hope they ripen soon. We are planning on attending the Pioneer Days festivities in Canyonville, OR this weekend and don't want to be canning pears. Saturday is the parade and events at the park. Sunday our church joins 2-3 other churches for Sunday services.