And on Tuesday and Wednesday nights....

Recall that watermelon that wasn't ripe back in
mid-July? Well, this baby was gone in ten minutes.

Good Lord, I have a big mouth. Er wait, is that Steven Tyler?

The bees are cooling themselves outside the top bar.

Bees, enjoying our sunflowers.

Look at those full pollen baskets.

Black beans, filling out their pods.

Look! It's our yard-long beans, and my dirty shoe.
Yes, my shoe has a muff. Sometimes it scares me, too.

Believe it...it's really a yard long.

Our seats, next to the little sunflowers.

Nope, this isn't a horror film still.
Some little boy just has strawberry fingers.

Peppers, onions, cukes, cantalope, and that lovely
watermelon.

Remember that beet pesto I made? Here it is, making
the pasta purple.

Mmmm....more bread for tomato sandwiches.

We ended Tuesday night playing Scrabble and
watching the Pirates! Um...oops. Maybe "viney"
isn't really a word.

And on Sunday and Monday....

 On Sunday, while Michael checked the bees, I picked a mound of beans. We also several healthy piles of purple and candy-striped beets, tobascos, jalapenos, and hot banana peppers. Tomatoes are just starting to come into season, too....and I'm excited to see that my zucchini plant is back after the searing heat has abated. It was sprouting nothing but orange-colored dwarf squash, but it's back to making zuchs again.

And on Monday night (that is, tonight!), we used our Food Saver to pack away some beans for the freezer. And while we ate dinner, I made some quick bread from a very overripe banana and 2 cups of shredded zucchini. I also used some super-dark brown sugar (not the light business they sell you in the grocery store, but the good stuff, with extra residual molasses). Yum.

Beans, blanching.



Zucchini-Banana Bread, with extra dark brown sugar



What's happening today?

It's full-tilt here on Kings Creek, even though it's Michael's day off. Upstairs, I've been making habanero-orange marmalade and zucchini-honey cake (pics, of course, below). Also, I made some zuch-and-cuke soup, but in terms of photos, that's somewhat less exciting than jam and baked things. Michael's been in the fruit cellar, getting things ready for canning season. Look, it's so orderly again!

Downstairs, Michael's been cleaning up the fruit cellar
to prepare for this season's batch of new canned goodies.
It looks fantastic.

Upstairs, I've been making habanero-orange marmalade...

Five pints of habanero-orange marmalade! I know, it's
dark, isn't it? But it tastes fantastic and spicy.
I think even Paddington Bear would appreciate  it.



Honey-zucchini cake



This week with the Guzes



Cobbler from some super ripe and fantastic little peaches.



The heat has been vicious here, so we've been performing a lot of indoor activies....first cooking and then preserving; after that, a few garden images....

Banana chocolate chip bread, packaged for Michael's lunch.

Green beans with onions, white sauce, and curry powder

Although we canned one batch of beans, we're
using the Food Saver Mom and Dad got us for
Christmas for this batch.

Michael rocks the Foodsaver

This cute birdhouse was made by an elderly man who
sells them at the Harmony Christmas Market. If we look
a little closer, you'll see it's occupied....

...avian triplets. Michael got this one. They were
camera-shy and hid their heads every time I came close with
the camera.



Lovely lemon-yellow sunflowers, near the top bar.



The bee garden flowers along our back fence.

And a close-up of those pretties...

Another shot of the garden...all sorts of lovelies

Our butterfly bush came back. I was so worried when
its limbs took so long to green this spring.

 

Our stargazer lilies are in full bloom.

Mustard Pickles, Mustard Beans...



The whole process starts by peeling and chopping
11 (yes, indeed, eleven) cups of cucumbers.

Our cucumber plants have proven to be some prolific little buggers. And even though the vines are now swooning like B-movie scream queens in this heat, they're still producing chubby little gherkins. Last week we made "crock" pickles. This weekend, thanks to an amazing new canning book we got last season, we're making mustard pickles. And since Michael picked so many green beans this morning, we also made mustard beans. Just below are pictures of the progress....so you have the full effect, wanna know what was on the CD player while we worked? This recording from The Skillet Lickers. 

Chopped cucumbers, onions, red peppers.



Us at the sink! :-D

Clearjel, sugar, ginger, tumeric, vinegar, and water

Michael fills the quart jars before they go into the

boiling water bath.

A close-up of the filling process...just cause the
contents are so purty.

Mustard pickles right out of the canner.
Aren't they beee-you-tiful?

We start to cut green beans, and Fred is Johnny
on the spot. "Why, excuse me, would you care to make
a donation to the Jimmy Fund?"

Bun, cleaning beans and imitating Fred's usual
dour expression.

Not just green breans, clean beans.

Beans and onions, destined for the mustard sauce!

The dish fairy was here. Again.

Jasper and his rubber chicken, the current love of his
life. We pulled his pillow to the kitchen entrance, so
he would stay out from under foot. It worked some
of the time. Right now, he's trying to nap. Trying.

And while all this was going on, our little bread machine
made a loaf of white bread for tomato sandwiches.
Mmmmmm.........