Treasures from the remnants bin

Ahh, the remnants bin. A hidden collection of scrappy quilt treasures, awaiting discovery. It has become the first place I rush to in my fabric store visits, and I've never failed to score a treasure or two (well, it has to be two actually, because it's buy one get one free. I can never leave with only one...)

Let me share my latest collection of flannel remnants:

I'm sensing a lovely, soft flannel quilt in my future. There are a variety of lengths, with the most being 0.9 of a metre, which is a good chunk of fabric, especially since I'm only paying between $1.50 and $3.00 (and less if you consider that I get one free - who can resist free?)

And here is my smaller collection of cottons:

I collect all the ones I am drawn to and figure what they are meant to be will come to me. In the meantime, they make for some colourful art around my sewing room.

Gold Rush Trail

We spent last week camping. This year we decided to head up the Gold Rush Trail to Barkerville. I hadn't been there since I was a child (all I remember of it is the candy store - salt water taffy and rock candy!!) and the rest of my family had never been there. We took our time getting there and enjoyed some stops along the way - camping, hiking, kayaking and, of course, thrifting.

Where else but the Cariboo could you expect to find a "log cabin" thrift store?

Barkerville was lots of fun and we spent the better part of two days there. We panned for gold, we got yelled at by "the judge" (which is better than at Fort Steele where my husband managed to get himself thrown in jail by "the sheriff"), we walked up to Richfield court house, we bought candy at the general store (and at the candy store), we ate yummy Chinese food, and...Eureka! we struck it rich.

We found the "mother lode"...of blueberries and huckleberries, that is. All the way on the walk to Richfield we stuffed ourselves with berries. I grew up on the coast where we had red huckleberries growing in our yard. I love them but I think I like black ones even more, even the smell is delicious.

Here is the requisite Barkerville picture. I wonder how many times this church has been photographed.
I love visiting any place that makes you feel as though you have stepped back in time. I so enjoy seeing all the old bits and pieces of daily life in another time, it sometimes makes me wish that I lived in those days. And when we got home and I started to deal with over a week's worth of dirty camping laundry I thought to myself - maybe some things of this time are not so bad.

Who doesn't love to look at canning?

Because I think canning is beautiful! If I could, I would build sculptures out of it and marvel at it's beauty every day! Alas, it has to be stored in a cool, dark place and my sculptures would be unseen - but I can still make little towers here and there.

Here is my last batch of salsa for this year. I'm hoping it's enough to make it through a full year - I shall have to monitor salsa intake to make sure no one has gone over their daily limits.

I would have liked to make more but it was not meant to be. I learned a lesson this year - do not wait until September to buy your canning lids. Lots of little sizes were available, but none for my big quart jars. Luckily, I had some left from last year and I borrowed some from new jars I bought this year because all I had was big quart jars and I need something smaller...

for jam! It's my first year doing jam and it is very, very exciting to me!

Here is my strawberry jam. It is so very delicious - strawberries picked from my garden and sweetened with honey. I've realized I've become a bit of a jam snob. Heather spoiled me with her tasty homemade jam and now I find store bought doesn't cut it. There was one passable jam that was fruit juice sweetened, but I'm finding other jams in this world are too sugary sweet for me. It was no surprise why when I read some canning recipes and saw how much sugar went into them! That was one reason why I hadn't yet tackled jam, but thanks to Heather, I found a low sugar recipe that doesn't overwhelm the flavour of the fruit. I also did blackberry jam with the blackberries from our bushes but no photo exists. You will have to trust me.

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I also wanted to do peach jam, but we are so enjoying the box of peaches from our tree that taking a big chunk of them to mash up seemed so wrong. Then we stumbled across a huge stack of 29 cent/lb juice peaches at a local packing house and I ended up buying as much as I could carry out. Seemed sad to leave them to spoil, just because they weren't "perfect" enough to sell. Most got chopped up for smoothies but one box became jam.

Isn't it pretty? Am I the only one who thinks canning is beautiful?

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By mid afternoon, I was finished canning and the only thing left to do was let it cool. L and I went outside to play some games, but mostly I spent my free time laying on a blanket, staring at this:

How lucky I felt to be laying in the grass, enjoying the warm weather that I will miss so much in a month or so. If I could have, I would have had a little siesta, then and there. But that wasn't in my sons plans. He was collecting tomatoes...

There are my beauties. I've know these tomatoes since their plants were tiny seeds in my hand. I should know what kinds they are, but I don't. It's a sad story. I started out so organized, seeds planted in their tiny starter cells with a little map drawn up, labelling what seed was in what cell. We watered them, we talked to them, we sent them happy growing vibes. Then, one sad day, I was carrying the tray back to the window sill and it buckled and fell to the ground. I sunk to my knees and quietly sobbed, not because of the dirt spread out all over my kitchen floor, but for all the tiny newly sprouted seeds revealed in the dirt spread out all over my kitchen floor. Then my hero, my husband, rushed into the room wearing a white shirt and tan coloured breeches, and put the little seedlings back into cells. Happily, they became small plants which turned into huge tomato bearing plants, but my map of who's who was completely thrown off. But it all turned out okay. And these lovelies became crushed tomatoes for winter soups and sauces.
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I'm not done with dealing with food yet. Oh no. Not by a long shot. Canning, yes. Done. 100% done for the year. But Amanda came by with a little delivery for me...

Beans anyone? Sitting there we have 200 lbs of beans (which I'm splitting with Heather because I don't think even I could eat that many beans!), 50 lbs of whole wheat flour and (in my freezer) 25 lbs of rice. The goal of not having to do any grocery shopping is quickly being achieved.

It helps to have a good book to read...

I know this book has been touted on other blogs as recommended reading and I know I'm a little late in joining in, but I want to add my voice to everyone else in asking you to read it.

I have known about this title for some time, but never seemed to remember to put it on hold at the library for some reason (which is so unlike me...). It may sound crazy, but I believe that books choose you (the same as when you need a teacher, then they will appear...). Anyways, yesterday turned out to be the day that this book chose me. It was the first time since our move that I've set foot in a library (and I can't begin to tell you how happy I am to be a library card bearing citizen in our new city. Now I'm starting to feel more like I live here instead of being a serial visitor. Would you believe I have been having serious library with drawl agony for the past couple of weeks?)

Back to the book. I have hardly put it down since checking it out because so much of what the author writes is resonating with me. The appearance of the book in my life at this point is of perfect timing. The author writes of her travels over a year to three different countries as she searches for inner answers to her life. Elizabeth writes in a voice that is insightful, entertaining and very poignant. I am also at a point in my life where I'm questioning my life. Moving away from my friends and the city where I lived 17 of my 18 years of marriage, has moved the earth beneath my feet. My familiar surroundings have been stripped away. It is exciting and scary all at the same time. Which has me relating to the words in Eat, Pray, Love and the author's spiritual journey. I am finding inspiration and comfort in this book. Maybe you will too. Excuse me now, I have to get back to reading it.

More funny tomatoes

E calls these schnoz tomatoes. He thinks they are hilarious and so do I.

They managed to escape being thrown into scalding water to be made into stewed tomatoes due to their cuteness. Wily little things. I especially love that guy on the left, he looks like he has a bad cold.

ABBA...all four discs

To me this is 4 discs worth of sing-along entertainment while I preserve more stewed tomatoes.
To E it is "4 discs...of torture!!" (those are his words)

W ordered this from the library as a sort of joke. I think he thought he would listen to loudly and this would bug me. Poor kid, little did he know that I would confiscate it and keep it all to myself...to be played loudly in it's entirety(or as long as these tomatoes take). ;-) Talk about a plan backfiring on him.

Just a tomato?

I showed the boys this tomato that I picked this morning. W immediately began singing this tune. Aaaargh!! We only just got it out of our heads from when we heard it last time. E chimed in for the Ron Weasley part. ;-) At any rate, I think he might have a point. This tomato is rather Snape-ish. Speaking of which is any one else as sad as I am that the next movie has been postponed? I keep hoping it is just some ploy/hype to get people revved up about it and that it really will still come out in November but things are not looking good. Sigh.