July is Almost Over!

I can't believe that July is almost over and my kids will be going back to school is 2 weeks!  Since I last posted, Daughter #1 graduated from college and will soon be moving across the country to Arizona.  Daughter #2 spent a week in North Carolina with our church's youth group on a Servant Event.  The next week Hubby had to have an emergency appendectomy.  And the week after that the kids spent with their grandparents who live 3 hours away from us.  They really had a great time with them and with all their cousins, who also spent most of the week with Grandma and Gramps.  

While the kids were visiting their grandparents, I picked some wild blackberries to make a cobbler for our son after he and his sister were back home.  He loves blackberry cobbler and blueberry pie!  He enjoyed every bite.

In between all of that, I finally finished making the soap I needed to fill a large customer order.  And my goat milk guest soaps are now being carried by Eggers and Co. Bed and Breakfast near Perryville, MO.  They also have some of my regular-sized soaps in their General Store.  Here's their website:  http://www.eggersandcompany.com/   Now I need to replenish my own soap stock, as I am out of 2 of my more popular soaps.  

We finally received some much needed rain last week and again last night.  Several days ago we picked green beans and put them in the freezer and probably need to pick them again.  Tomatoes are finally coming on and after I go pick them, I should have enough to can a large batch.  Tomatoes seem to be ripening slowly in this part of the country.  At the farmers' market that I manage, one of our regular tomato vendors came to the market for the first time this year last Saturday.  It may be time to pick jalapenos again and make more pepper jelly.  I've almost sold out of what I made for the farmers' markets.  If you've never tried jalapeno pepper jelly, it's really good!  I wasn't sure if I'd like it, but a friend gave us a jar last year and the whole family enjoys it.

The 4 goat kids are growing fast!  They've had their vaccinations and have had their horn buds burned off.  We don't mind the goats having horns, but most people don't want horns on their goats.  Two more does should be kidding in another month or so.  Yeah!  Goat milk to drink and to make cheese, yogurt, buttermilk!

On a knitting note, I bought 2 books from Interweave Press' "Hurt Book" Sales.  I couldn't really see any damage on my books, but I got a great deal on them.  One book is about how to plan and knit a gansey sweater.  There are lots of stitch patters to choose from.  That's on my "next project" list; but first I have to finish the socks, which are almost completed, and the lacy, red, cotton cardigan for Daughter #2 before I start another project.  I usually have a couple of projects in the works, but I don't like having too many going on at the same time.   The other book is about Estonian knitting.  Very interesting with patterns, history, and ideas for knitting projects.  

Well, I'd better hang out my load of laundry and then take a walk through the garden and see what needs to be picked.  Until next time!

Goat babies, pepper jelly, soap, knitting

My son's goat gave birth 3 weeks ago to beautiful twins!  Another buck and doe set of goat babies.  They were born sometime in the early morning hours as they were already clean and dry by the time we made it to the barn for morning chores.  

I picked a gallon of jalapeno peppers yesterday morning and I made a double batch of Jalapeno Jelly.  I made another double batch this morning making a total of 23 half-pint jars.  Mmmm, it tastes delicious on cream cheese and crackers!  Most of the recipes I looked at called for a combination of red and green sweet peppers with a few hot peppers.  I wanted to use all jalapenos.  So in order to do that, I had to use liquid pectin, which I've never used before.  It's a bit more costly than the powered pectin and my canning books said the two were not interchangeable.  Anyway, the recipe was really simple:  jalapenos, sugar, cider vinegar, and liquid pectin.  And if my pepper plants keep doing so well, I'll be making a lot more pepper jelly and selling it at my farmers' markets.

Several weeks ago, my hubby, son and I put together a portable garage for our new hay shed.   It seems to be much better than the cheap blue tarp we used last year to cover the hay.  Hubby decided to put metal screws in at all the joins to make absolutely sure it stays together.  Now it's time to fill it up with hay.

I made a batch of Green Irish Tweed (type) goat milk soap today.  It's one of the scents to fill a customer order.  I have 3 more batches to go and this order will be filled.  One batch of soap for the B&B is ready and the other will be ready tomorrow.

I've been so busy lately that I haven't had much time to knit.  I took the time this weekend to start a red cotton lace cardigan for my younger daughter.  It's going to be beautiful when finished, hopefully in time for school this fall when the weather starts cooling down.  I'm also knitting her a pair of socks made from a wool, bamboo, & nylon yarn.  The Scottish lace shawl that I knitted for most of a year for my older daughter is finished except for sewing a small border seam together, washing, and blocking it.  Hopefully I will complete it before she leaves for AZ.

Hmmm, guess I'd better bake a dessert and get supper started because Hubby will be home before too long.