A Simple List Will Work

1.  Just finished canning about 12 pounds of sweets and dill.  My feet hurt.  My mom was complaining of the same thing when we went over for supper tonight.  She had also made a boatload of pickles today.  Mental note:  Pickles = sore feet, joy, better hamburgers.

2.  After cutting up the cucumbers, I noticed all the seeds on the cutting board and grabbed a jar, so I could save a few.  (There is a cucumber seed on my big toe right now as I type in bed.  I'm too lazy, or tired, to brush it off.  Please, if any of you ever see me at the Pac n' Save with cucumber seeds or corn stuck in my hair, don't say anything.  Just laugh at me later.)  Anyway, as I was scooping up the seeds, I realized that God and I were working on a project together.  I'd been talking with Him the whole time tonight.  See, I wasn't sure if I was going to make pickles or not.  It was already 10:30 PM, and I have this netflix video I could watch, but it seemed like a good way to keep my hands busy and my heart open to a conversation.  Okay.  Back to working on a project with God.  I know we all go to God for help.  But this epiphany tonight was something beyond that.  This might sound crazy, but it seemed like both of us were enjoying ourselves.  I sort of lost track of my need to pray for something, and just got busy doing some work and...talking.  Anyway, He is good company for making pickles.  Or anything, really. 

3.  I got to play a few tunes for my dad this weekend.  He taught me how to play.  And he played a few, too.  Then we tried to fix the Mantis he brought over (gas-powered mini-tiller).  Something is wrong with the choke, and because it won't idle, it wants to continue spinning the whole time, which means once you pull that line, you'd better be ready to go.  I'll figure it out.  (Don't worry, Mom.  I won't use it without boots.  And gloves.  And a suit of armor made of titanium.)  

4.  I also bought a nice pair of loppers (I don't know what else to call them).  When I took out the mulberry tree that's been growing in the blackberry bush today, I was having more fun than I've had in a long time.  This is probably because I've tried to remove trees with steak knives.  There was a lot of whooping and hollering and holding tree limbs above my head.  It's the little things.

5.   Which reminds me:  My bathroom door has been sticking on the new floor I put in, so Dad, being a carpenter, couldn't allow this and removed the door.  We found a 75 year old belt sander with a 56 year old piece of sandpaper on it.  We didn't get far.  We tried a few different tools until I finally suggested we use the cheese grater.  "Well, it's worth a try," Dad said, dreaming, I'm sure, of his tool belt at home--the rasp he needed to get the job done, the one I don't own.  And guess what worked the best out of everything?  Yep.  Cheese grater.  Trimmed the door right up.  I just stuck it in the dishwasher.  Good as new.

6.  Nora has been experimenting with how to use our decorative gourds.  I pulled out a dozen of them today.  Here's what she did with them.  I'm probably going to call one of those home remodeling/decorating shows on TLC because this is brilliant:  

7.  I found the best way to preserve your fresh herbs:  stick them in a jar of water on your counter.  They'll stay fresh just like a bunch of flowers (and personally, I think a jar of herbs is a lot prettier than those crummy old flowers.)  Just tear off leaves as you go.  BAM!  (That's a joke for Grandma Smith, who nearly choked because I put a word down while playing scrabble with her and said, "BAM!" while I did it--anyway, I didn't know that she loves watching that Emeril guy on TV--he's always saying that.)

8.  I've gathered enough Blackberries to make jam.  Stay tuned for tomorrow's episode, which I'm imagining will involve a few stories about the process.  Hopefully there won't be any bandits in it.  I don't know what tomorrow holds, but I definitely don't want to deal with any blackberry jam bandits.  I've got enough on my plate right now.