It’s been a very long couple of weeks! Two days after the move my neck and right shoulder seized up so badly that I had to call in sick to work, and forced myself to NOT unpack and organize my new home. And of course that was the one thing that I was absolutely desperate to do. By the weekend things had loosened up enough that I was back at the office and emptying boxes at the apartment, but my rapture at being nearly pain-free was shortlived. In my attempt to rescue Mom and Dad’s cat Purrwell from the bushes in the garden, I completely wrecked the other side of my neck and my left shoulder. Meanwhile I had been making steady progress with settling into my new home, spending lots of time with my lovely friends, and generally getting accustomed to being back in Smalltown world.
Saturday was cold and windy and not at all summery. CS, KB and I went for a fast walk, with hoods up, and when KB had to leave CS and I came up with the brilliant plan of making a pot of chili. This ranks among our best ideas EVER. I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed a meal so much.
Sunday was errand day, with a trip to Dollarama and a few local produce stands to get the necessary ingredients for Canning Day (known to most as Labour Day).
Monday arrived blustery but with a hint of sunshine: it was going to be a good day for canning, followed by a barbecue in the garden with my beloved friends. MB & CB arrived around 11 with more fruits and vegetables and the canner, and we started prepping. For the record, the recommended method of peeling peaches is to boil them for a minute, then shock them with cold water, and the skins come off. Let me just say, the skins do not just come off. They cling tenaciously to the flesh, kicking and screaming, until you’re so mad you want to hurl peaches across the room. But we got through it. The first batch into the jars was sliced peaches in a simple syrup.
Next on the agenda, SALSA! Thank the gods for the food processor. Huge juicy tomatoes from the Judge’s fruit stand outside of town, green peppers from a “leave your money in the cash box honour system” fruit stand in Simcoe, fresh onions from the garden, and a couple of jalepenos and fresh cilantro from the store (I know, that last one defies the hundred-mile-rule. But salsa isn’t salsa without them!). The house smelled divine.
And finally, to use the rest of the tomatoes and the apples that I purchased at a local orchard, a tomato chutney. I had to make a trip to Foodland (open on Labour Day, thank the gods again!) for pickling spices and a Spanish onion. A new and untried recipe from the Company’s Coming Preserves book, the chutney turned out to be the surprise hit of the day.
All told, the three batches took probably four hours from start to finish.
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We called it a day and awaited the arrival of my barbecue guests. The sun officially came out just as CS & SP arrived with fresh watermelon, followed by HC & family who brought still-warm-from-the-oven rhubarb crisp. SP took over barbecue duty and we sat in my mom’s lovely garden, munching on snacks, until evening fell and the mosquitos began to help themselves. It being the last day before school started, my friends all had to leave at a respectable hour and I finished clean-up before taking Charlie out. CS called for a late-night stroll, which was exactly what I needed to finish unwinding from the long week, the long weekend, and the long day.
It’s the unofficial end of summer, and I can’t say I’m sorry about that. I’m so excited about autumn colours, cool evenings, falling leaves, and acorn squash. Not to mention corduroy, tweed, denim and plaid. My work room is finally set up and I’m ready to get back to creating before fall and winter craft shows kick into high gear.
And so, another season “in the can”…
