Chilly morning

Woke up this morning to almost 60 degrees. What a nice change. Nice to be chilly. We had a nice day yesterday, even though we were inside the garage the majority of the day. Had to install a new garage door. And with just Albert and I, it went surprisingly easy. Just some fine tuning and #1 of 2 will be done. When I let the dogs out this morning it was a little chilly, cloudy and a drizzle off and on so I figured it would be the perfect day to can tomatoes.

By the time I got everything gathered it was about 10:00am  and I was ready to get going. My counters were covered with tomatoes and so it began. Wash the jars, get water on to boil to scald the tomatoes-get the canner going. I half or quarter my tomatoes depending on their size and by 1:00 I had my first load in the canner. And the day progressed with no problems. By 5:00 I had 28 jars of tomatoes  and three quarts of soup base ready. And the kitchen was clean-counter top empty....Then I went out to the garden and seems like in a couple of days I will have another load of tomatoes. And peppers- carrots are looking good, black eyed peas, dang I forgot to pick Okra!
Really now...how much better could a day be?

Thunderstorm

What a treat I am having tonight. We have been needing a good rain. We have been more fortunate than others this year so I am not complaining about not having a good rain lately, just have missed it. I have only had to water my garden once this year. But for the past week we have had the chance of thunderstorms but none have materialized and tonight one is passing through.  The sky was so bright orange but  there was a gray tint to it. Nothing like I have seen before- of course I grabbed the camera and the batteries were dead so by the time Albert around a little of the brightness  had faded. He did get some pics and tried to video the approaching storm- I haven't seen the results yet so if they came out I will post them. Then the nice steady rain came. The rolling thunder has been going on for a few minutes now. How I wish I had a tin roof on my house. A screened porch with a tin roof, what a dream come true. But anyway the rain is much needed and much appreciated. It doesn't take much to excite me! I am going out to stand on the porch.

Coffee

I love coffee. Straight from the pot; hot, black-no sugar or cream required. Tomorrow morning I won't have that first cup, nor the second and I won't finish the pot either like I normally do. Albert is a two cup person, almost. I don't think he actually finishes the first cup-just needs a warm up to have while watching the am news. He didn't become a coffee drinker until in his late 20's I think. Not me.... My first taste of this amber colored wonder was when I was just a toddler sitting on grand-dads lap, dunking Orange sugar cookies into it. I have loved coffee from then on.  I still have the cup my mother bought me when I was in school. Blue with white flowers. I used it then and into my first years of marriage. I then decided that I needed a bigger cup.  My girls both used it for hot chocolate or hot tea- No coffee for them. Aubrey can't stand the smell of it and Leslie didn't acquire the taste for it until she moved to Fargo. It must have been too cold!!  I let Corra start using my special cup for hot chocolate when she was three but one day I dropped a cup in the sink on top of it and broke the handle off. It is still in the cupboard though, I can't bear to get rid of it.

I am not an afternoon drinker though. Just in the mornings. It is my quiet time.  Coffee is the vice I have held onto longer than any others. I quite smoking over 26 years ago, I don't drink except on the very rare occasion and diet coke is now just an every now and then treat.  So why this post? Tomorrow I will not get up and turn on the coffee pot. It will sit idle all day. I am going to give it up also. I am going at it gradually though. I will only have it on the weekends when I can sit and enjoy it. The mornings are getting chilly and it will be nice to sit outside and have a cup- again the peace and quiet. Just me and my cup.. oh and most likely a dog or two! But when the canister runs out I will be done. Well done for the most part... Early morning traveling requires a large cup of coffee!  Other than that I will wait until I am with grandad again- We will sit and drink coffee and dunk cookies all day if we please!

I miss you grandad. I loved being your shadow. See you soon.  I love you.