Picked and canned haskapps

I picked haskapps on Friday and got about 6cups.  I took a bag of 8 cups out of the freezer from last year and made two batches of compote using pears I bought on discount at the grocery store.  

The first batch I used 7 cups of fruit and a bag of pears. Second batch I used Asian Pears along with the  cups of haskapps.  These require added lemon juice to make them acid enough - 1 tbsp per pint so I added it in with the pears and cooked them until they were a bit soft and then added the haskapps.  I managed 7 pints of each.  I added 1 tsp of honey and lemon juice to each jar for both batches.  

We are really enjoying the canned fruit!  I made jelly roll with oat flour for birthday cake and decided that it works well for regular desserts so I made another one and we eating it with canned fruit and plain yogurt or ice cream.  I have more haskapps in the freezer so I will  keep an eye at the grocery store for more fruit at a good price to mix with them to make compote.  Theres

 

Anniversary supper!!!

 We celebrated out 50th anniversary with a special supper of steak (local butcher - excellent), air fryer potatoes, greek salad and asparagus!!!  It was delicious and we had ice cream bars for dessert!!  

We are grateful for our many years and all the life we have lived since we committed to this relationship!!  There have been ups and downs but always we have reaffirmed our commitment to stay the course and sort it out.  Therese

Another picking of haskapps

We have had rain for a few days and now a couple of days of sunshine so it was time to pick haskapps again.  I picked just less than a half pail which is twice as much as Madeleine and I picked last week.  I will freeze these as well so they can be incorporated into canned fruit with later pickings of fruit - maybe even pears if we can get some locally.  Suzanne has a friend who have moved into a house with pear trees and they did not know what to do with them last year with any luck we can pick some there.  Might be able to get a case from BC as well.  I asked at the Husky last week and they think they will have cases in about a month  - so late July maybe.  Looking forward to canning peaches again this year.  I may try zucchinni with pineapple juice again as those jars are empty.   Therese

 

Lilacs in the house!

Our  Miss Kim Lilacs are prolific enough this year to be able to pick a few for the house.  They are slightly fragrant but not in the typical lilacs.  Good enough!!  I am happy to have flowers for the table.  

Therese
 

Tree of Celebration ornament

 

I received this beautiful blown glass ornament for my birthday from Richard, Stephany and the kids.  It has replaced my red glass heart in the kitchen window and I hung it with a star bracelet that I found in my stash which reflects many of the colours in the ornament.  We have celebrated so many occasions over the years and there are many more to come so it will be my reminder to stay present and enjoy all that is good in my life!!!  Therese

Camping at Gull Lake - first trip of the year - June 14 - 20th

Headed out for our first camping trip with the trailer.  Brian has been working on getting it summerized and sorting everything that needed to go back in.  We did a good overall cleaning as well which was needed and makes it feel fresh and clean.  We arrived about 4pm after stopping at the Wooden Shoe for an ice cream.  Site B82 - Setting up was a breeze - level right off the bat and we were able to move the picnic table to under the awning which was great.  I brought some peonies to enjoy and good that I did because the rain and wind after we got home pretty much spread the petals everywhere!  We were very happy with our site though there was less trees to the site that was next to us which was not a problem though when the park filled on Friday and Saturday it was close quarters as you could see everyone in the other campsite.  

The lake's water level is very low and so you can see in the photo above how far the water is from the parking lot but it is none the less sandy the whole way so not too bad.  The wild roses were blooming and you could smell them until it started to rain.  

We went kayaking  - the clouds were high and just enough to shield the heat of the sun and there was almost no wind.  Great for kayaking!!  We headed to Sandy Point hoping to put the kayaks in closer to shore.  It was much less of a trek though it did cost us $9 for 3 hours of parking.  We saw the large beaver dam and a very rocky shoreline with submerged rocks around the point.  I like the rocks and the transparency of the water.   

It is a well appointed site with seasonal sites, a small area with regular day to day camping spaces - the trees are sparse but much bigger than they were last time we were there.  There is a store with convenience items and ice cream.  Across the road there are nice homes with some having lake access, a golf course and there was a building under construction which could be a community center.  It was a perfect day!!!

It had been rainy so we read our books and did a bit of crafting before heading to Ponoka to the second hand store. For my birthday we went out for sushi and then had strawberry shortcake for dessert back at the trailer. On our way out of Gull Lake I saw the train and thought I would see if I could get a photo - got two very decent ones.

With it still rainy the next day so I decided to join my friend, Peggy D, for a movie - The Summer Book at the theatre and sponsored by the library.  There were several others that arrived so we sat together and enjoyed the movie - a Finnish Grandmother engaging her grand daughter after the passing of the child's mother while the father is distant as he deals with the loss of his wife.  It starred Glenn Close

and was excellent!!!

On Thursday, we headed home as Madeleine and Robert were coming for a visit after arriving back to Alberta from their Alaska Cruise trip.  We had lunch and then picked the first haskapps of the season (4 cups).  There was about 2-3 cups.  I froze them as we were headed back to the lake after they left on Friday morning.  We had our needed conversations in regards to our fall trip out east and went to A&W for supper and had leftover strawberry shortcake for dessert.  It was wonderful to see them and they were off to The Ukrainian Village to join the grands for their field trip.  

We had a relaxing rest of the day and with having rained most of the night we decided to head home on Saturday morning.  We slept in a bit, had a good breakfast and the packed up the trailer.  We decided to sleep in the trailer on Saturday so just brought in what we needed for the day.  We really enjoyed our camping and look forward to the 2026 Noel Family Reunion in the next few weeks which will be our next trip with the trailer.   Therese

Canned pear and rhubarb compote

 I canned pear and rhubarb compote today!  I really like having canned fruit - so easy to just open a jar and have a dessert ready to go!!!  The rhubarb is really nice and I picked some today to make brownies for the Everything Rhubarb tea for next weekend and thought I should see about canning some for us.  When I was at the grocery store they had large bags of pears well discounted and it seemed they would be a good match.  So I bought three bags and combined the best with rhubarb about 1 to 1. I just brought the fruit to a boil and hot packed it into jars with a teaspoon of honey and lemon juice per jar.  .  I did two batches of 7 jars - small gems the first time and larger wide mouth jars the next time.  I do have three jars of just pears in the fridge in salsa jars which I am hoping will seal and therefore last a few weeks in there.  I have never canned anything this early in the year but I usually freeze the rhubarb.  I will be making Gluten Free crisp for the tea and that may be the end of the rhubarb for this year.  Perfect!!!  Therese

New green roaster!!

 We scored a new green roaster this week off of Facebook Marketplace!!!  It is almost new condition and will be replacing our blue one which we have had for the better part of our married life and I am not sure it was new then!!  It has several places where the enamel has peeled off and it was in need of replacing!  Really cool that this one is GREEN!!!  Will last us the rest of our lives!!!  Therese

Tomatoes are in!!

 We had 4.5" of rain last week and several evening where there was the possibility of hail so I waited until Saturday to put in my 12 tomato plants.  Most of the rest of the garden is up - onions, radishes, cucumbers, beans, spinach, zuchinni, beets and I transplanted some dill and parsley that came up on its own.  The marigolds are doing well.  The Touchon carrots did not come up  - the seed was older - so I replanted those two rows.  I covered most of what was up with grass to keep the water in when it comes down.  We had another .5 the other night and the sun is out today!!  I will add grass around the carrots when they come up.  Should not take long with such good moisture and sun!!!   Therese

More shelves for the workshop

 Brian has been working on another set of shelves for the workshop.  He had all the material from a trash to treasure find several years ago so it was just a matter of making them up.  He has attached them to the wall using a french cleat which I how he did the set on the  other side.  He has been sorting items in the shop and has bins ready to go onto them.  Therese

Another puzzle - beautiful butterfly

 Brian managed another puzzle in the last few weeks - a beautiful one in the shape of a butterfly!!!  Unfortunately, it has a piece missing so ended up in the bin!!! 

Therese

Kale's band concert and a beautiful rainbow

Kale joined the Grade 8 band in January and was assigned the base guitar.  He has really taken  to the instrument and plays as much as he can and likes to cooperate with other band members to play together - especially the drummer.  Good combination!!  He has his band concert last week on Thursday so we joined the family to listen to the music they made.  It was very good - many had not played an instrument before starting with band in January!!  We did not stay for all the performances.                                                                                                                       

 We headed home after the Grade 8 played and ended up in a rain storm where the highway was pretty much at a stand still because so much rain was coming down you could not see very far ahead and the road was inches deep in water.  We got off at Cross Iron Mills and spent some time at Blue Grass checking to see if they had any Arizona Sun Blanket flowers.  They were supposed to get some in so we will check when we go to see Richard this week.  This is what was in the sky when we came out.  Blue sky and sun in one direction and this beautiful rainbow in the other!!!!!!  We could see both ends touching the earth!!!  It was bright and visible for another 15 or so minutes as we travelled the #2 on the way home!!!  We are blessed!!!  Therese

Raspberries have been corralled

I braided some black twine to make some long pieces to contain the raspberries.  I had put up a few restraints last year but the  wooden stakes were not secure enough so it did not work really well.  Brian suggested rebar for the corners and a few on each side and so that is what we did.  Pounded them in about 2 feet and then I used clove hitches to secure the twine to the rebar.  I managed to put up four rows so I am hoping that will do the job better than before.  It works really well to have cleaned the old stalks in the fall.  Much neater for the spring!!  Therese