Summertime sweets

Well, I let another week get by with out whining to you about my day. Not that I was whine free, I just didnt have the time to sit down and waller in self pity..

BR and I went earlier in the week with the kids and picked muscidines before he went to work. They were EVERYWHERE. We took the tractor and sat in the bucket and picked them as high as we could reach. I will be honest. At one point, when I had the 4 of them up in the bucket and was in control I concidered leaving them 20 feet up in the air and jumping in my truck and leaving. Just to run to the store to get a Dr Pepper, (it was over 100*s after all), and show them just how much they DO need me. :) But I refrained. Rayley didnt save many. She picked a BUNCH, but she ate all of them, and would eat the ones you were picking too if you didnt watch her. Once we were done there we went on down to Aunt Jeans, They of course were given ice cream. After our visit. where Aunt Jean has declared that there is something wrong with Bow. Something DEAD wrong. She said that she has never seen a baby who will NEVER sit still. He wore out both my great aunts, and my grandfather and his wife pretty quick. He just is constantly doing something, going somewhere, pulling on something, or trying to eat something. And insists that he does it while sitting/standing in your lap. Or climbing on you. he is like a squirrel. He has to be at the highest point at all times and refuses to get still.

The only time he quits moving is when he finally passes out. He will be nursing and is steady kicking his leg. or throwing his arm. Its literly constant. Everyone is flabbergasted at the fact that he does this all day, everyday. And that I am still sane.

As we were leaving Aunt Jeans I had to run down to Aunt Etta's. She left before I did and the kids rode with her. I was less than 3 minutes behind them. By the time I got down there they were all in HER kitchen eating ice cream cones. I guess I cant fault them, it is hot outside, and Blue Bell is the next best thing to Heaven.

As we were leaving there I happened to look in the bed of my truck (you do that when you back up) and guess what I saw? yep. That hay that BR told me the day before that he would bring to work. He said there was no sense in me wasting my time or deisel to drive over to the yard and bring it. Of course there wasnt. I wasnt hot, tired or ready to sit down. By the time I spotted it I had already been in the pasture for hours. I just wanted to sit in the house and let the AC lull me into a deep careless sleep. Not that I would be able to do it, but it would be nice.

we finally made it home and I was just too lazy to do anything about the muscidines. I laid them out and started preparing for grocery day. I got my lists, my coupons and my sales papers and got to work. Kmart was selling wranglers for 9.00 a pair. I was praying that walmart would honor the ad.
I have to have 10 pair to start the school year with.

I managed to go to walgreens and save over 30.00 with coupons and sales. and then at walmart I had quite a few price matches, and ended up saving over 80.00 between them and coupons. I even got fruity pebbles cereal for 49 cents a box. The kids and BR are thrilled now that I am doing this coupon thing. They get cereal again.

I also had a PTA meeting this week. It was for Matts old school. He moves up to the Elementary this year, but Rayley will be in the primary next year so I am going to help out there this year and at the boys school.

I didnt get home till 10 that night. And Martha my Mother in law had kept the kids. even Bow. by the time I got home she was so glad to see me. She said Bow liked to have killed her with all his climbin and going and coming. She ran out of here like a scalded dog when I got here.

The next day of course was another pea day. Then it came time to do SOMETHIN with them muscidines. The kids had been beggin to help me make the jelly so I relented. I got everyone in there with a bucket and told them to pop the skin and pop the insides into a bowl. If you have never seen a muscidine its a very hard skinned wild grape. Dark in color. they taste like a grape, except more musky and sorta with a bite. Not the sugar sweet you find in grapes. Did I mention they are THICK skinned? when you eat one you bite it, get the middle out, work out the 4 seeds and eat the middle. Then you chew on the skin. till you get tired. You dont chew it up. Its like chewing on a piece of leather with good juice in it.

And I reckon its the acid in them, but the juices make your hands burn. I had to juice the pulp, which is NOT easy, and then the skins. Matt quit popping them after about 20 minutes. Brett lasted about 45. Then he wanted to use the pestel and strainer. that lasted less than 5 minutes. Once they went to bed I decided that this was enough of this, so I threw them in a pot on the stove and boiled them down. This is not the best way to do it. Not quite as much flavor, but not enough to really notice.

I got them all done sometime in the middle of the night and put the juice in the fridge. The next day I was able to get 7 jars of jelly made. Not bad. It set up just perfect.

BR didnt work much on Friday, so we went and got my new gun. Its pretty. I am real proud of it. and the older kids also went and saw a movie with the day care my mother in law works at. BR and I went and ate mexican food. Bow was with us and I swear at one point he climbed OUT of the high chair and onto the table. He was strapped in. THis child is a hudini. We also had to get feed and drop it off for the horses.

Saturday BR was going in for a full day of work, but decided to get up early enough to spend some time with the kids. We opted to go and pick more muscidines. BR made breakfast of pancakes and right after I got out of the shower my sister in law called. She wanted the kids. Her and BR's brother were bored and decided to take the kids to the zoo in lufkin. BR said to ask the kids to decide what they wanted to do. I did. They picked the zoo. then wanted to know if we would wait to go and get the grapes till they got home. uhhh NO.

Once they left BR decided that we still needed to go and get them muscidines. It was nigh on noon. So off we went. Tractor and can pole and sheet in hand. We were going to go up in the bucket and put a sheet on the ground and hit them with the cane pole.

4 hours later I had 2 full buckets and was thinking it was at least 110* outside. about 30 minutes before I got all I could reach my grandfather drove down and took Bow. He had decided about then that he was through with the heat and sitting in that stupid stroller. He took him up to Aunt Jeans to get some ice cream.

BR and I went ahead and went out to the garden to get some watermelons. I wanted to make some watermelon Jelly. We got 4 good ones. They are just rotting out there. they made pretty good this year and eventually you just cant eat any more.

We went by and got Bow. He had worn the old folks out again. and boy was he tired. He rode back to my truck with us on the tractor, then I put him in his seat and turned on the truck. I went to the bucket with BR to get out the half of a bucket of muscidines that we had stopped and got at another vine. before we got that little bit out of the tractor bucket and into the truck, he was out like a light.

The peas had just been hanging on the vine when I went through the garden so I called my mother in law and asked her if she wanted to go and pick. She said yes,and I told her that we would go about 6:30. She had my kids and so I got started on the watermelons. I had to cut up the pink part for jelly, then I had to cut up and take the skin off the rinds for preserves. I decided to make some sweet preserves and then some that taste kinda like bread and butter pickles.

She called me back at 6 and told me it was 106 outside so it would be a little later before she showed up. hmmm.. I was only off by 4 degrees earlier.
I wasnt able to get enough rind cut up to get it started in the brine before she got here and then we had to pick and I had to shell the peas, so it was about 10 before I really got started back on the watermelon. I was only able to get 2 jars of jelly made and only got one batch of rinds cut up and soaking. Then I was wore smooth out.

I went this morning and got my newspapers and have spent the day today finishing up what I could. I was able to get the 2nd batch of rinds soaking, and now have them in their syrup sitting overnight. The first batch is done and canned already, as is the 7 pints of jelly I got made.

Today alone I have done 3 dishwasher fulls of dishes and untold sinkfuls that I did by hand (breakfast, last nights watermelon mess, todays watermelon mess, the canning mess, cleaning 3 dozen more jars and lunch dishes. Supper dishes are currently in the sink. I am pretending they have stuck on food and need to soak.

Tomorrow I have to pick peas and get those new muscidines cooked down. Then can the jelly from that and the perseves from the last batch of rinds. Or at least thats my goal.

Matt did get mad at me this week. He came in from outside with enough sand and dirt on him to plant a potatoe garden, and when I told him to go on the porch and strip he instead went into the kitchen that I had JUST cleaned and swept, striped and left his jeans on the floor. surrounded by a halo of dirt. I made him go in there and sweep it up. He had a melt down. Something about them never getting a day off from having to pick up something, or clean something or do something instead of playing. I told him that when they gave ME a day off, I'd give them one. Well he stomped off to his room. After he swept. BRett came out a little while later
and told me that Matt was going to run away. And he had to go to keep him company. I told them that was fine. They could each have a bottle of water, a breakfast bar and they had to take the walkie talkies. Matt was walking out and I told him to go ahead and take his dirty laundry with him. No sense in me having to do it.

Out they went. They were chattering back and forth, nothing important. Matt came on once and said "wonder if she thinks I am still here?" Brett said he didnt know. Then Matt told him "well, I am going to go down to Daddy's deer feeder and sit under it. come down around dark and get me if she hasnt missed me by then."

Brett said "okay"

Matt came back on and told him again "dont you leave me down there, you better come and sit with me"

Brett promised he would. I was laughing so hard I couldnt help it. I said "while your down there, check your Daddy's corn level, it will save me the trip"

it was about 45 minutes till dark and the boys had decided they were going to sleep outside. SInce I had already confenscated the blankets they were trying to take it promised to be an awful evening. Not that hey would get cold. it was in the high 90's.

Rayley had came back inside a little while before and she decided she was tired of the boys 'runnign away', so she went out on the porch and started hollering at them to come on home. I had said to tell them that. I had said NO such thing.

Brett came on the walkie talkie and told Matt. "didi you hear that? SHe is gona make us come in. "

"well it took her long enough, I am about to starve to death, and them dogs barkin are gettin to me"

Do you know neither one of them has quit whinin cause I wouldnt let them stay out all night? and no matter how many times I tell them I didnt make them come n they wont belive me.

Heck, I wasnt wanting them to come in till they were begging me to come and find them. I cant even get these kids to walk to my bathroom on the otherside of my bedrom ( and our house is only 42 foot long) after dark. Going outside for ANYTHING is out of the question and God FOrbid the lights go out. or I turn them out!