Five Boys Happy Home

We have been Busy Bees as summer continues. We have two annual canning events, and one new project. Every year for the last few years, we have made our own salsa. We have tried different recipes. Last fall I received a new water canning pan for my birthday, so we felt we could make a bigger batch of salsa. 17 pints this summer! It was two days of work (parent days - the time your kids will play well without you). We were exhausted, but it will be worth it to have salsa for most of a year. I think we almost have a recipe down.  We also had a great chokecherry crop this year. Added to last year's crop that we froze, there is lots of jelly and syrup to be made!    First harvest, just from the front end of one tree. Lots of berries are still green!  And our new adventure: brewing. We were sitting at dinner when Scott mentioned we should make our own beer for fun. I said we could look for home kits. That evening he brought up a kit he had bought la...

Greetings friends!! We have started into the warmest part of summer, and are finally beginning to re-tame our yards. Last summer we had our decrepit and unsafe deck replaced, so it's way more pleasant (and did I mention safer?) to be out back. Sooooo...it is time to spruce the place up as best we can.  Thankfully the first owners had quite a bit of yard sort of "natural" and xeriscaping as opposed to manicured with intricate flower beds. Let's face it I know my weak points!! It would have been a hopeless, ugly mess. We have a few trees and shrubs that are getting out of hand, but it should look better soon.  My least favorite plants are two huge juniper trees (shrubs?) almost as tall as our house. I really don't care for their perfume. On sensitive days it can cause migraine. And they were growing into our patio. Sadly, you can't just trim them, as they stop growing greenery inside. So we are converting them from bushes to trees. It may look silly...