Mom

My mom passed away today. I will miss her terribly. We were with her and she knew it.

Mom is now with Dad and she is telling him all about Frank and John since he never got to meet them.

I love you Mom and you will always be with me.

Tell Dad I love him.

Susie

These Past Two Weeks

I've had several of you ask me if I was alright since my Blog has been quiet. Thank you for caring.

These past two weeks have been surreal.

I don't know where to start except from the beginning.

On our way home from Edgar's Acres, and while waiting for the ferry, I got a phone call from John. He called to tell me that his good friend had died suddenly. What do you say to your son when he loses a good friend. I felt so helpless. This time Mom couldn't kiss the pain away. The whole week was spent in a bit of a fog. Frank and John came up that weekend and the memorial service was on Monday. We all were in shock, and will miss this young man, especially John.

After the boys went home, David and I started our grieving process. This young man had been coming over to the house for years and we had come to love him as a good friend. We love all of our sons' friends, they are a wonderful group of guys. They are like an extension of our sons.

Losing someone when you are at a young age is so hard. I lost my Dad when I was 29, and lost him suddenly. In our twenties we assume we will be here on earth for many years. We also assume all of those important in our lives will be here with us. It hurts when it doesn't work out that way. There are questions we will never have answers for.

We will miss this young man, and are grateful for having known him.

I was knitting through all of this. Knitting was my saving grace. It kept me stable and calm when I needed to be. I was able to focus on growth (albeit rows of knitting), and on baby sweaters.

Last weekend we went down to Portland to see Mom. She's doing okay, but we noticed she is looking much older, and frailer. She was also disinterested in the dogs. This is big. She loves dogs, and loves our dogs, especially Louie. This visit she just couldn't be bothered with them. The dogs knew this too. It was hard for them to understand, but they did. We did enjoy our visit with Mom, and we had a great time with Steve and Judi, so the trip was a good one. I also got a LOT of knitting done on Saturday because the 3 hour trip took 5.5 hours because of traffic. I slept on the way home on Sunday.

Then I had to come down with the bug that is flying around everywhere (which explains why I slept on the way home on Sunday instead of knitting). I missed work on Tuesday, and dragged myself back yesterday and today. Today I feel so tired. How sick was I? Well, I haven't been knitting, that 's how sick.

We are heading over to Edgar's Acres tomorrow night. I am looking forward to the to peace we find there.

We will all be fine, we just need time. Thanks to those of you who checked up on me. It helps to know you care.

Well, maybe I'll go knit a few rows ...

Sue

We're Heading Home Today

This has been the best vacation. Both David and I have worked in the yard and garden, relaxed in the evenings and gotten lots of good sleep. The doggies have had a great time too and are ready to head back home to get rested. Edgar's Acres is truly a special place.

We ate good food, 95% from our garden, and got to soak up some nice sun. I feel good, my ankles aren't swollen from sitting all day at work, and my complexion is good again.

I wish we could retire NOW!

I put up seven pints of peach freezer jam yesterday, using the powdered pectin. Much better consistency and it set up within an hour. The jury is in. I'm sticking with the powered pectin from here on in.

We are taking back with us some broccoli, onions of course, garlic, a couple of tomatoes, and peaches from Charlie's tree, and strawberries for Cynthia.

It's been good.

Sue

Blogging Without Pictures

Not only am I blogging on dial up, but my camera has decided to retire. It's not working. Just plain not working. Not sure what the problem is, but I can't take a picture of my RED tomato, or the strawberry jam, or my new raised garden bed.



We've been busy.



I made one batch of stawberry freezer jam. This time I used the liquid pectin, instead of the Sure Jell powdered pectin. I'm sticking with the powdered pectin. With the liquid pectin, the jam doesn't set up as quickly and as nicely. The sugar doesn't dissolve as well as with the powdered form. With the powdered form you have to dissolve the pectin in boiling water and stir for one minute before adding it to the sugared berries. The hot version does a better job of dissolving the remaining sugar and has a nicer consistency.



I froze 4 lbs of broccoli from the garden, and 31 ears of corn. I dug up a couple pounds of russet potatoes, and a pound of the red potatoes.



The onions were dry enough for me to clean. I have a full bushel basket of the Burgermeister Reds, and another full bushel basket of the Cobra yellow storage.



(Sure wish my camera worked.)



We picked the yellow plums (what do you do with yellow plums besides eat them raw).



One neighbor brought over a flat of peaches. We will be having fresh peaches for dessert tonight.



We are eating vegetarian tonight, all veggies from our garden and our neighbors' gardens.



David got the posts up for the marionberry vines and we have them tied up and secured. I cut out all of the old raspberry canes so they will be ready for thinning later.



David also built a new raised garden bed. It is ten feet long and three feet wide. I love raised beds so I am excited about this. We put compost and extra dirt in it, along with the organic fertilizer and will let it do it's thing over the winter. It should be ready for planting next spring.



Knitting. Yes, I have been knitting. I started Elizabeth Zimmerman's Baby Surprise Jacket. I am totally intrigued, and in total awe of what Elizabeth designed. Usually I can figure puzzles out without too much difficulty. For the life of me I can't figure out how this is going to work. I won't get it done while we are here at Edgar's Acres, because I need some more yarn for striping to make this jacket look really cute. When I am done with the current skein of yarn, I start on the Baby Einstein.



Got to go peel peaches.



AND to pick that RED tomato!



TTFN.