GREEN BEAN MONDAY

 Up to get a new week started. RL is here early this morning. I got chores done and then had a leisurely breakfast with RL. She helped me gather the laundry and we got a load started. Hubbie took her out to play and I got started canning my green beans. This will be the last run of green beans I will can this year. I already canned 40 quarts the first picking and this second picking should give me at least 3 more canner runs.  Hubbie kept RL entertained and I got 2 loads canned before daughter and IR and CA came for lunch.  I was doing 3 loads of laundry between the canner loads of beans for a very busy day. I actually finished with 27 more quarts of beans to bring this year's total to 67.

The girls were entertained by the multitude of these yellow Swallowtail butterflies sucking the sweet nectar from the flowers. Guess this is why it is called a Butterfly bush !!!!  RL said she counted 12 butterflies on this one bush.

Glad to get to take a little time to enjoy the beauty of nature on this very busy day. It is so good to have kids around because they always notice things I wouldn't take time to notice.   I canned and did 3 loads of laundry until 5:00 when d-in-love-A came after RL. 

After they left we watched the news and then headed out to get chores done. We also gleaned in the garden this evening and I found some of my Jacob's Cattle beans dry enough to bring inside to finish drying on my wire rack. I have never grown these before but decided to try them on the recommendation of a couple friends. I hope they taste as good as they are pretty.

It is supposed to rain pretty hard overnight and tomorrow so hubbie picked tomatoes and I picked blackberries and blueberries.

August is my biggest preserving month so everyday brings more produce to the kitchen. I will probably wait until Wednesday to put up the tomatoes and let them ripen a little more but I will freeze the berries tomorrow.  Whew,  this has been a busy day but I am thankful the beans are canned and these other things are inside in case the rain is heavy and hard.

We had grilled hotdogs and the extra green beans for supper tonight.

Thankful for the blessings of this day and praying for family and friends fighting the covid virus and praying especially for a young neighbor mother's family as she lost her battle with covid tonight and left 2 little boys and a daughter in the nicu that has never seen her mother. Such a sad ending to this day.

God Bless and Good Night