The first major thing I did after unpacking and putting away (and rearranging the Living area) was to make mincemeat. I hadn't made any for years and thought I would make a small batch. Is 24 quarts a small batch? So much for thinking! It turned out to be more fruit than meat but is edible.
Had a nice visit from friends I met in Baja, Sonia & Greg. They had car trouble near Portland but were able to get it fixed without too much hassle. They decided to go home with a detour to the Long Beach peninsula. We had two enjoyable days of sight seeing and visiting.
Then I had what to me was a small disaster. Last fall I had bought a red tea kettle that I really liked. Well! I set a kettle of water to boil for pasta, turned the stove on high, went outside to burn a small pile of papers. Left the front (& only) door open. Then went upstairs in the shop to do something or other. Came back inside to hear my smoke alarm yelling "Fire! Fire!" at the top of her voice and in a most annoying way. OK, so the smoke came in through the door. Shut the door, open the windows & she is still screaming "Fire!". Looked over at the stove and my empty tea kettle is so hot it has changed color and is melted to the burner. Had to buy a new burner and a different tea kettle as the one I had was no longer in stock.
Went for a fun week with my 2 sisters to Leavenworth. We went on a river raft trip that was just right. Only a couple of not too scary rapids. The people in charge looked at us three geriatrics and called for reinforcements! The other 'client' in our boat was also a guide. I guess they needed more rowing power! We also went yard saleing, put a puzzle together, and did some quilting. We had so much fun we shall do it again next year but haven't yet decided exactly where to go.
The middle of June I finally got started on quilting the 2nd of 3 quilts for a cousin who lives in Ohio. I should have this one finished in about a week. (2 1/2 months later). I will do the 3rd one this winter.
Have enjoyed several visits with the children and grand children!!
Last week we had a night visitor in our outdoor kitchen tent. We had a small gathering there the weekend before. I had a set of 3 plastic drawers on the table in which among other things was a package of cookies and a covered container of fresh fruit. Mr Bear ate the cookies but left the fruit after he took the lid off! Probably to see what was there! He also ate (I hope) part of a 3 gallon container of peanut oil (it was about half full) and dumped the rest on the ground. AND he opened the refrigerator, took a 1 1/2 quart jar of mayo, and about 3-4 pounds of wrapped cheese slices. I hope he got very sick!! At least he didn't get into the freezer of the fridge where there were hamburger patties and hotdogs. However, he just as well have. 3-4 days later we discovered the fridge had died and the meat didn't look too good!
Those are the highlights of the last 3 months. Where has the time gone?
