CANNING TOMATOES

We bought a bushel of field tomatoes at the Maynooth market last Saturday and have been busy canning tomatoes and making chili and salsa.

We use a pressure canner which reduces the time and takes the bottles to a much higher temperature.

The tomatoes are first cooked for 15 minutes before canning.

Here Mary is bottling chili which we sampled for supper last night. ........... Delicious!


We have enjoyed the whole experience and feel so comfortable using the pressure canner we may go out to the farm and get another bushel of tomatoes later this week.

ELDERBERRIES

Went elderberry picking this morning. If you've ever eaten elderberry pie you know why we go looking for them. They grow wild in wet areas by the side of the road and right now they are in season up here.

The berries grow in clusters and need be be dark blue almost black before being picked.

We use scissors to snip the cluster, then drop it into a basket tied around our waist.

In just a few minutes we had this bag of elderberries.

Once home we stripped the berries off the stems and into a bowl.

We started off using a fork to strip off the berries but finished off just using our hands as we found it faster and easier.

We ended up with almost three pounds of berries which we will boil and put into the freezer. I think this batch will be used to make a nutritious morning drink high in vitamin C.

Still lots of berries to pick so we will go again next week. 

Thanks for stopping by and safe travels everyone.

TRAILER REPAIR

Hauled the trailer down to Peterborough yesterday to have a technician look at the fridge and water heater.

One gadget I use and appreciate when pulling the trailer is my backup camera. I connected it to the running lights so whenever I want to check on the hitch or what's behind me I simply turn on the running lights and get this picture. Saves a lot of frustration when hooking up as well.

They worked for almost two hours checking the fridge and water heater and tracking down a propane leak. The water heater was fixed by replacing two temperature sensors. The fridge needs a new electrical board. Unfortunately it is located on the bottom of the fridge which means the fridge must come out first. The replacement part isn't cheap so not sure what we will do. As this is the end of the camping season here we can wait until the spring to decide.

The weather here has turned warm going up to 28*C but feeling like 36*C tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by and safe travels everyone.

GETTING READY FOR WINTER

Shawn was here by eight to install two exterior receptacles. I took lots of pictures of Shawn working only to discover after he left that the memory stick wasn't in the camera.  

We were able to run the wire up into the attic and then down the outside of the wall behind the steel siding; another advantage of using siding that is easily removed.

You can see the wire going up into the attic here through a hole we drilled through the foam insulation. Later today I will spray foam the places where we removed the foam.

Each outlet has a weather proof cover making it safer to leave the fridge plugged in. Yes we have our freezer outside on the porch. Why? It means during the winter months our freezer doesn't draw from our batteries. This reduces the demand on our batteries during the months it is hardest to keep them fully charged.

We installed one receptacle with a switch. This outlet will be used for plugging in the cars and bobcat during the cold winter mornings we have up here. Rather than have them draw electricity all night I can just step into the mechanical room and turn on the switch an hour or two before leaving. Once again this will reduce the draw on the batteries but still warm up the engine on those mornings when it's 30 below.

It's September and we are thinking and preparing for winter.  What are you doing?

SEAN

Sean came up Saturday night and stayed for the rest of the weekend. Sunday he met some riders and went off on an 80 km ride bringing everyone back here for water and a tour of the house. 

He left early this morning and will probably do the club ride in Peterborough later today.

BANCROFT QUILT SHOW

The Bancroft Quilt Show will run September 20th and 21st which isn't that far away.

As expected this is a busy time for Mary. She has a number of quilts ready for the show but would like to get this one finished and entered as well.

The quilt is now on the quilting frame which allows the quilter to quilt or attach the top, bottom and middle together by stitching a pattern into the quilt top.

The pattern can be seen by clicking on the picture above. Many quilters use a machine that runs off a computer program to complete this stage of the project. A computerized quilting machine isn't cheap so I guess we will stick with this setup. My grandmother made quilts by hand with a group of friends sitting around the frame stitching the pieces together; slow meticulous work.

Here Mary guides the machine back and forth and side to side as she does the pattern freehand on the quilt.

She is able to do about 14 inches of quilt at a time before she needs to stop and roll the quilt for the next pass.

Be sure to stop by the Bancroft curling club to see all the quilts on display September 20th and 21st.

TRAIL VIEWS

When you walk the trail around Little Lake in Peterborough you have lots to see and enjoy.

Sand and water and little kids are happy. Campers at Beavermead campground can enjoy this beach just a short walk from their campsite.

Walking a little further one can sit and watch the pleasure boats go through this lock on the Trent Severn Waterway. This waterway was built back in the 1800 as a way to open up southern Ontario to settlement and economic development. Unfortunately by the time it was completed railroads had been built and could handle more goods and move people faster than the boats on the canals. There is one lock on the system that is a rail line actually taking the boats out of the water and lifting them up to the next lake by rail car.

New this year is a water park located at the far end of the path up on Maria Street. It's the perfect place to spend a hot summer day with little children.

Take some time to explore Peterborough; it has a lot to offer and don't forget the Farmers' Market every Saturday morning.

Enjoy these last few days of summer.