Canning Cherries

Today two of our local KLAMAT FALLS CHARMING CHICKS came over and we made cherry jam.  We made 35 jars, some pints and 1/2 pints. Nothing feels more rewarding then looking at all those jars of homemade jam.  Blackberry is my favorite but this tastes pretty good.  We even made some sugar free jam using sugar free pectin and agave syrup. 

Mary and I had never tasted the agave syrup but that jam is GOOD let me tell you.

Julie brought over a great 2 burner propane camp stove so we could have more batches cooking at one time because Mary only has 2 burners but we could not get the stove lit.  With 4 of us gals here we had no luck.  Wonder what the problem was.  Anyway with just the two burners and an electric hot plate we did around 8 batches of cherries.  Of course after pitting all those cherries we all had red all over us but that was fun.  Its always nice to do these type of things with friends.  It makes the job go faster and always more fun to talk with friends and catch up.  We plan on doing pickeled beets next time we are in the canning mood and later in summer do what comes from our gardens.

Victorian Tea Party-Farmchick style

Last Sunday, Mary and I hosted a Tea Party for our Charming Chick Sisters and our monthly meeting.  Oh, what  fun it was.  First off, Mary had all these gorgous tea cup sets and mentioned she always wanted to have a tea party, I said , hey great opportunity we are hosting the June meeting so we decided to do it.  We had a fun time gettin everything ready for it  Everyone had to wear their bonnets and aprons.  We served cucumber sandwhiches, oriental chicken salad in lettuce cups, stuffed peppers and shrimp.  We had scones that Mary made that were to die for as well as miniature muffins and Russian Tea Cakes. We served hot tea and a delicious Victorian Iced Tea.  We also had 4 new girls come and all 4 joined our group.  That was just awsome because we now have a big bunch of gals with diverse talents we can all learn from.

Our next meeting is going to be a pot luck Mexican style at Robins house.That is Mary in the pink hat and yours truly with the black hat ,  What  a pair!  We all had on our Queen for the Day attitude and it was so much fun.

thrift store shopping in Bend

Last Friday a few of us Charming Chicks went thrift store shopping in Bend.

first off no one knew where they were going so we tried out Gails new gps system.  Well all it did was tell us the thrift store we wanted was 200 miles away from where we were.  We knew that was wrong. We drove around alot and did find several thrift stores by accident.  We each found some treasures to take home.   We met up at 8 am. and then went into Klamath Falls to pick up Faith and then on to Bend.  I have lived here over 1year and this was my first time there.  Lot of stores compared to this area.  I liked the area.  It was very pretty.  Naturally we had to stop for lunch so we opted for the Olive Garden.  It was nice and our waiter  took our picture for us.  At our first stop I found a neat rose embroidered table cloth and a great red trimmed wine glass. Now I have to find matches to it.    The weather was just perfect that day too. After lunch we got busy looking for more shops.  Mary and I both found treasures and aprons for our tea party.

Gail found a chair and some other goodies and Faith found some stuff too only I don't remember what it was.

We also found a neat St.Vincent De Pauls, wow , so clean and nice.  It was such a nice store.  Will have to go back sometime and check out everything again.

By 6p.m. that evening we were getting pretty pooped out as you can tell from Faith and Marys picture here.  Even if we had not found little treasures it was fun just sharing the day with good friends and conversation.  We all need to just get away now and then.  We got home around 8:30 that evening and had absolutely no trouble falling to sleep.We are always ready to go again.

Brookes' graduation

Last Wednesday my grandaughter Brooke graduated from St.Annes in Lodi, Calif. and will now be in high school. She is the oldest daughter of my younger son.  It is so hard to believe she will be in high school.  When I was young ( I was once you know) I used to hear my Grandmother and Auntie say "my how time flies"  I would think , no it goes by so slow, now here I am saying and thinking the same thing.  I couldn't attend Bookes graduation so my daughter took picures of her and her two sisters for me.  Nothing like being a Grandma.  Wish I lived closer.

my first swap block quilt

I belong to Mary Janes Farm , our local chapter is Klamath Falls Charming Chicks. We are women with farmgirl attitude. Whether you sew, bake, knit, hang clothes on a clothesline, have animals or even just have a windowsill garden, you are a gal with a farmgirl heart.  I went on the Mary Jane site and became involved in a chat for quilters.  We had a block swap in March and I received quilt blocks from different areas of the United States and I sent 2 different block patterns out to differnt ladies.  Here is my quilt I have put together.  I just need to put the binding on the edges and it will be finished.  I am so happy with it.  I have only made one quilt before this.

Memorial Day / Honoring Those That Served

Today I went to the Klamath Falls Veterans Park for the Memorial Service to honor all who have served our Country but especially those from World War 2.I don't know why I just felt so compelled to go and see.  I was not dissapointed at all.  Mr. Joe Collins from the local VFW Post was the Master of Ceremonies. He gave a welcome and then the 173rd Fighter Wing Pilots did a flyby that was awsome!  There were plenty of people there and then a senior from Henley High sang our National Anthem.  His name is Sean Carter and he did a great job! Next a retired SGM Ron Ballard led with the Pledge of Allegiance.  It was just so cool to see all these patriotic people loudly say one nation UNDER GOD , I became emotional to think that there are those in this country who want that taken out.  The next speaker  was a World War 2 POW (1943-1945) survivor. Mr. Ralph Kesling.  He was in a plane and was shot down over Germany and told of his capture and conditions and later being moved to one of the Stalag Camps.  Then he was part of the death march across Austria which he called the Austrian Stroll.  One morning he woke up covered with 2 in. of snow. His legs were infected from the bug, lice and mice bites from the Prison camps.

We heard another amazing story of ret. Lt.Col Bill Harris.  He had been a fighter pilot and had over 33 successful combat fly kills and escaped the war unharmed.  He was one of over 11,000 planes we had and at the end of the war in 1945 there were only 1,000. 

I consider myself as lucky to meet these men and to shake their hands and let them know how thankfull I am for their service. 

Then they had all veterans of World War 2  come forward.  What a surprise to see so many from this area still living.

I tried to take their pictures but when I got home and put the chip in the computer I had no group picture.  What a shame.

This woman served in World War 2 as an Army nurse.  I am sorry I didn't get her name but she was so nice to talk to and I overheard her saying that anyone who didn't believe in

God was just crazy.

I came away from todays events a different person.  I have alway had great respect for all of our veterans, my era was the Vietnam War and America was not supportive of those men and women who fought that war and so they didn't return as heros but now I do believe that Americans

honor them as they should as our Countrys Best along will those that have served and are serving.  Remember that we have our freedoms because of all the men and women who serve this nation.

Another World War 2 veteran.

Waiting to plant garden

Well, first of all I can't believe this weather here.  I know Oregon has a much shorter growing season compared to California but now I am getting mad.  It looks like we can't plant our garden untill June 10th from all the experts who live in this area.  With all this cold in the middle and end of May I know the plant would freeze if they were up now.  So we sit and wait.  Not Happy!

So I am busy piecing together my MaryJanes Swap blocks on my quilt.  I have some great blocks from gals all around the U.S.  I am re-arranging the blocks in different places to decide how I am finally going to place them in the quilt.

It is fun and relaxing to quilt.  I just started for the first time in Feb. and have finished 1 quilt and am in the middle of 2 more.