Summer Time

 

These are just some of the random things that have been going on this summer around our house.

A couple of my day lilies. The first is called Ruby Spider, and I don’t remember what the pink one is. I bought it last fall at the nursery at an end-of-the-season discount sale. I had no idea what it would look like – and I have been pleasantly surprised!

 

 

Here are some typical Spencer pictures. In the first he is cooling himself off on the a/c. This is a favorite spot on summer days. The next picture is “bucket head”. That Spencer is always making me laugh!

  

Here are the kids helping me make fruit leather. I tried this for the first time last summer, and it is so easy! I also love that it’s a way to preserve my fruit, and the kids love eating it! We found that cherry was our favorite.

I had the kids help me by pulling the stems off the cherries, and then I removed the seeds with my cherry pitter (that’s a messy job!). Then I puréed the fruit. I added one Tbsp of honey per cup of puree, but after eating it this time, I think I was only supposed to add 1 Tbsp/2 cups of puree. Anyway, I’m not really sure what the honey does, but I’m assuming it is just for a sweetener. 

Then I lined my pans with saran wrap, poured in my fruit, and smoothed it out. I put my fruit in the sun for a full day. Most of the time I find that I need part of the next day also to “bake” it (but I do often forget to move it around so that the sun is actually shining on it the whole time it’s outside). Once it’s dried out enough I just cut it into strips (short way) and roll them up. I’ve stored them in Mason jars before, but this time it got eaten too quick for that.

 

And lastly, some pregnant pictures! I have very few pregnant pictures, I just forget to have Adam take any. So at least I’ve remembered this once. I think these were taken about a month ago, and it was the day I was doing the fruit leather (that’s what the apron is about). I’m 28 weeks today, and feeling much bigger than what I was in these pictures. Last trimester here I come!