Needed to get the rest of the grape juice turned into canned Grape Juice and Grape Jelly today so that I have the space to start working on the plum, plus I need to do a big old heap of apple sauce soon.. Here is the process in a nut shell in pictures..
Fresh cold grape juice, its been strained for the second time, needs to be brought back up to a boil and then the sugar added.. but while doing that, you need to get your jars, lids and water bath boiling water ready..
A trick to share on this one, all my grape juice went into pint jars that were with narrow mouths, and all my grape jelly went into wide mouth jars, that way, I can tell at a glance which is which, without even labels.
This is the canners treat, just as the cook gets to have a nibble here or there.. this is the treat that a canner making jam or jelly can sit down to at the end of the session, its also a nod to my family in so so many ways.. the bread recipe is my grandmothers, the knife that cut the bread was my grandfathers, the love of canning come right down the line, and the love of foam on bread, that was my mom’s voice whispering in my ear!
A deaf hound or two? So let me get the first point out, I love them and they are worth the extra work, they have given me so much over the years, I certainly would never begrudge them this in their golden years.
But having said that over the past while having a couple older dogs that are all getting deafer and deafer over the past year while living on a farm has proven a challenge.
One that everyone is up for but we are finding ourselves changing routines in so many little ways.. things like, how you wake them up, if they are lightly sleeping a foot stomp when upstairs will do the trick, but when on the cement floor or when they are sleeping on the couch’s and can’t feel the vibes, you need a different approach, now none of them have ever snapped at me but I think its just plain mean to “startle” them out of a sound sleep by touching them awake, so instead, I put my hand in front of their nose’s an wait, sure enough, in a few seconds to ten, they will get that nose going and will crack a eye open and smile at me..
Now I always had a firm rule that they move out my way, as I am the alpha hound but as they get older and older, I find myself either going around or stepping over when they are sleeping, I just don’t see the point of waking them
Treats are more carefully picked now for older teeth, and perhaps they are given out a little more often to a point, after all, how many more months or years am I going to see their eyes light up for me.
Snuggle time is given freely and found more time for same reason, but outside, well that’s a different matter, they no longer want to go on the big walks, they don’t want the long hard runs and they are happy to hang back and let the younger hounds do the herding, the farm work, the old loves would rather slowly roam the front yard area and bask in the sun on the deck or the front step, but in the past few months it has become even more then that, they will even ask to go back into the house to get back to their comfy couches and cooler temps on the basement floor, and who am I to say no..
We no longer call them or give the come command for them, as they won’t hear it, the young hounds will put the burn on and faithfully come at top speed to the house when called but the old ones, well they are now allowed to do their walks and then make their way back to the door and woof to be let back in.. yup instead of being the one who says in or out, I have become a doorman..
I can no longer trust that they will hear my commands in the pastures and in the barn when working with the bigger farm critters and in some cases they move far to slow to safely be around them, and so today I say out loud for the first time, that they are officially retired from being a farm dog and are now retired to being a house/yard old timer, as they laid their heads in a patch of sun to nap, the young hounds leaped and jumped with joy at being out with me, time to put that extra training, that extra farm dog polish on the next gen and they are game for it!
It would appear that we could? get a couple five gallon buckets worth in our patch
This is natural lighting on his coat after being groomed up today, , he had a really good rain or two on himself in the past week, and I have been grooming him daily since he came here.
I don’t know if his mane is naturally short but as his tail has also been pulled, I am guessing that his mane was naturally pulled as well.
I had bought a shampoo to give him a proper bath with but the truth is that he has rolled in the dirt, been out in the rain and just spent lots and lots of time in the sun and each day, I bring him out, groom him with the one brush, then the other brush, then spray him down with the bug spray and do his mane and tail and its been nine days and his coat is just gleaming!
He is so good about his feet, having picked them up and cleaned them out each day, I can see that he will need a small trim and a good file when the ferrier comes at the end of the month but he won’t need a big trim per say.
These are the front and below are the rear feet..
He seems to be quite content with his daily grooming, he is very good about being caught, he still not come when called but that is being worked on, but he now comes with Brandy to within a few feet or so of the fence line, he seems to understand the routine very well..
And he is always looking for his apple or carrot or hay cube at the end of a job well done.
I’m a good boy.. carrot please!
Now I know that my grape don’t look near as pretty as the ones you buy in the store but o my the taste is amazing! and as they are grown truly organic, the grass around them is grazed by the geese, the geese where also bad, and any fruit this year grown low to the ground went into them! tisk, tisk.. but the ones that we did get are truly healthy as can be for you! I am in the process of making our fresh grape juice! check out this Grape Juice making post for a more detail view on how I make it!
Other then the spices and the cornstarch to make the gravy, this was the most amazing meal, a huge thank you goes out to my man, without him and his hard work, I really don’t think we could get done what we do!
Our own lovely raised beef steak, fresh itty bitty fall dug baby spuds, with freshly picked green beans from the garden!.. We have a huge patch of late summer planted green beans for our fall harvesting of them.. so many are still in bloom, if the weather holds just a bit longer on the frost, we will have many many more meals of fresh beans to enjoy yet.
I went with ground beef in that amazing homemade soup, this allowed me to pull a bit out and make it chili, and turn the rest into the most amazing Pasta Sauce!
On my stove simmering at a very low temp is a truly amazing sight and the smell.. yum!
A big bowl of ripe from the garden tomato’s, mostly roma but some cherry, some heritage small tomato’s, all tip off and otherwise just cut into half or quarters and into the pot, a couple big onions roughly diceds, fresh multi-colored carrots, green peppers, rich dark heavy fall green beans, and half a seeded out zucchini.. salt, pepper, and some seasoning salts.. A pint of Beef bone broth..
The question now is where to go from here.. A fresh veggie homemade soup? Add in cabbage, small potota’s and sauasages for a heavy meal soup, or cook up a pound of hamburger, add in some chili spice and a big old jar of canned baked beans?
So I will let you vote!
1) Veggie Soup
2) German Sausage Fall Soup
3) Homemamde Chili with fall veggies and our own homegrown beef
Just another Day on the Farm 