summer in the snow

 Chipmunk 5… Laura & Carm 0

We are doing battle with a wiley chipmunk that is frequenting the deck, digging in plants and CHEWING OUR NEW FURNITURE!!!! We are on our 3rd kind of ‘live’ trap but the little bugger is escaping before we can relocate it to a distant tree… if we don’t get it by tomorrow I will go outside and set a killing trap myself. It’s got to go.

It’s 12:30 on Friday and I’ve cooked a batch of roasted tomatoes for the freezer. It will make a lovely soup on a cold winter day - a taste of summer in the snow. I’ve also got a big pot of tomato sauce cooking in the instant pot. I think it will do 2 or maybe even 3 jars for the freezer. In the winter I’ll thaw it and add it to some browned riblets and meatballs for a traditional Italian Sunday dinner. My mouth is watering at the thought :-)

We even snuck into the pool between the raindrops to refresh ourselves after so much cooking! It’s cold out but the pool was still at 72F. Bracing!

Feelings of doom came in waves this morning so I got to work with the tomatoes and also drove away the yuck with up-beat music. Yes, it worked! (mostly)

Jo Ellen & Don came for lunch yesterday. It was a beautiful day for enjoying ourselves outside. Lupa barked when they came but not for very long - she’s slowly getting more confident. It didn’t take long before she was on Jo Ellen’s lap for some cuddles. 

Wednesday Carm was interviewed for the lumber store’s promotional video. Fun for him!

It’s the end of the day… 1 batch of roasted tomatoes and 3 batches of tomato sauce are in the freezer, 1 container of tomato sauce is in the fridge - I’ll simmer meatballs and riblets in the sauce for Sunday’s lunch. 

THREE chipmunks have been successfully relocated to the Green Forest.

Awesome!

“pounds and pounds of tomatoes”

“picking fresh basil”

“little dog curled against me”

“corn on the cob”