What to do with 85 lbs of peaches...

That was the big question last weekend!! My friend Heidi & I went to Sauvie Island a week ago friday in our quest for peaches. We went last year (my first time!) and had a great time, so we thought we'd go get some peaches & do some canning. It was a sunny afternoon, summer hours at work which means we had left work at 3:15 on a friday, and off we went to pick a few peaches! Well, add into this equation that Heidi is 9 months pregnant and the idea of carrying a heavy box of peaches around an orchard as we picked them didn't seem (to me) like a *great* idea...but we were lucky! They had this great wagon! And of course they generously let us borrow the wagon! About an hour why we figured out why! All of our 3 boxes of peaches added up to about 85 lbs! No wonder they encouraged us to borrow the wagon!!

SO- Saturday was Canning day at my house. You can see the "furry lump" on the chair behind the peaches, clearly Josie was not into hanging out in the hot kitchen with us so much as he was getting his "kitty beauty sleep." (as he seems to do approximately 20 hours out of each day.) So- we peeled & cut peaches at the table, making one big sticky mess, but cut a LOT of peaches!
This was Heidi's first time canning, but she was a total pro! As soon as she realized the right side of the "jar grabbers" was the black handle not the red "tacky" side, she was off and could not be stopped!!! She was already asking when we would can applesauce!!!
Heidi, Still smiling after 6 hours of canning peaches!!
Success!!! We made about 36 jars of peaches, including 5 or 6 jars of pureed peaches for baby food! Ooh our babies will eat well!!
Yup...there I am too...also rejoicing after 6 1/2 hours of cutting/packing/canning peaches...rejoicing in the stock we'll both have to get us through the winter! I just love eating those sweet peaches in the cold winter months!! Hmm...peach cobbler in January! I can hardly wait!
We actually did not make it through all 85 lbs the first day, there were probably around 20 or 25 lbs left...Sunday was a blur with Heidi's baby shower & cake baking & getting ready for her surprise baby shower at work, Monday was class, tuesday was a going away party for Margie (In China now, meeting her daughter on Tuesday!!) as well as a vendor dinner (somehow I managed both- the vendor dinner started at 5:30, I stayed for a drink and appetizers, then scooted off to Tigard for the going away party...unfortunately the guest of honor was feeling under the weather & didn't make it, but we had a great time & we all got to see Michelle, home from China since February this year, so we all left with big smiles on our faces!

SO- all this to say that I could not get back to the peaches until Wednesday...by which time I probably lost aout 10 lbs (too ripe!), but the other 10-15 lbs I made into chutney- another 21 jars! Yum....the one thing I love almost as much as homemade applesauce, is homemade peach chutney. I can eat it on nearly any kind of meat, but my classmate from Chinese class (who is now living in Amsterdam) was far more creative than I with the chutney last year- he tried it on his oatmeal. I forgot to pass along "eating instructions"- but he said it was good...

A friend of mine sent me this link...referred to in his email as "the twelve treadmills of the apocolypse". Just try not to laugh out loud at this!!!

2nd Floor update

Well, I'm late in updating this, so here is the quick update on the 2nd floor remodel progress!

Remember this really ugly railing? The red one that's not terribly even and did I mention Ugly? I've been staring at it for 5 years and let me tell you HOW excited I have been at the prospect of taking it down!! So finally about a week ago we were working on the upstairs and *the* day came...the day of the railing removal!

It was quite momentuous in it's own right. The sheer joy in taking apart something that had been such an eyesore in my house for such a long time is indescribeable. Imagine the taste of the very best chocolate dessert you ever had...it's maybe a half notch down from that. SO exciting!
Unfortunately the railing decided it wasn't coming out that easy...the strange suppot bars across the top were tough to get out, and one of them kind of (sort of) went flying down the stairs. No, It's not intentional that my stairway appears to be red white and blue. I'm not that patriotic nor do I have such awful taste. In my defense, the railing was red when I moved in, and the walls were white. the floor was painted a horrid brown of the variety I'm sure could be described as "diaper brown" (eek, gross!) SO- in the attempt to make one of those things nice, the floor won out, and the rest has been "in line"- so now the red will be gone & replaced with WOOD color and white accents. Did I mention how much I really (REALLY) wanted to get rid of this ugly railing?
Yay! One more side gone! 2 down, 1 to go!!! We will be building a storage space in this narrow area to replace the railing...pictures to follow...building to start tomorrow!

Tagged by Connie!!

I've seen other people tagged...and finally it happened to me!! (Although I did have to be notified, since I had been remiss in reading blogs...so thanks to Connie for tagging (and notifying...) me!

4 jobs I have had in my life...

• McDonald's "counter person". This couple would come in every 2 or 3 days and it appeared to be their personal vendetta to make the girls working at the counter cry. They were just plain MEAN. My first encounter with adult bullies- at 15! Thankfully that job only lasted about a year or year and a half!
• Shop attendant in a Knitting & Quilting Shop (yes, I'll admit, I'm not new to the quilting thing, and I'm a closet knitter...both tend to come out every few years, but right now I'm in the knitting mode & trying to get back into the quilting mode...all the great fabrics are certainly helping!)
• Morning person in a coffee shop, also closing person. Morning person allows you to see the world early in the morning. 5:30 early. Night person meant that when the shop closed & they were going to throw out all the breads/muffins etc, I would get to take them all. I took them to School (was in my senior year of college) & fed half of the Textile Students for the bulk of the year. Everyone knew they could find food at least a few days a week in the textile testing lab. Thanks Starbucks!
• Footwear Materials!! This has been my job for the last 10 1/2 years...it has it's ups and downs, but I credit my travel to Asia as one of the things that allowed me to realize this journey to my daughter, and for that I will forever be grateful.

4 movies I could watch over and over...

• Brigadoon. My Mom's fault!
• Imitation of Life. Another old flick, I've probably watched this movie 15 times.
• The Clock- Judy Garland...okay Wizard of Oz I suppose too, but most especially when you see it accidentally on TV...
• Kinky Boots. Okay I don't know if I could watch it over and over again, but I was trying to remember the last movie I saw that I thought was just FANTASTIC. This was an international film festival movie about a shoe factory in England who made the same shoe for like 80 years...when the last son inherits the business he has to change the product to save the business, so they make fashion boots for transvestite. It's one of the funniest and sweetest movies I've seen in a long time!!

4 places I have lived...

• Cornwall, Vermont. No, of course you haven't heard of it. It only has 900 people. And maybe 1200 cows. But it was a nice place to grow up, and all of my family is there!
• Philadelphia, PA- during College
• Dong Guan China, in GuangDong Province- about 1 1/2 hour drive south of Guanghzou. Only for 3 months, 5 years ago. A truly life changing experience. Made me realize how much I love China. Although Dongguan is an industrial city of about 4 million Chinese (I stuck out like a sore thumb, most especially since my hair was curly at the time!!), I developed an admiration and greater interest in the country that will live with me throughout my life.
• Portland, Oregon! My home! While I wish my family was closer, I have truly found my home in Portland.

4 TV shows I love to watch...(Don't watch enough tv to have 4 shows I love...)

• Grays Anatomy...Yes, I'm addicted.
• Desperate Housewives...ditto. I love Sunday TV from 9-11...
• umm...that's kind of it. Although I always did like Will & Grace, but never actually know when it's on.
• ???

4 places I have been on vacation...

• Cape Cod when I was 5 or 6. The one and only family vacation we took...we went with my newly single aunt- two single mom's, 4 daughters between them. Very, very fun.
• Yunnan & Sichuan China- on Vacation with an ex-boyfriend. A 1 month trek through some of the most beautiful parts of China. Another life changing experience.
• Yangshuo China- outside of Guilin just northwest of Guangzhou...short but fantastic. Met a woman there who gave up 2 of her 5 daughters and her the story of her life growing up in the cultural revolution, being orphaned at 6 yrs old as a result of it, having to marry a man 30 years older than she, being forced to give up two daughters...another of the life changing experiences which helped me find my current path...
• I wish I had a 4th! While it sounds like I just take exotic vacations, it's not true! I just don't take them very often! MUST get better about that...
  

4 websites I visit everyday

• Rumor Queen. Yes-ME TOO!! (who doesn't?)
• eBay. always finding things in my house I just don't NEED to sell!
• Bloglines. I just have to get my fix. I have become a blog junkie.
• CCAA.
• That's frightening...I go to the same sites as Connie...! How unoriginal!!!

4 of my favorite foods...

• chocolate
• Indian Food!! YUM!
• Dumplings of ANY variety! Jiaozi, pierogies, ravioli, turnovers...all things wrapped in dough...YUM!
• CAKE. especially chocolate.

4 places I would like to be right now...

• at my daughter's Orphanage, looking at her for the first time.
• In the Tagong Grasslands, Sichuan China
• In the woods, Camping along a nice stream
• In Vermont, playing with my Niece MOLLY!!

4 things I want to hear...

• Mommy, I love you. (Sorry I had to keep this one Connie!)
• Referrals are back to FULL MONTHS!
• sweet nothings from a sweet man...if you know where he is, please let him know I'm in Portland & have not yet run into him in the Grocery store (as everyone keeps telling me I will.)
• I must have mis-quoted your electrical bid, let me give you a better price...(and while we're daydreaming... "I must have misquoted your plumbing bid, you just never mind the other half of the bill. consider it my baby shower gift to you!")

Alright, time for me to tag someone...I think....SHARON! She is my "LID Buddy" in Portland, we are hoping to be in China at the same time as our LID dates are only a few weeks away..she is waiting for sweet little McKenna!!!

Sprout's Molding

So last weekend was Molding weekend at my house. (I am beginning to thing every weekend is Molding weekend at my house!) Most especially it was molding for sprout's room!! That made it just a little more exciting! We did get most of the molding up in her room, there are only two pieces left to add, one of which needs to be painted & one we need to cut to the right size. (in two directions!)

Did I also mention last weekend was a hot weekend in Portland? yes well, it was. It was truly deserving of a beer while using big power equipment. Don't worry, I did keep at least one hand on the beer at all times, and one hand on the saw. both in very safe positions! ha ha!

The other GREAT thing that happened this weekend is my trip to my favorite Molding store. Okay normally I cry all the way home from the molding store because I've just spent so freaking much money...*grin*... This time was a different story! yes I still spent ridiculous amounts of money, but LESS than normal! One of the guys at the molding store recognized me, and we started talking. His wife & ADORABLE little 3 year old daughter had just left & said goodbye to him (how I knew it was his wife and daughter...)- so we were talking about his daughter who was just absolutely adorable...and he asked if I had kids. I told him about Sprout & explained this is for my upstairs, for Sprouts room, etc... so fastforward 20 minutes & my wood is ready & he calls me up to pay. he gives me the total and I try not to pass out in shock, but he instantly says 'wait, no, I'm going to give you a better deal. consider it a baby shower gift..." then he added something about "it's a big project..." etc, and he gave me contractor pricing! Which means...it saved me about $50 in molding! THEN, he grabbed a business card & wrote some notes on it and told me if I come in & he's not there, to show the card and I'll get the discount! Oooh! I LOVE my molding store! SO great! So hence, the coming home to cut wood/shelves/molding and have a beer in celebration.

Wine Tasting & Painting...In that Order

Well I need to catch up a little bit...I've been busy selling stuff on ebay, packing things up...sending them off..posting more things...I may just ebay my way to China. There's a novel concept. If the validity of the 171-H does not extend from 18 months to 2 years, I may be paying at least that extra $1000 from EBAY profits!! Yuppers, just because the department of homeland security things adoptive parents might possibly commit a felony between when they start their adoption & when they complete it, the most important document in our dossier only has an 18 month validity. Yeah because the biological parents have how many government checks? Oh yeah...none. Watch out...adoptive parents on the loose!!! We are a dangerous crowd!!! Personally....I can vegetables, I plant a garden, I go for walks in the neighborhood, and ready for this? SOMETIMES I even go to FARMERS MARKET!!!! Look out world!!! Dangerous Mama to be on the loose!! STOP THAT WOMAN AND FINGERPRINT HER!!!!

Okay, enough of that....what have I been doing in the last week? Painting! and Wine Tasting! but not in that order! Last saturday I went on a vineyard tour with my friend Kathie & a group of her friends for one of their birthdays. Unfortunately her girlfriend could not go as she had to work, so I got to be the fill in for lucky seat #9 in the Limo to wine country!!

We went to 4 different vineyards...although Erath is the only one I can remember the name of. No it's not that I was drinking SO much wine (although face it, wine tasting...4-5-6 wines per vineyard...and not having to drive...I certainly had my share of wine!)- I don't remember the names because I had not heard them before! Erath though I did know, and do like their wine. It turned out to be the least expensive wine of the day too.

The last vineyard we went to was set up on a hill (okay most of them were...) and had this very pretty flower garden along the edge of the patio outside the tasting room. There was a wedding going on outside, although it was very small and it was hard to tell it was even a wedding because it really was so small, but they all looked exceptionally happy...and who wouldn't be, on such a bright beautiful day, in such a beautiful countryside...overlooking acres and acres of vineyards... These barrels were actually at the 2nd vineyard we went to. They had this long "cave" like hallway where the wine was aging. This happened to also be the most expensive vineyard we went to. To do a tasting was $15 per person. We thought this rather expensive, and only 4 people chose to do a tasting...although they poured enough wine that all 9 of us were able to try all 4 wines. So once we saw the list & tasted the wine, we did come to understand why it was $15 per taste. The first bottle they brought out was "moderately" priced at $37.50 per bottle. Okay, for me, this is an extraordinarily special occasion kind of wine. Like the kind of wine I would open when I get my daughter's referral. Like the kind of wine I would open to celebrate my first REAL Mother's day. The kind of wine I would open to celebrate our first Family Day...but no, it wouldn't be the kind of wine I open when I'm making dinner on a wednesday night. SO...bottle #2 comes out...this one is $75 per bottle! Yikes! Bottle #3...also $75! And finally, Bottle #4...$150 per bottle! So what this means is, this ONE barrel in the middle...just one...could probably cover my entire orphanage donation. Another barrel could pay for the 3 plane tickets to China...another 2 barrels could pay for the bulk of the rest of the adoption. Don't think I wasn't considering how to sneak a barrel out under my shirt! ha ha! And if they chased me... "hey! I'm 5 months pregnant! leave me alone!" *grin* Oh the thoughts we think...

So, I came home Satruday evening and started working on Sprout's dresser. (yes, that's right, as one of my chinese class classmates pointed out I went wine tasting and THEN painted the dresser...) Technically I didn't paint it yet...I spent saturday sanding it & putting the 1st coat of primer on it.
I realized part way through priming it I hadn't taken any "before" pictures. Before any of you say it, I am so NOT the kind of girl who would paint wood if it's nicely stained....but what you can't see (because I already primed & painted them) is that the faces of the drawers were not the same wood. The dresser has 2 curved drawers on top, then two flat ones on the bottom. The flat faced drawers were the same wood as the rest of the dresser. The curved face ones were some other wood that just looked completely different. As in, it appeared that they had switched out drawers from a different dresser.... SO, the only solution was to paint it.

I did finish the primer coat, and have since sanded & primed it a second time over. I think this weekend I'll try to paint it! Although, I also have quite a lot of molding to prime, so we'll just see where all my time goes!!

I've also been working this week on the web site for my DTC group. Anyone who knows me should be saying "what? you?" Yes...me... fortunately I had great instructions from another person in my DTC group & it is actually quite easy! But I do need to finish it! Here it is so far: Click Here to see it.