Marshmallows in the Snake Cage

I bought some frozen mice at the pet store today for our two snakes, and upon entering Dayton's room to feed the biggest one, I noticed what looked to be marshmallows in the snake's cage. I said to the kids, "Who put marshmallows in here? There's marshmallows right under his hideout." But then, upon closer inspection, I realized that the marshmallows were actually EGGS! Six or seven eggs! Looks like the wild Blow Snake we picked up last month was a little bit wilder than we thought... pregnant, she was! So, another month or so should bring us baby snakes, if all goes well. I really don't know what to do with the eggs, other than to just leave them be. My sister, Karen, told me to make sure and separate them before they are born, or Mommie Dearest will likely eat her young ones. I remember from studying snakes years ago that the mothers don't care for their young... simply lay the eggs and take off. Wish us luck with the marshmallows :)

The Moth and the Cherries

How's that for a good sized moth? The girls found the kittens playing with him on the backporch tonight... poor thing. He's huge, though! So cool.

Here's a look at our cherries, which are getting too ripe to do anything with anymore. I bottled three pints for future pies, but didn't have enough time today to do anymore...rush rush rush. I picked peas with a neighbor for an hour or so and she gave us three grocery bags full. Yum! We then had to get to a church dinner social and had to scrap my big cherry plans for the day. Tomorrow may be too late, but at least I was able to use some of them. There are still a ton on the tree, as you can see from the last photo, but the birds have pecked the heck out of them and they turn out to be too much work. No worms, though - not a one. I can't explain that since we didn't even spray... must be all the rain and cooler weather we had over the last month or two. Whatever the reason, we're grateful :)

Life's a Bowl of Cherries...

And to quote Erma Bombeck, "If life's a bowl of cherries...what am I doing in the pits?" I had both today - big bowls of cherries and a big bowl of pits. Today was jam day and for the first time, I made cherry jam. I don't remember ever trying cherry jam, but it tastes just as good as strawberry or raspberry, and right now, I have plenty of cherries, so cherry jam it is. The pitting was a bit tedious, and yet... menial, repetitive chores like that can be soothing in their own right. (the screaming knots in my shoulder muscles are saying, "Soothing? Yeah, right...") I like to can, though, and am even somewhat proud of the semi-permanent brown lining around my fingernails that I will sport for the next day or so - evidence that I worked my rear off in the kitchen. I can wash and wash, but that fruit gets into the crevices around my nails in such a way, turning brown as fruit does in the air, that I just can't get it out. I'll need to get in the tub tonight with a nail brush if I want to eradicate my cherry stains. But I must say, seeing the little plastic tubs of freezer jam and my glass pint jars all red and shiny, sitting there on the counter, make me happy! Immediate gratification is the name of Donna's game and canning gives me immediate results that actually LAST, for several months, at least. Tomorrow will be the culminating triumph when I get to line them up all pretty on my fruit room shelf, and then rearrange them and reline them up again, until I'm perfectly satisfied with my display.

All fifty quarts of the peaches I canned last year are gone... baby... gone. I'll be sure to revamp my peach storage in a few months when the peaches come on. I did notice, however, that I have a few dozen pints of tomatoes that I'd better use quick... not sure how long those last, but I do know how long it took me to can them, and the last thing I want to do is waste them!

I'll no doubt wake up tomorrow morning and start the cherry day all over again, for I have a tree still full of cherries, and a laundry room full of laundry, and in the ring, cherries beat out laundry every time! My focus tomorrow may be on canning pie filling, along with another batch of jam, and maybe a few more trays of fruit leather (I only did two of those today and they are still not dry, but the wasps seem to like them just fine). So, until tomorrow... farewell my little fruity friends!

The Blur

June seems to be but a blur in my mind's eye... where did it go? Well... I think it went to EFY twice, trek, BYU for Vanessa's basketball camp, and then to St George for Dayton's basketball team camp... shove in my mini stallion getting loose from the neighbor's house while we're out of town, hauling 150 bales of hay, training sessions with Frosty, 4H, and a remodel on our bathroom, and I think June is just too pooped to show it's face. I've certainly been a tad too pooped to blog, but I have hopes for July! (okay... maybe August? it might take some time to recoup...)

Just for cuteness sake: Marin just told me that she was thinking about Christmas and how we really don't need anything more for presents - we have enough. Audra jumped all over her saying, "That's not nice, Marin. I think it makes Santa happy to give presents and see all the kids asleep in their beds!" Like, how dare we upset Santa and deny him the privelege of delivering us presents! They are watching 'The Polar Express' and that explains the Santa talk in July. Moments later, Audra looked over at me with her squinty eye and scrunched up nose and said, "My throat is scratchy patchy..." Hmm... scratchy patchy... that's a new one. Cute girls.

Vanessa is off to girls camp tomorrow and we spent much of the day preparing. Packed the big duffle bag (and I mean BIG), braided her hair into corn rows, dropped her bag off at the church and we'll say goodbye to her at eight in the morning. I wish I was a teenager going to camp, again. Might be time to grab my friend Annie and find an older 'Girls Camp' for us older girls! Definitely worth considering!

The cherries are ripe on the tree; the apples have the branches almost touching the ground (might be time to thin... ya think?); the radishes have gone to seed and I think the farmer, with them... ha ha... Mosquitoes are biting, grasshoppers are reproducing, kittens are growing, hoofs need trimming, horse teeth need floating, poop needs scooping, snakes keep arriving (yes... another snake caged in the house... a racer), and Donna needs something. If any of you know what that is, please feel free to let me know. I'm fresh out of ideas ;P

Later...