Pages

Monday, August 11, 2025

Done

68°f/20°C, clear.  High around 90 expected.

76 quarts! We started canning yesterday at 11:30am, and finished at 6:30. A hard day but now we have our year's supply of yummy tomato juice. 





I am officially out of jars. The last 2 quarts had to go into a pitcher in the fridge. So I won't be doing any more canning until we use up some stuff. Fine by me. Of course, there is still space in the freezers, and the rattlesnake beans are just getting started. And we still have to make that 10 quarts of applesauce.  I may have to borrow a few jars to get that done. The beans I can freeze.

Today my feet are up. I've done some laundry, scrubbed down my poor overworked stove, and made some peanut butter cookies. That's all I am going to do today except read.


I had a nice long chat with granddaughter Sarah this morning. She sent me photos of an outhouse race she and her sister, granddaughter Ally, participated in to celebrate their birthdays, which are just a day apart (5 years difference in their ages). What a crazy idea for a racsawe. By the way, someone had to be in the outhouse as it was being pushed along by team members. This was in Colorado---and their team came in 2nd! Sarah says she has the dubious distinction of having built outhouses on both sides of the Mississippi! The one she built for her cabin here is really a luxe version though!


In other news, grandson James bought granddaughter Haley's first house from her! Haley and her partner bought a place with 10 acres, and had a buyer for their other place, but that fell through. Haley's cousin James is an apprentice electrician and has been living at home, but Haley's little house will be perfect for him, as it was for her when she was single. It's a sweet little place, just 2 bedrooms with a nice fenced yard. It was built in 1925 but was renovated and updated before Haley bought it 5 years ago. My son Aaron, James's dad, lives close to Haley has done most of whatever work Haley has needed---he's a good uncle!-- and of course Derek has been there to help his daughter whenever needed. James is 24 or 25, I think (I do lose track with so many grands), so he's a young homeowner, as Haley was.

So of our 14 grandchildren, 8 are now homeowners, and most of them were under 30 when they bought their first house. That's kind of amazing to think about, in these days when the dream of home ownership seems unattainable for so many. 

I remember when my first husband and I bought our first house. He had been in a minor car accident when he was 16. His parents sued the other driver, and when George was 18 he got a small settlement of $3000. The lawyers took a third, and he bought something or other with the money (a boat, I think) but we used the $1500 he had left as a down payment on our house, which we bought for $17,000. It was about 25 miles from DC, and had a one-acre lot. The house was built in the late 30's by a former CCC worker (During the Great Depression, President Roosevelt created the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s to provide work for unemployed men. They did a lot of work in the parks and other government properties, building stone walls, trails, cabins, etc. Much of their work still stands). 

Our house was basically a log cabin similar to those built in state parks by the CCC . Later someone applied a smooth stucco exterior, and added a tiny front porch. The house still had the original full-length screened back porch, and the original 60-amp electrical service-- which was very limiting! It meant no dryer, no AC, and we had to be careful of our usage or we would blow one of the 4 fuses. Our typical electric bill was well under $20 a month. I loved the huge fieldstone fireplace in that house. The logs were exposed inside, so it was a cozy little place.

It was a perfect starter home for us, and in our 5 years there we doubled our investment, which allowed us to pay cash for the land I live on now, and to build this house ($12,000 for 73 acres, and the original cost of our house was $11,000, but it really wasn't finished at that point). Over the years we borrowed money to make improvements, as it was a pretty rough cabin back then, and we bought more land (much of which I have sold over the years, so now we have about 40 acres left). But when I retired Larry and I paid off the mortgage, so once again the place was free and clear. Zillow calculates its worth at around $220,000-280,000 today. I don't know if we could really get that, but still it's a good return on that initial $1500 investment back in 1969.

Do you remember buying your first house? Or have you opted to rent instead of taking on the headaches and expense of home ownership? I swear, the older I get, the more attractive renting looks!


Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Sunday, August 10, 2025

In the Maters

72°f/22°C, going to be another hot one today.

We were out early this morning, picking tomatoes at my son's friend's high tunnels. We were home before 10am and now I'm up to my elbows in maters.





I guess this is about 5 bushels, which took only 30 minutes to pick. Not all are perfect, but for free? Yes please. We could have picked peppers too, but I didn't need any. Tamara came with us, and her son picked 2 five-gallon buckets full. She'll be busy!

I am making all of these into juice. We use about 80 quarts of tomato juice every year. I have plenty of salsa, bruschetta, whole tomatoes and soup already, but we are nearly out of juice.

Yesterday we made 20 quarts of applesauce. With 30 already in the cellar,  we just need 10 more quarts to fill the apple butter kettle in November.

Well, back to work!

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Saturday, August 9, 2025

Booth Update

65°f/18°C, no clouds but hazy. No rain expected until later in the week. Watering gardens.

Thank you all for your kind comments regarding Larry's health. He has several appointments scheduled, and his doctor is changing a lot of his meds, so we shall see how all that goes. She also referred him to mental health counseling, something I have tried to get him to do for years. Vietnam resonates still down the years. The new meds will take a week to arrive, unfortunately,  so I dont expect to see much change before then. Meanwhile, I had that little break planned to go north to Lake Erie. He said he didnt want to go, but since he lost his phone and the truck isn't here, I dont want him to be here alone without either. So my "break" may not be as restorative as I had hoped, but it is what it is, and I am sure it will be good for Larry too. 

Yesterday was booth day, an easier than usual task because we didnt take much in. I did remember to take a few photos this time! These are all from our Ravenswood booths.  I didn't take any at Ripley because there were quite a few people shopping. Two young women were fortunate that I was there, because I gave them both steep discounts on things they wanted to buy. All the items had been in the booth over 6 months, so I was happy to move them along. 

These things have been in the booth a little while. The oil lamps is an antique, made around 1900. I used thevteapot for a few months, but found it too big for my needs.


I bought this hand-crank phonograph two years ago, and am just now finally getting it into a booth! We enjoyed playing records on it occasionally.


This is the sideboard we bought last month. I finally found a key for it, on ebay! I have too much stuff on, need to rethink that.


Lamp shades. I had at least 20 or more stockpiled in case I needed them. Well, I got tired of them taking up so much space in my storage room, so took them to the booth. They have sold very well; this is all I have left. I priced them reasonably, so that helped to move them. Lamp shades are not inexpensive these days.


I am surprised that this flatwall cupboard hasn't sold. This was, according to the magazines, supposed to be a hot color this year. I really like it myself, but apparently no one else does. Still, it makes a good display piece, at least.


The old trunk is still with me too. People look, but no takers yet. That's a black wall quilt hanger laying on top of the chest.


Mugs, mugs, mugs. Steady sellers.


The green cabinet has been in the booth for a couple years. Maybe it's the color? It really is a great piece with lots of storage.  Furniture in general has been slow to sell for the past year, but is slowly starting to move again. 



This is our latest addition. We need to buy the side brackets that separate top and bottom so that the top can slide out like it's supposed to.

Turkey call, anyone? One of the oddities that shows up in auction lots.


Just odds and ends.


I found 2 of these crackle glass lamps at an estate sale 2 weeks ago. I had to buy shades for them, but I think they are so cool. Will anyone else think so?


Another view of the sideboard.


Cigar box ukulele, sewing box, and a neat old pillow rest on the chair tgat I thought would sell fast, but a year later it's still here. 


Shelves of smalls, with a tiny bit of fall decor added.




Just some pretties.

I found the gorgeous berry set below at Goodwill! In perfect condition too. 


Swung vases are popular right now, but these antique ones dont sell as quickly as the midcentury ones.


Well, that's enough, right? 
I need to get back in the kitchen and start jarring up the applesauce we're making today.
Then I plan to spend the rest of the day reading! 

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...