Raining all day here...

Hello:

This picture shows the Atlantic Ocean in Maine. Except for big storms it is a calm ocean, compared to the much bigger waves in the Pacific Ocean.

A few years ago I was in Palm Beach. Walking on the beach that morning, I took off my shoes, rolled up my pants and walked in the Atlantic Ocean. I flew home later that morning. After getting back to Oregon I went to our coast house in Walport and walked in the Pacific Ocean in the late afternoon on the same day I walked in the Atlantic Ocean.

I made my 3rd batch of salsa this morning. I saw I had over 8 tomatoes in a bowl. So, instead of letting them ripen and rot, I made my third batch of salsa. I now have six pints of canned salsa. I gave one jar to Nolan, as it had too much lemon pepper in it. I canned the salsa as well as my prune jam.

It is so nice to hear the "pop" of jars sealing. I have heard five pops this morning, meaning all of my pints sealed correctly.

I started canning last summer, canning prunes, applesauce, and peaches. This year I canned prunes, salsa and jam. Come to think of it, every one of my jars sealed correctly.

I got my canning jars from a lady who sold her farm. All of these jars were old and made of heavy glass. First, I bought two dozen wide-mouth jars, but after I got home I see she put every one of her wide-mouth jars into my box, ending up with 32 instead of 24. I went back a few days later to get some small-mouth jars. I bought four dozen of those. She advertised these jars at $10.00 per dozen, but I ended up getting these jars for $20.00.

I hope it gets warmer during these last days of summer. I want to get more tomatoes off my three plants.

Steven