Friday, August 10, 2007

Apricots

On Tuesday I picked apricots, and picked more apricots, and then picked even more!

This is one tree beside Bert's house, one of many!


Here's a close-up of a branch.


Down by the chicken coop there's an old 1955 International truck Bert parked in 1982, he says it has gas in it and it still runs! I had a heck of a time opening the door and when I did WOW! The spiderwebs and mouse turds were pretty thick! But this did not deter my inquisitive 4 year old, he hopped on up there and started pulling on that ol' steering wheel like he had parked it there himself! Sydney, on the other hand, took a bit more of a "hands off" approach....yeesh girls eh?

Sydney sitting pretty.


"Look Mama! A spider!"
Don't mind the dirt, or the bare feet (he was clean and had shoes on when we left our house).

Jevan looking quite aged.

The apricot trees have had a few years to grow around, through, and under.


I made apricot pie filling (it's a peach filling but I substituted with apricots) with most of what we picked.

Grandma took quite a bit home and Jaycee kept a 5 gallon bucket full. My steamer finally arrived in the mail, shipping damage meant I had to return the first one, and I was getting worried it wasn't going to be here in time for apricots. Last night I used up what apricots I had left and steamed 5 quarts of apricot juice. I've never used a steamer before and promptly found out the clip gets pretty darn hot! But I am amazed at how easy it is to use compared to the old jelly bag method. I can't wait for the grapes to be ready!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Kansas...
You must be sick of Apricots by now. The pie filling looks great. You can also use that for making a fruit pudding cake or in bars. I am sure you will find lots to do with it.
I love the pictures, Sydney looks so grownup and Jevan suits the old staid look. But only the look as he is on the move constantly. Keeping Mom on the run after him all the time. They say it keeps you young. :)

Love Ya!

Anonymous said...

*sigh* I want to be just like you when I finally grow up - you must have a pantry just FULL of beautiful jewel-toned jars of heaven! =)

Glad you steamer came and this time all was well!

The truck looks like he parked it there years ago to pick apricots and just never got around to it! lol! The pictures of your kids are, as usual, beautiful!

Anonymous said...

Hi Mama!

Anonymous said...

You're living my dream with your apricots, ranch, canning. I'm so jealous. Around here if you open up a vehicle that has been sitting up for a while you better get ready to run from the swarm of wasps that built a nest in and under there. Not fun.