Well, I’m back in the office. And on Monday, I actually got the GLASS onto the GREENHOUSE! It was the second hardest job I’ve ever done (besides being a parent) since the pieces were over 7’ x 4’, had no edges to grab, weighed about 200 lb. eeach, and had to be lifted at least six feet over my head. I’m proud of myself for finally getting that done, but I’m not proud of how it looks. It must have shifted while I was building it. (Can’t figure out how that happened, since it only took me all summer.) Now I’m not sure there’s a right angle in the whole building. I didn’t MEAN for it to happen that way; it just did. So if you want me to post a picture of the greenhouse as it looks now, let me know. It might brighten your day; after all, anything you do will look better than that greenhouse does.

Anyhoo, here’s a batch of apple cider processing on the wood stove. Jess has two pressure canners and you can’t fit both of them on the stove if you’re also trying to heat up the next batch o’cider. So when Jess was gone one evening I put the cider-heating pot on the wood stove. It worked brilliantly until I shifted the pot and the cider splashed out onto the hot metal, filling our home with the lovely aroma of burning apple juice. And it left baked-on spill marks on the metal which are still there, yuck.

Jess was smarter. She put the canner on the stove, instead of the pot o’cider. The canner has a sealed lid and only contains water, which don’t stink if it’s spilled. The canner starts boiling quicker than it does on the stove. So we’ll be doing this next year. If I can get the charred cider off before then.