Blueberries, Raspberries, Peaches...OH MY!!

In the three weeks since I quit my day job (get it? My (1) day job?? Yes, I crack myself up!!) I have embraced the homemaker inside me again. Oh the joy of doing what you are meant to do! I put in a 40 hour week at church, hosted a Grill & Greet for 50 folks after our evening worship service last night, and still had spring in my step to do more. It reminds me of tithing. Tithing you ask? Yes! When we take care of our needs first, we are often left with little to give to the Lord. But, when we give God our best, our first fruits, we find that he stretches what is left to cover our needs and often, then some. It makes no sense to the rational mind, it is a faith thing. This past week, I gave God my best and he stretched my time and energy to cover so much more.
So I present to you the latest line-up in my kitchen...

Peach Vanilla Jam, Raspberry Jam, Bread & Butter Pickles and Blueberry Lime Jam.
I have actually been at this for the last 2 weeks. Somewhere around 55 jars total. I ought to buy stock in the Ball company, lol!
The best part is they all have a story to go with them.
Josh, Kaleb and I spent one morning picking blueberries, a first for us. We had a fun time eating, laughing and talking while we picked. We tried to figure out if we could decipher Korean or Chinese or whatever language was being spoken in the next row. We couldn't so we made up our own ideas. After we finished picking berries, we shared a Stromboli for lunch. I chipped my front tooth on a fork. It was a memorable day!
The raspberries came from Pastor Bill's garden. The Lowery's were in Michigan for their eldest son's wedding so they hired Kaleb to take care of the chickens and the garden. We got chowed by mosquitoes while we picked berries. Then Kaleb spotted a snake in the bushes. That was it, I quit! We picked enough berries for one batch of jam. We shared half the jars with the Lowery's since it really was a collaboration. Now that we've tasted it, we kind of wish we hadn't, lol, it is pretty awesome stuff!
Pickles were a first for me. The boys and I ventured to the Niagara Falls City Market for another first time experience. Joshua helped feed the food processor as we sliced our way through about 45 cups of cucumbers. At one point the bowl of the processor was so full, it started to slice off parts of the underside of my processor lid. Yikes! Luckily we stopped it before it got too damaged. The family had a tasting when it was all done and Joshua discovered he likes pickles now!
After church this morning, we took an unplanned trip to the Raby's orchards to glean more peaches. Butch lets us pick peaches off the ground for free and we filled three 5 gallon buckets in about 20 minutes...in the rain. A lady from church joined us and then came back to the house to help me cook up 2 batches of jam. We talked and laughed. It was a good opportunity to get to know her better.
Ministry in the mundane. Pastor Bill reminded us last night that all of life can be worship if we do it to give God glory. So, these past two weeks have been about giving God glory while canning. It is a good thing I don't sell my goods, they would surely be priceless!