Mud, Tomatoes, Rain and More Tomatoes

Yesterday was a "mud day" for Shane. It had rained late Monday night and early Tuesday morning, making the job site too muddy for work. It turned out to be a sunny day, though, so he got started prepping to build the sun room he acquired free in return for the work required to remove it from a different house. He managed to remove the railings from our deck while at the same time saving the scarlet runner beans that were growing on it (Why didn't he just go ahead and pull them out this late in the year? I have no idea.) He also managed to attach a couple of pieces of the track for the walls, but then he ran into a snag. Nothing he can't make work, but enough that he decided to quit for the day. 

Knowing how SonyaAnn loves before and aft pics, here are some "befores".  You'll have to excuse the state of the deck.  We've gotten into the bad habit lately of setting anything and everything out there.  BTW, those aren't trash cans...they're recycling bins.  The deck area looks pretty rustic this summer and while that isn't usually my style, I've grown to like it.

In this one you can clearly see our rain catchment system.  With the rain recently, the tanks are full and what's left of the garden is being watered naturally.  That means the water in these tanks will end up drained out into the yard.  Not a waste exactly, but not it's intended use.  It has to be done, though, so we can have clean and empty tanks before winter sets in.

This last one is of the deck with the side rails off.  We're leaving the end rail by the steps on until the walls go up, for a small measure of safety.  You probably can't tell, but what Shane did with the runner beans was to detach them from the deck rail and let them drape over a couple of pieces of cattle panel (from the garden).  It took him forever to find the seeds this year, so I think his intention is to let the beans dry on the vine so he can plant them somewhere else next year.

Meanwhile, yesterday I was in the kitchen peeling, cooking down and canning some of the tomatoes that I froze whole earlier in the summer. I decided to pressure can them this time (I usually use the water bath method for tomatoes). I ended up with 8 pints of crushed tomatoes, which for me are the most versatile. I can use them later to make pasta sauce or salsa or to use as they are in chili or soups.

Today has turned out to be a rain day, so I expect Shane to show up here at the house soon. With the Labor Day holiday, that makes almost three full days of work missed this month. I had thought I would be able to pay off our van next week, but it looks as if I'll have to do it in two more payments.

Shane won't be able to work on the sun room today. I wonder if I can talk him into helping with the tomatoes. I only canned about 1/3 of them yesterday and I'm hoping to get the rest done today. I'll post a picture when I get them all done.