8/29/16

Running on Fumes

It's been a busy few days. The whole weekend was spent on tomatoes. When it was all finished, I'd put up 15 quarts of pasta sauce, 5 more pints of salsa, and 9 more half pints of tomato jam.


Any more tomatoes produced by our plants will be turned into plain old diced tomatoes. There is one more day of canning ahead of me before our vacation when I make some plum chutney tomorrow. 


Today I took the day off from the kitchen and headed off to the Swan Island Dahlia Festival in Canby, Oregon. I took pictures of every blooming thing because everything was blooming. There were flowers as far as the eye could see.


There are a lot of these. I'm only showing a portion of them today. The rest will be posted tomorrow. The place was crawling with bees as you might imagine, and the festival was as spectacular as I remembered. Dahlias are the most incredible flower. It's hard not to take a picture of every single one. I'll just keep my mouth shut while you look.

















It took about an hour to walk through the fields. Afterward, I headed to the quilt shop where I dropped off my quilts for the Northwest Quilting Expo next month. And then I came home.

I'd like to say I took a nap, but I didn't. There was a new chili recipe to try and lots of vegetables to roast. Also, I baked another plum torte. Don't say I didn't warn you. This time I both buttered and floured the pan. Hopefully it will come loose without breaking apart.

And, phew, I am one tired pup. I'm hoping to get back into the sewing room tomorrow, but the chutney comes first. There will be more flower pictures for you tomorrow.

15 comments:

quiltzyx said...

Absolutely FABULOUS!

Lana said...

Those flowers are gorgeous and one day I want to learn how to can. I'm just afraid I'll do something wrong and I'll sicken my family with my canned food! Lol
And I hope to make that plum torte when a friend visits soon. I'm thinking some parchment paper might help that sticking problem.

crazy quilter said...

Awesome awesome flowers! I would have taken the break from the canning as well! Thank you for sharing these beautiful pictures. You have been one busy bee

Lyndsey said...

Fabulous flowers. I love the variety of the Dahlia from pompoms to more daisy like flowers. I've been wondering what's missing from the garden, maybe it's a couple of dahlias. We've just picked the apples from our tree and I have chutney making plans for them.

Jenny - the lilac cat said...

Well done on your tomato marathon. I tried the plum torte. Absolutely delicious but after the warning I used the non stick cake liners I have. Came out a treat and what a treat.... And if you making another one today then so shall I!!

Quilting Babcia said...

You've accomplished a lot during your tomato marathon! My hat's off to you!
Love the dahlia photos, they are one of my favorites, and I suspect Oregon is about the perfect place to grow them. Never had any luck growing them in New York when we lived here in the past, as we didn't have the right conditions for wintering over the bulbs.

Dana Gaffney said...

Gorgeous flowers! and I'm happy to see the bees they need all the help we can give them. I got stung the other day and just felt bad for the bee since he would die, LOL.

Debbie said...

Rest...you need rest. You have been one busy bee. Thanks for sharing the flowers....just beautiful

Vroomans' Quilts said...

You will need that vacation! Love the dahlia pics and yes, the bees too.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful flowers! I get tired just hearing about your tomato marathon....glad you took some time to go see the dahlias!
Sandra B
scb304@juno.com

Beth said...

Gorgeous flower pictures, Barbara! Thanks so much for having so many adventures and sharing them with us. Are you interested in my very favorite shot? I think--and it's a hard choice--it would be the off-center round one, in the persimmon color, near to the bottom. Love that one!

gpc said...

The dahlias really are beautiful -- it's hard to believe they're all the same kind of flower, isn't it? I told my friend that I must see dahlia hill this year -- I hope I don't put it off too long, I want to see it in full bloom! You are, once again, putting me to shame with all your accomplishments. :)

barbara woods said...

i am putting up the last of our tomoato's today Thank goodness!!!!

Nancy said...

Out Tomatoes are just starting to ripen. We don't have very many plants and I think they are to much in the shade.

Love the Dahilas. I should have gone to Canby last weekend but we are trying to get the house ready to sell and all I did was sort and purge.

Kate said...

Beautiful photos! Hope you've had a chance to recover after your marathon tomato canning project.