Finally, I can put a major chore behind me for at least another year...maybe longer if the hard freeze of a few weeks ago did extreme damage to the citrus trees. As of now, they are bare of leaves and not looking so good. Just a month ago, the trees were heavy laden with fruit. Since (at that time) both Mark and Son were laid up with injuries, guess who lugged out the ladder and picked all of those bushels of fruit? Yep, me. Old ladies and ladders are not the best of friends and the constant up/down and stretching made for much achiness. Then...what do you do with some twenty or so bushels of satsumas, navel oranges and grapefruit? After pushing off a dozen bushels on unsuspecting folk who said they would take a "few", my work began in earnest. Satsumas and grapefruit were juiced and then frozen and navel oranges were chopped and turned into marmalade. The only citrus fruit left in the house now are about a dozen lemons which will be juiced and used in baked goodies and tisanes.
Sometimes I wonder if all of this hard work is worth it but, then, I ponder the state of this country and sit back, sigh and feel a bit of relief that the shelves are filled with foodstuffs. As Son once said, "There is probably enough food in jars and the freezers to feed us for about three years. It may not be particularly our favorite food but we can eat." That last sentence is in reference to his tastes not mine. I can eat just about anything edible.
So, now comes the fun of finding shelf space for forty four more jars of food. Biscuits! Buttermilk biscuits and marmalade sound mighty fine!
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