Two of our friends sleep in their kitchen. We sleep in our laundry room. When you live in a small cabin on the edge of a cliff there aren’t many expansion options. It behooves us to maximize our useable space.  The laundry room  was the perfect choice for our bed. It couldn’t fit in the kitchen, what with all the fruit and canning going on. 

Yesterday, I made more spiced pear jam. It turned out way better than the first batch thanks to Eileen’s mother’s tip. I put a little butter in the jam right before ladling it into the hot jars. The fruit didn’t float to the top this time. Very pretty with the marachino cherry Anne suggested I add. Today, I’m making chutney, spiced apples (papas recipe) and more jam. I need to get this canning wrapped up and get back to the garden.

 I have a ton of perennials to divide and move around. The iris which are taking over my vegetable growing area will be moved down to the new driveway borders. Iris are deer resistant and will hopefully survive the muddy winter soil and unwatered summers. I have trees to transplant and shrubs to move around. It’s one of my favorite times of year in the garden. It’s why I love gardening,  I can change my mind every year on how I want it to look. I need to get back up there.

The tomatoes are finished, I have canned all that I will. Once the fruit is done, then the gardening will be my priority. When the bad weather begins I will move onto my winter projects.. I have a lot of them! I am kind of hoping for a cold winter with endless days by the fire, quilting, writing and spying on nature…

This winter we will continue our experiment sleeping in the laundry room. There are advantages to multi purpose bedrooms. Our friends can make their morning coffee without getting up and my socks can go from my feet into the machine, no need for a hamper. But best of all,  you can’t beat the view 

from my pillow