On Saturday morning, we went to a parade! I love patriotic floats. My sister joined us for most of it, and then we all had pastries and italian sodas; mine was blackberry. Yum! When we got home, we were all sort of fullish and no one was clambering for lunch, so I had a long nap on the couch. I love naps on the couch. I'm a night person; when I go to bed at night, I usually feel like I have to. When I take a nap on the couch, I feel like I'll still have time to do stuff afterward, and it feels more like a luxury.
Last night, we went to a small-group meeting. I was reminded of one of the best epiphanies I've ever had: "grace is giving something that is not deserved, but desperately needed." It was a relief when I realized that I could stop trying to make life just.
One day in the garden, I was about to pull a rogue plant when BFJ remarked how much he liked that one growing outside the garden, so I left it. It finally has fruited so now we have: zucchini! This weekend, I shredded some up and froze it in 2-cup bags so I will have some homegrown zucchini when it's time for some zucchini bread.
And finally, I got around to making salsa. One reason I wanted to make my own salsa is because spicy food makes my tongue swell. I wanted to make some fabulous salsa-without-heat for myself. While I was working on my concoction in the kitchen, BFJ was watching football in the next room; I was just thinking to myself that it didn't seem to be going well when he volunteered, "It smells sort of... italian." Yes, it did. I thought maybe it was because I left out the jalapenos and cilantro. I added some sugar; I don't know if I should have done that, but it smelled bitter. I was starting to think, I am wasting all this time and fresh ingredients from my garden... Finally, I tasted it and it was not too bad! so I decided to go ahead and try the canning. Here's a bit of my mess and effort:
And for all that, three quarts? Well, I did learn a few things; I am glad the jars sealed, and I did make use of a lot of tomatoes that would have otherwise gone bad soon. Maybe I will try some marinara or just peeled tomatoes, before the month is out. I do have another three dozen jars! 
I am also thrilled to be done with ALL my blocks for this quilt. I may have to put quilting aside for the rest of the week. It is time for some serious fall cleaning. 
Normally, we would have been to church this morning, but four out of five people in my house were sick. Hopefully, it will be gone quickly; I tried for encourage the Vitamin C intake.
My dad made some salsa today as well. I kept smelling the tomatoes and saying, "it smells like pizza sauce" but then my mom chopped up some peppers and that had it on the correct smell path! :) We also canned tomatoes -- only 3 quarts this year. I guess we had a lot more bruschetta than normal, but I don't consider that a bad thing. :)
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