While it’s only March, many Summer camps and activities have early registration times. If you have multiple children interested in Summer camps then you will want to find out what your options are as early as possible. There’s nothing like the sinking feeling of finding the perfect program for one of your children to discover it conflicts with another program. I am going to share how I go about finding Summer Camps and activities as well as how I decide what to register my children for.
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Spring is almost her and that means that Garage Sale season is almost upon us as well. With so many weeks of garage sales in a row a busy mom MUST prepare for garage sale season ahead of time! We love community sales as well as BIG sales like Route 127 Yard Sale. We even plan to go to the Route 40 Sales Road Trip style!
I am sharing my best tips in order to prepare for garage sale season while not going crazy or over budget. If you are like my family then you count on finding clothes, shoes and sports equipment at garage sales in order to save your family a ton of money. We also find homeschool items and educational toys for our children. Sometimes if we are really lucky we find birthday gifts and Christmas presents as well!
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We recently spend a few days in Sandusky, Ohio as part of a #LakeErieLove blog trip! We got to call the Sandusky Comfort Inn our home for 3 days! In the lobby, we were greeted with a large mermaid sculpture in front of a full wall mirror. Very pretty but hard to capture a clear picture that does the sculpture justice!
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Summer is here and it’s time to get our Summer gear ready! I love to get out and go play with friends on a weekly basis along with heading almost daily to the library for Summer Reading Club. I want to give my children both memories and socialization during the warm sunny days of Summer.
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Part of being a DIYer and wanna be Homesteader is learning new things like canning. I have put off canning and even envied those who knew how to can due to lack of experience and lack of basic canning equipment! I was particularly envious of those whose mother’s did not teach them but they took a leap of faith to learn on their own. So far I have canned applesauce, apple butter and elderberry juice.
I know there are lots of thoughts about basic canning equipment and what you MUST have but I just want to share with you what canning equipment I own and how to use it. I suggest you start out simple and build up your supplies as you build your skills!
1 quart stainless steel Farberware pot
3 quart stainless steel Farberware pot
8 quart stainless steel Farberware pot
towels
wire racks
Foodmill
We bought a really nice set of stainless steel Farberware pots and pans quite a few years ago after our first set of pots and pans got worn out. When we were first married we bought a cheap set of non-stick pans. Since we cook a lot we wore through them plus we wanted a higher quality of pan. I grew up with really nice stainless steel pots and pans my parents bought from Amway. We cannot afford something of that caliber but I knew that with a gas stove stainless steel post and pans were the way to go for me.
The 1 quart pan is what I used to heat the lids in to sanitize them and prepare them for sealing onto the jars. The 3 quart pan is what I cooked the apples in for applesauce. If I had a bigger pot I would have definitely used it to cut out many hours of work. The 8 quart pot I used for sterilizing the jars and for the actual water bath processing.
I laid out a thick washcloth next to the stove to place the jars on while filling and while cooling once processed.
Canning funnel
Magnetic Lid Grabber
Jar Tongs
Canning Jars
Canning Bands and Lids
In the Spring I picked up some basic canning supplies while at Walmart just so I could get them before they were gone for the year. I canned Dandelion Jelly for my first attempt at canning anything in my life. The canning funnel makes it super easy to fill your jars without spilling your fruit all over the place. The lid grabber helps you grab a lid out of a hot pot safely. Jar tongs are a must for lifting the jars in and out of super hot water. Of course you need a place to can your harvest which you cannot do without canning jars, lids, and rings. I was lucky enough to buy a big box of assorted canning jars at a garage sale for $5.
Since then I have canned applesauce and apple butter but plan to can more veggies as we grow them or come across other gardener’s abundance that we can pick!
Water Bath Canner
Pressure Cooker Canner
Smaller jelly jars for salves and ointments
I now own a larger water bath canner which my parents gave me! I will pick up the other items as I find them on sale or at garage sales. Another option is to can with a friend and share the larger more expensive equipment. You could be canning applesauce in the water bath while she is canning equipment green beans or meat in the pressure canner.
