Crabapples went crazy

My little tiny crabapple tree went crazy with fruit this year. Most years I have enough to make some crabapple jelly, some spicy jelly, some applesauce. But this year I am inundated with fruit.

I’ve made all the crabapple jelly I can store in the crowded shelves of my pantry. Frozen as much applesauce as will fit in my freezer, but now it is full. I have stored boxes of crabapples in the workshop where the temperature stays moderately low but doesn’t freeze. I haven’t been doing much writing, because most of my time has been taken in the kitchen.

Now what? I don’t have a clue.

Tomatoes are coming….

The tomatoes are coming fast this year. They grew so strong in the early summer that most of them pulled the tomato cages over or crumpled them onto the ground. Some of the plants were more than five feet tall. Not that we had a great summer, started cool, hot for about 3 weeks in July, then cool and rainy for another three weeks.

Yet here they are, ripening like crazy. I buy most of the plants from a very kind man who grows and sells tomatoes every spring. I always promise to bring the pots back, because that saves money on both sides and re-uses the pots. These tomatoes will be simmered until thoroughly cooked into a sauce. It has amazing amounts of flavour, much better than the spaghetti sauce you buy in the store.

What do you do with all your tomatoes?

Martin Mars water bomber

The Martin Mars water bomber was stationed at Sproat Lake on Vancouver Island, but now is destined for the Aeronautical Museum near the Victoria airport. This is it’s last flight, down the east coast of Vancouver Island, over Salt Spring and other islands and over the city of Victoria.

Hawaii Martin Mars water bomber

Click on the picture to see the flyover.

Canada has a lot of forests. This is the largest water bomber in Canada, used to fight forest fires through the years. The Snowbirds escorted it along the way. We waited with thousands of other people on the hills below the airport to watch it pass. When they all flew over our heads, the roar was deafening and exhilarating.