My new pantry/old laundry room.

Hello out there in the blogiverse! I know it has been a while since I updated this one, but it has been a crazy time around here. Busy, busy, busy! I've had college tours with my oldest, a book conference for myself, and then a car accident to get through. Not to mention all the normal stuff... family, kids, animals, etc.

Speaking of which, at the beginning of February, the hubby and I were working our way through painting the inside of the house. While doing this, we decided it was time to work on the laundry room. It needed more storage space, and with all my canning jars I was running out of cabinet space. Sooooo, we decided to turn my laundry room into a laundry/pantry room. It's also where my dogs sleep and the cats get fed. Talk about multi-tasking!  LOL.

Anyway, here are some pictures of the process. I love the new space and the ability to display my canned items instead of hiding them away in a cabinet.

Before! With everything removed, this is where the washer & dryer go.

Fresh paint & the first shelf goes in.

Small shelves in the corner beside the back door. This is for the animals.

More shelves.

The beautiful jars full of goodies!

All my empty jars at the top. You can tell it's time to do some canning, again.

I wish I could get better shots of the entire project, but the room is small and the shelves wrap around the three walls. On the fourth wall the door to the kitchen, a wooden plastic bag holder, and hooks for the broom, Swiffer, and duster.

Where do you keep your canned stuff? Do you have the space to display the beauties, or do you have to hid them away in a cabinet?

Happy spring!


P.S. I forgot to mention above that every single one of these boards came out of my passed FIL's storage building and they used to be frames to, of all things, WATERBEDS!  :D

Eggy Updates & 2014 Canning

Eek! I just realized it has been FOREVER since I last updated. So here we go....

My chickens are doing great. I'm covered up with an overabundance of fresh eggs & every few weeks I have to give all my local friends and family a shout out to see if anyone needs some. Last week, I have over 15 dozen eggs sitting in my fridge. And that was after I'd already used 2 dozen eggs for a recipe. Luckily, after my shout out I managed to sell or trade 11 dozen in two days.

I didn't do a garden this year, but I did plant a lot of veggies in pots on my front deck. I've harvested a few handfuls of green beans and my banana pepper plants are covered up. I did a bell pepper plant for the first time and it had two baby peppers on it. I noticed the other day that one of them is missing. :(  I don't know if it was a bird, squirrel, or it just shriveled up and fell off. I figure I'll be lucky if the other one survives. My tomato plants grew big and tall, but produced nothing. *Sniff, Sniff*  However, my mint grew like crazy & smells so good. :)

On the upside, I'm getting pretty darn good at canning this year. I started doing a little last summer, just some hot water bath items, but over the winter I broke down and bought myself an All American Pressure Canner. I finally used it for the first time a few weeks ago for green beans and they turned out beautiful! I love it! I'm addicted now.

Last year I did pickled beets and sauerkraut in the summer, then made applesauce and apple butter in the fall. However, this summer I've canned green beans, strawberry jam, blueberry jam, whole blackberries, dill and bread & butter pickles, and whole kernel corn. Here are a few pictures of my yummy bounty. :)

Whole Blackberries in Simple Syrup

Strawberry Jam

Green Beans

Bread & Butter and Dill Pickles

I promise I'll try to update more regularly.  :)