The week before the Heath Fair is full of activity and anxiety. Rory wanted to enter pickles this year – as he did last year. Last year we somehow got the sugar and the salt mixed up, but the good news is that the judges don’t taste the pickles, they just look at the jars. Consistency is paramount.  It takes a lot of slicing to make bread and butter pickles. Fortunately, I was once given a really fancy mandoline.

Onions also go into the pickle mix. Thank heaven for food processors.

Any entry has to be totally prepared by the one entering. Five hours later, after slicing, soaking, draining, cooking and mixing it was time to put the pickles into jars and give them a hot water bath.  All went well until one of the jars fell apart in the canner. “It happens,” said my neighbor who does a lot of canning. “The jar gets old and the bottom just falls out.” Fortunately, we did still have two pint jars that were the same. Consistency is all. Same jar, same lid, same labelling.

Rory’s brother Tynan made a cat sculpture at the Art Garden earlier this summer. It looked great, but the tail broke off. Now it is standing on its head so that the sifter can hold the glued tail in place. Anxiety!  Will it hold? Will it win? Are we looking for glory? Or just participation in a community event?

We’ll be participating with great energy this afternoon when we move a ton of books to the Friends of the Library Book Sale Tent. That’s where I’ll be signing copies of my book, The Roses at the End of the Road, Saturday and Sunday afternoons.