Friday, August 6, 2010

I'm off for vacation so I'm cheating with a short blog

Those of you with animals, yards, gardens and kids know how difficult it is to get ready for vacation. My kids aren't little any more, yet it doesn't seem any easier. Our critter/house sitter was here last year, and is a vet tech student with horse experience, so you would think I would be less anal. Plus our chihuahua goes with us ($75.00 extra for the beach house), but the two big dogs, three horses and two cats stay home, and already they are sighing gloomily.

I am taking to the beach two swimsuits, five books, and six boxes of peaches. I won the fight with the bugs and now my peach tree runneth over. There's no way I'm leaving town without those peaches! Not only are they gorgeous (even with the dings and rotten spots), they are sweet and juicy. My family loves peach jam, and using the new pectin that doesn't need ten pounds of sugar per peach (okay that's an exaggeration), I can make jam that is incredibly peachy.

I would love to find out how other folks manage to leave town with sanity intact. But since I'll be at the beach with no e-mail, I won't get to read the fun responses. But I will happily blog when I get back whether the horses, dogs, cats, flowers, and garden survived without my constant worrying over them (since I do most of the animal and plant wrangling) and post a photo of a jar of jam so ya'll can enjoy vicariously!

3 comments:

Linda Benson said...

Oh, I'm jealous Alison. I'd love to be heading to the beach with two swimsuits and five books to read. And peaches. Yumm! It's true - horses, and animals, and gardens and such tie you down, but it sounds like you've got your bases covered at home. Have a great time!!

Anonymous said...

Sounds like fun to me too Alison! And I love peach jam, my favorite so I will be eyeing your jar of jam with envy!!

How nice too that you have a competent house sitter when you leave. We have a couple of pony clubbers around the corner that come and feed when we are gone. Still it's nice to have someone living there.

Enjoy your books, your vacation and your jam!! Look forward to reading all about it!! Best, Lynn

Francesca Prescott said...

I'm impressed by the contents of your suitcase, Alison! I always take WAY too much and end up having to pay excess baggage at the airport whenever we fly. But I guess you weren't flying - the peaches clued me in on this...although you never know!

Peach jam is my favourite, too. With fig jam a close second. Actually I love all kinds of jams! My peach tree has been very stingy this year after suffering from some mysterious disease, there are maybe ten peaches on the entire tree! I've got plenty of plums though, so will be making lots of tarts in the next few days.

I hope you have a lovely holiday, and I look forward to hearing about it when you come back.