Between the raccoons, squirrels, and blackbirds, it didn't look like we were going to get any cherries from our 2 trees this year. One tree was already bare.
After many mornings, afternoons, and evenings of chasing critters out of the tree, I had had enough. Last weekend, the four of us picked almost every pink or partially pink cherry on the tree. We wound up with a small bucket full of cherries.
I pitted the cherries, then made a sauce with all of them along with some chopped rhubarb. I bumped up the cherry flavor with almond extract (sorry Live and Learn at the mention of the extract) and some sugar and a pinch of baking soda. I made about 1 1/2 quarts of rhubarb-cherry sauce, which was devoured by my family.
In past years, we've had to pick unripe cherries, too. My go-to use for these cherries is pie filling. Pie just isn't in the cards for me right now, so I made the sauce. A delicious way to use fruit that we would not have had. now if I can just keep the critters out of the apple and plum trees.
My daughters made us a red, white, and blue gelatin dessert for the 4th of July, using blue and red Kool-aid powder, sugar, plain gelatin, and marshmallows. Jello brand blue jello was over $1.50 for a box last I checked. Homemade colored gelatin made with Kool-aid powder costs about 40 cents.
We wrapped our 4th of July cutlery in plain white napkins, then sealed with patriotic stickers that we received in the mail. A little thing, but everyone enjoyed choosing their napkin.
The wood seats to the chairs I'm refinishing. If you remember, both wood seats had ventilation holes that were 5/8-inch in diameter. I bought a 5/8-inch wood dowel, sawed of 1/4-inch lengths and used wood glue to secure the disks in the holes. They were a tight fit, which is a good thing. I sanded all parts that were protruding, then used wood putty to fill any cracks/gaps.
That about wraps it up. Have a wonderful weekend, friends!
