About 11:30pm on a Saturday night, I heard Yogi barking. The kind of bark that says "hurry I have something to show you". With flashlight in hand I headed out. As I stood on the edge of the porch I could see her with something on the ground. I pointed the flashlight and immediately I recognized the small coiled snake. It was a copperhead. It looked ready to strike, maybe it already had. I ran back into the house and got my 12 gauge shotgun and what shells that were in the bucket where I keep them separate. Back outside, I was careful but very nervous. Just me and Yogi to take care of this. told her "get back-back Yogi". Amazingly she obeyed my order and stood just behind me. Aiming the flashlight and the gun was tricky. I fires the shells. I hit the snake, I know because I saw it fly up, but I did not get the head. Not Good. So I went back in to get more shells. The bucket was empty. I have alot of ammunition in our safe which is locked with key and combination. Since I was so nervous, it took me 3 times to get it open. Back out to the yard and the snake was gone. Crap! I looked and looked but wasn't going very far. Dark and mad snake....I am not crazy!
I turned to Yogi. The left side of her mouth and neck were beginning to swell. Double crap. She had been bit....at least once.
Back inside to get a benedril. Wrapped in cheese and Yogi will swallow anything. She weighs 86 pounds but I didn't know if the snake bite could be fatal. I called our vet in town. Since it was now 12midnight on a Saturday, I hoped he would call me back. 15min later he called and after explaining what had happened we agreed I would bring Yogi in. She has only been in a vehicle 3 times in her life so I knew it may be a real struggle if she didn't want to get in. I went around back to get the truck and imagined hundreds of snakes on the ground. Yes, I was spooked!
I pulled the truck around and opened the door. In the dark and alone, I talked to Yogi like a human. "Girl, you are going to have to help me here. You need to get in the back seat so we can go to the vet and get you some medicine. What do you think, can you do it?" Believe it or not, she slowly crawled all the way into the back seat or our F250 BIG truck.
Two injections (and some pills for the week) later, we were back home. Exhausted and scared, but doing good. She slept well through the night and the next day she just layed around. The swelling had gone down by that afternoon and by the next day she was back to normal.
On this date, 27 years ago, there was a paradigm shift in my world.
Two precious gifts from God.
8hrs of labor and a natural birth later....at 3 1/2 weeks early, they were both perfect.
An angel girl, Brenda Michele, weighing 6lb 6oz(right)
and a sweet boy, Michael Bradley weighing 5lb 11oz. (left)
There is nothing like the love a mother has for a child.
I must admit in the beginning it was pretty scary.
And VERY busy....... Each year brought a new degree of difficulty. But more pride and love.....
Years passed and events came and went. Their love remains the steady rock in my life. Their smiles warm my heart and give me strength.
I thank God every day for my blessing.
Why is it called canning? Really it is jarring!
Either way, that is what I did this weekend.
It started with a breakfast for one.
Then down to business. First 19 jars of dill pickles (a family favorite). A very old recipe from my grandmother.
John and I have been canning since 2009.
There hasn't been store bought pickles in my house since then!
We planted a blackberry bush in 2007 and this year it finally yielded enough berries for jam.
Not much but it is a start. 9 small jars.
My first time to make it so I'll let you know how it tastes when we open the first jar. I plan to do that in about a month.
2 years ago I made some peach jam it was very good so I have hopes for the blackberry.
Have you done some canning? If so, what. What is your favorite?
