Yesterday we got a late start on the tomatoes because at the end of breakfast we lost power.  That meant we could not blanch the tomatoes.  We waited for an hour and a half until the power was restored, then began processing tomatoes.  We got 15 quarts of marinara spaghetti sauce canned as well as 3 pints of marinara dipping sauce and 5 quarts of tomato juice but we never finished until 5:30 which meant very little rest yesterday.  On top of that when the power went off it took our WIFI out as well and we could not get back on line until we called Ben Lomand Connect.  They told us our password and how to reconnect the WIFI and by 6:30 we were back in business and ready for a late supper and rest.  Because we worked so late yesterday we decided to take it easy today.  I wanted to get my green tomatoes before too many of them ripened up on me so I picked all the green tomatoes that were large and on the bottom two rows of each plant.  I got 24 pounds and then I thought I had better pick any cucumbers that were ready before they got too big and wound up with quite a batch of those too.  After breakfast Norman helped me slice the green tomatoes, onions and green peppers and I set that to cool in a brine of salt and water and ice for 3 to 4 hours.  I washed the cucumbers and put them into a brine with ice where they need to sit for 24 hours.  I cut the larger ones and will make one jar of of wedges, all will be a dill pickle for Tom and Roxanne.  Right now Norman is taking his after dinner nap and when he wakes up we will rinse the chopped vegetables and make up a new pickling brine to can the green tomato relish with.  Patty likes the relish better than the pickles so we always make some of this for her.  Norman spent some time this morning down in the garden weeding and tilling between he rows of corn and beans.  They are coming good also so I know we will have enough green beans to feed the world.  We will be sure none of them go to waste.  Today we quite work by 3 and just sit and watch a movie for the afternoon.  Our next new project is to be corning our own corned beef.  I remember when we were young every butcher had a crock of corned beef behind the counter and that was so good.  Now the kids seem to like corned beef again and I want to make some like I remember it.   Wish me luck!  I have found several recipes for it but most add a prepared additive which I don’t want.  When we were little corned beef was a grayer color and the only really pink corned beef was that from a can so I will use the recipe with no additive or food die in it.  Time to head for the cellar and make the the pickling brine.  Have a great day.