The grapes are all done now and Norman has cleansed up under the grapes. I have always looked at the grapes from right in the grapes or from down hill and looked at other vineyards from the road but yesterday when we came home I really looked at our grapes and was amazed- mine are just as good and look just as professional as any bodies, not as big maybe but just as good .
Don’t they look like a true vineyard? The red box on the right is one of my sweet potato boxes. I have never had any luck growing sweet potatoes and read about planting them in a box and decided to try it so I have two of these boxes and the vines look good I just hope they are storing up nice sweet potatoes in the boxes.
Today we started canning the tomatoes we got yesterday. 
These are the two boxes we did today. I am now waiting for the second load to cool enough to open the pressure canner then will do the last two quarts of spaghetti sauce and four quarts of tomato juice. Aren’t these tomatoes perfect looking? And only $6 a 25 pound box!! I think I am the luckiest person on earth! There was one rotten tomato way down in the bottom, all the rest were perfect. Tomorrow we will do the last two boxes and that will make about 120 quarts done this year and that will have to do. Merry Christmas. 
These are some of the butternut squash we picked yesterday and set out on the porch to dry before putting them in the cellar.
Down the side of the house the black eyed susans are still blooming. This is taken from the grape arbor and the blue berries are just beyond the grapes going down the hill. It is the perfect place for both as it is so steep the rain drains off the gardens and keeps their roots watered but never sitting in water and this year we have had plenty!!
Two other pictures I got today that you might enjoy. 
This comes from Rosemary, Thank you for the heads up. I enjoyed the article. This is the first time I have seen Uncle Hiram. I will keep this picture with my family pictures and will send one on to Nancy along with the article. 
This is the other picture I received today. This is big sister Dyhana and new baby Prem. These are two of the great grand daughters I am sewing for. You can see why I love sewing for them, aren’t they the cutes you ever saw?
Time to get back to the canning. Have a great day.
Your grape vineyard looks lovely, Carol! Grammy Carver, Mae, had a little vinyard and she made jelly and some wine, I do believe. What a lovely bunch of squash! We are going to have our first new potatoes for dinner Sunday and up to now were eating last year’s. We like our own as we know what spray was put not them-not very much. John picks the bugs off every day or so. We have had beans, peas, and lovely little carrots that he thinned out. We cook those together and add cream and butter and call it hodge podge. We eat that every day now until they are over.
Those little girls look lovely!! no wonder you like to sew for them.
Our brown-eyed susans are blooming, too.
Take it easy !
Rosemary
Thank you, Rosemary, Sounds like your garden is growing fast. Isn’t it wonderful when the things start to produce? I know I will miss this life when we have to leave and we will have to some day soon as I don’t know how long we can keep up all this work but we will just enjoy it as long as we can and then try something new that takes less work.
My mother used to make a dish she said her mother Grace Carver Brown, brought from Nova Scotia. It was peas, beans and new potatoes with cream and it was always our favorite dish in the spring. She never served any meat with this dish bit as my brother Warren grew older he would buy a hot dog to have with it but I never needed any thing else. She never told use the name of the dish but she didn’t need to, we loved it anyways.
I remember Aunt Mae but have never been back to Nova Scotia since that one summer over thirty years ago and now I guess I will never be able to go up again as Norman will not fly and it is too far for us to drive any more so I will have to be content with memories and our visits which I cherish very much. Love Carol