One Summer Day

This morning I ordered a basketball net that I could pick up today, it was 45% off.  The reviews mentioned that it takes 3 hrs to set up. We were fairly warned. I was really hoping to find a used one so that we would be spared the pain of putting one together but how fun would it be if Stuart would come home from camp to a new basketball net.  After getting my girls set up with chores, I took off for the Target pick-up. On the way, the butcher called to let me know that my beef was ready to be picked up. Oh no, I should have been at home defrosting my freezer. On my way home I called Mia. She had been giving piano lessons when I left. I told her to bake the "fudge brownies" that she signed up for and don't forget the 3 dozen whoopie pies for Saturday, also I need you to write down every Sunday night Chorus practice that you have so I have them in my calendar and feed the children sandwiches for lunch. 

Upon arriving home I was surprised to see Mia's brownies, they had an oatmeal base. She pointed to the recipe and said, "It says, "Fudge Bars." It was true. 

The rest of the kids were eating lunch and Mia realized that we had no sweetened condensed milk, she wanted me to take her to Dutch-Way. Not a big deal considering I needed to pick up 6 jars of dill pickle spears for Saturday night. (Youth group is doing a fundraiser). 

Back at home, Ellie, Olive, and I started to empty out the big freezer. We piled the contents into ice chest, and thermoses... anything we could find. While we did this I noticed my pressure canner and remembered that my SIL Dorcas said I could take the lid to Good's Store to be tested for safety. Today is the last day. Mia filled the freezer with buckets of hot water and we left it to sit. She also found the missing ice scraper, we must have had a mild winter. 

Olive and I ran to Good's store with the canner lid. I also had a pair of Nate's Darn Tough socks that I needed to exchange. I told the older girls to start putting together the basketball net. 

I came back to find the girls listening to Adventures in Odysee outside laying on blankets, soaking up the sun. It is a lovely day. The basketball net was open and not much was happening. 

Mia read the entire "recipe" this time and realized that we did not have all of the tools so this job could not be done. I gathered supplies and we did manage to get the first few pages of steps done. We have blisters and brush burns. We wished Nate would come home. At one point I said, "Go get Ellie, she's strong." 

By this time the ice in the freezer slid right off.  Henry helped me mop up the water in the freezer. We used old towels. 

We had the sections of poles together and attached to the base. I left for the butcher shop. On my way, I remembered  I needed to stop for a prescription at the pharmacy. I had called it in two days before. 

Imagine my delight when I arrived home and Nate was here working on our surprise project that he knew nothing about. He had a real toolset and power tools. 

Ellie, Hank, and I filled the freezer back up. Mia was studying for a class at Prayer Meeting. The ice cream truck went past. Olive thawed some of the new burgers for me and I grilled them for supper.