We recently had tropical storm Cindi, but thankfully she did not do any damage to my area. But it was enough to get me in the canning mode again because the first thing that usually happens with storms and hurricanes is the electricity goes out and I lose all the stuff in the freezer. I realized that I had a bunch of chicken and tomatoes that need canning.

I will end up with 21 quarts of chicken today, and then maybe tomorrow morning I'll start doing some crushed tomatoes and then salsa the day after.

I have developed a huge respect for country families; three canner loads of chicken is pretty much what I'm doing today, but in a country family especially a farm family, there are children to raise, farm animals to feed, crops to tend to, sewing to be done, meals to be made. I don't know how they did it all (and some still do).