Apples and Peaches and Pears...Oh, my!

We've had unbelievably hot, dry weather in South Carolina and everything at the farm got ripe at the same time.  I've been canning, drying and making jam out of peaches, pears, apples, grapes, figs, tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers.

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Since I have enough jams and jellies to last several years, I decided to experiment with making hard apple cider.  The first batch turned out great so I made a larger one.  I must have tied the muslin on too tight because the brew exploded all over the kitchen!

Walter, the approved AGA installer, came out to look at our stove and assess the damage caused during the move from Texas.  He disassembled the AGA and will come back and reassemble it upstairs after we get the kitchen floor installed.  It was amazing to see the whole thing in pieces.

After many  inspections by DHEC, our septic system was finally approved and installed.  The kid sitting in the shade works for the septic tank installers.  He brought his own lawn chair and watched while the other guy did all the work.  I don't know how he got his job or keeps it!

The good thing about the drought is that the back yard dried out enough for the concrete company to come back and install our back patios and fill in the holes in the basement where the cribbing was.

They did a beautiful job. Finally!  A place to sit outside where there is no mud!

We also got around to tearing off the office addition so we can return it to the porch it used to be.

Tom spent days digging and building footers for the brick pillars that will support the porch.

The brickmason used our old fireplace bricks to build the pillars.  Unfortunately, the contractor building the porch measured wrong and half of the pillars have to torn down and rebuilt. :-(

Progress is slow!  Two steps forward and one back.