295: In a pickle

A barrel of cucumbers on ice

Yesterday’s pickling adventures went well.  It was fun having someone with whom I could share the work, and I got to see how the Pickle Lady makes her fabulous (Best Pickles on the Planet) pickles.

I don’t remember how many jars of pickles we ended up with, but it was a lot.  Provided they all turn out okay, we should be well supplied with pickles throughout the winter months and into spring.

Jars and jars of pickles

Once we got set up, the work went pretty quickly.  I think that’s often the case with canning or freezing.  It’s just a matter of getting everything ready and then getting into the groove of it.

More jars of pickles

There was one oddity.  The garlic turned blue.  It turns out this sort of thing happens frequently, although neither the Pickle Lady nor I had ever seen the phenomenon before.  You can read about it here (go to page 2 of the article).  In some cultures, people deliberately try to get this result.  We did it without even trying.

Watering the tree

A Series of Unfortunate Events (Borrowing from Lemony Snicket)

My new computer has returned to its birthplace.  I was using it last night and it locked up.  Shortly after that, there was the smell of something burning and a notice that a device had been disabled.  Heh.  No kidding.  The locking up, I’m afraid, may have been caused by clicking on a link from one of the comments on my blog, and it’s a possible coincidence that I also acquired some type of malware to go with the burning out of the capacitor to the card reader.  Hard to believe it would happen almost simultaneously, but there you have it.

My camera has decided not to work on certain settings.  I have no idea what I’ll do about that other than work around it for now.  The warranty has, of course, expired.  I know from previous experience with this brand that the charge to have it looked at probably isn’t worth it.  *sigh*

Evening sunlight on the spiral stairs

I am feeling quite frustrated about it all, and have had moments of thinking I might give up on blogging, photography, and everything that involves any kind of technology that will lead to this type of frustration.  Silly, I know.  There is disappointment as well because if my computer did manage to catch a virus or something similar from the comment I clicked on (which I have removed for now), it means I can’t trust new visitors to my blog.  I’m going to stop visiting the blogs of new visitors for a little while.  I will also be limiting what I do online until the new computer comes back with whatever verdict there may be.

That’s about it from the Bogs for today.  I’m heading outside in a little while to meet my outdoor commitment.  I’ll be working in the garden.  It’s warm and humid again, although not as warm as it was earlier in the week (in the 80s instead of the 90s).  It was supposed to be sunny today, but I’ve seen nothing but cloud cover so far.

Have a wonderful weekend!

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