The wheelbarrow fairy finds the worksurface

Today the wheelbarrow fairy lost her tractor driver.(Ok so she can drive a tractor but not ALL the tractors) He had real work to do! So she found things to do instead.
Fairy tried to find the worksurface in the kitchen that was covered (yes I mean covered..as in no surface visible) in fruit and vegetables. Tomatoes one side..grapes the other with a fair smattering of courgettes, onions, eggplant etc. So the first job was to round up the tomatoes and the onions and get started on the pasta sauce.

Ok, so I took a picture of the onions all chopped up ready to go...what can I say? I like onions?

And one of the few costs of tomato sauce is tomato puree just to give it some body..and I can't even manage to throw the tubes away without cutting them open. Look at that lovely thin metal you get with the copper tones. Perfect for a bit of crafting or card making! Tomato scented xmas card anyone? Turn it upside down on a tea towel and use an old pen to push a design in...very artistic :-P

Ah now this is a picture of the dehydrator tray with...and this is strange..chewed up kitty kibbles. The cats crunch on their crunchies and they leave little bits in their bowls that they won't eat. I wondered if I moistened them if I could make a giant dog biscuit or re make kittykibble lumps. This was an experiment that went wrong. And it made the kitchen smell of cat food. Unusual but not a success. But the dog thought it was great and nearly bowled me over trying to sniff at the results!! Either that or it smelled like cat breath!!

Oh dear lord more veg on the worksurface..but they have been coralled into a bowl for the time being. They are the basis for rattytool tomorrow. With extra for the freezer and another day! Mainly because the top broke off one of my pepper plants so I had to use the peppers!

Ah a carrier bag full of grapes..and there's still more on the vine! So I offered some to our american friends who also like canning (I did try to beg some jars but it didn't work!) and there may be an amish cookbook in it for me!! Move the love around and pay it forward:D

Thats the baggies of tomato sauce waiting to go into the freezer...standing up and pegged together so they don't turn into a weird shaped mass that gets stuck.

This is my preserving pan (it came from a charity shop ) and its gotta lotta grapes in it!! It smells yummy :) and it is now my favourite soft drink of choice! There's bound to be pictures tomorrow of jars and canning fun!!
I know its all a bit repetitive...I guess thats my life..its like nature..its cyclical. Goes in a cycle. This time of year is preserving time for the winter and harder times ahead. I suppose I'm very old fashioned. I'm gonna blame my mom and my great grandmother. And my dad too. All hoarders for times when it 'might come in handy'. And I love learning household skills. Like canning. Next is pressure canning so I don't need the freezer so much. First find a pressure canner in the UK! And more jars...whatever OH thinks there can never be enough jars!!
Maybe tomorrow I'll tell you about my dad:)