I think I "can"

It's been a long two months of life happening. Things don't always work out how they should, or at least how you want them. We lost my sister-in-law in June. She died of brain cancer at the age of 39 and her absence is a heavey weight on the family.
Yet with her passing many of us have been spurred to do things, big and small, that we may have put off until tomorrow. She always pressed for people to live in the now, and even during her darkest moments she was a wonderful source of encouragement.

So today I branched into an area of cooking I've never visited before: canning. Many dear readers may remember the tremendous amount of apples that our lovely tree gave up last year. Well, this year's showing is off to a similar start. Now my little guy still enjoys them as much as ever, but there's no way he can keep this bounty under control. So can I did, starting simple with a bit of homemade applesauce. This childhood snack has never been a favorite of mine, but I've also never had homemade applesauce. Now I'm loving it after making my first batch from scratch (all of four ingredients: apples, water, sugar and cinnamon). From there I tackled canning. Two whole jars, and they sealed on my first try! I know, a pittance compared to what our grandmothers did, but this was all mine!