Hello there.  It’s hot & muggy as all get out this week and thanks to those french doors that lead from the dining room to the sunroom still in need of serious love and therefore, not installed, I can’t close the house up and turn on the AC.   That task is on the to-do list for week after next.  In between now & then,  I have a few canning classes & demonstrations lined up, a few articles due to editors here & there, a kid to pack up and drop off at camp, some girls nights and date nights to attend to.  I’m also organizing a swap next Saturday, July 27.  

There’s a small but dedicated and growing group of us swappers.   I get quite a number of questions about the swaps – they seem to generate interest, although it’s one of those things that people say is a great idea and they’d love to join us but something falls through in the carryover.  You don’t have to bring anything to swap, if you just want to come hang out and check out the happenings, that’s fine.  Everyone is more than welcome to join us.   There really aren’t any rules – hello, I’m the one in charge – as each swapper determines the value of their goods.  If you want to swap a pair of earrings you made for a jar of pickles, so be it.  You want the price to be two jars, that’s fine too.  Over the last few years I’ve swapped for various canned goods – jams, jellies, pickles, canned veggies – as well as kombucha and kombucha mothers.  I’ve swapped for jewelry, pottery, plants, herb salt, hand made soaps, body butters,  granola, seeds and fresh produce.  I’ve brought fresh bread, pestos, jams and of course, pickles.   And I’ve made some new friends along the way.  We’re hoping to get together every month through the canning season, so if you don’t make this one, I do hope you’ll consider coming to one.   Among us we have some great ideas for swaps after the canning season is over – including a soup swap as well as a cookbook swap.   To keep up with when our swaps are, you can like our page on Facebook, keep up with my Classes & Swaps page or just drop me a line and I’ll put on you the mailing list.