A Cherry Pitting I Will Go

   I have been busy pitting cherries. I bought an older German cherry pitter at a yard sale a couple of years ago. It was well used. I used it last year, and found it needed new rubber gaskets for the pitter and pits to go through. I was afraid I'd have to buy a new pitter, but, last week I found a place on ebay that was selling the gaskets for another brand, but they looked like the ones I needed, so, I orderd them. The came in 2 days and they do fit. Much cheaper than a new cherry pitter.
   The Black Jade Pie Cherries stained my fingers a nice black. This time around with all the Bing cherries, I wore those cheap plastic food server gloves. They made a big difference even if they are hot and too loose. Anyway, yesterday as I was pitting the last 4 pounds of cherries I discovered the cherries were so big, they wouldn't pit and wouldn't fall into the bowl. They were too big to fit through the hole the pitted cherries fall through. Most of the cherries pitted, but I knew a good portion didn't. I watch to see if the pits fall as I pit. When I was done, I cut each cherry in half to see if they were pitted or not. I don't care if they are whole cherries anyway, since they will be jam and need to be chopped anyway. I know that 4 pounds of cherries are 100% pitted. As I was finishing up cutting the cherries, I thought I probably should have done this with all of them. I know when you buy any cherry product, you need to watch out for pits. I made cherry milk shakes, ( could this be why I don't seem to be losing weight?) with frozen cherries I had bought to make smoothies before I bought all the cherries. The cherry milkshakes were very good, but there were pits. Tim found most of the pit chunks that the Vita-Mix chopped up. Every time I use the Vita-Mix, I think I should use it more often.
   The latest garden update is, it's doing really well. I guess the deer eating the tops of the tomatoes has kept the plants nice and compact, which is nice. We have lots tomatoes, which is good. I still might have to buy more. I will use the Vita-Mix when I am playing with the tomatoes.
   The potatoes are producing nicely, too. The corn has started getting ears, the assorted squash is squashing right along.
   The green beans and lima beans aren't doing as well as we had hoped. The lima beans had a severe deer problem and I don't know what the green bean problem is. What will Chip do with out his green beans?
   The onions we've had that the deer have pulled up were good. Tim is worried about deer spit on them and the wasting disease deer get. As far as I know, it's just a deer thing. Anyway, I wash the onions and peal them, since the are growing in steer and horse manure.
   Hmm, I wonder what key I hit to make the type look like this and how do I get it back to normal? Ah, I figured it out.
   I think, for fun tomorrow, Chip is getting a bath and a trim. His ears are going to get a good trimming down to ear shape. Seems big brother Jake like to pull Chip around by the ears and Chips whole head fits in Jake's mouth, so his ears are looking pretty ratty. I know why Velcro is a good name for poodles. Chip is collecting wildflower seeds whenever he's outside. I really hope Chip lets me cut his claws, too. I don't know why he doesn't let me anymore. I have never cut them so short I hurt Chip, but lately he won't have any of it.
   I am still working on baby afghans for friends of a friend. I haven't gotten anymore sewing done, but the sewing machine is out gathering dust, just in case. I think I should just but it up. The biggest news is I finally folded the towels. I'm making progress.