What happens while you are canning plum sauce

He was happily chewing on his squeaky ball as I started work in the kitchen, having been demonically possessed with the idea of making several jars of Asian-style plum sauce right now. Plum sauce has to cook down for quite some time. I was mesmerized by the stirring, not to mention the plum tomatoes  drying in the oven that needed occasional sampling. Obsessed by plums.

Meanwhile, the general air of concentration wafting through the house must have influenced Miro, who quietly went to work on his own artistic project.

That photo shows only part of the room. The overall impression was of an exploded pillow. After I picked up the mess, vacuumed the living room, washed the cooking utensils, cleaned up the kitchen, and made a cup of tea, I heard the happy "ping" of the lid of one of the canning jars cooling into a tight seal. The sound provoked thunderous barking and much rushing around the house, followed by another ping and more barking and rushing around. (That was the dog, not me.) Fortunately, there were only four jars.

I've just noticed that the number of this blog's followers has reached 100! Thank you! I've been so busy that I missed my usual Friday./Saturday posting. Logging in to find 100 today is a wonderful gift.