Just checked the seals of my pickles this a.m.-- everything looks in order. Now, we have to wait a few weeks at least before sampling them (although it will probably be longer than that. After having my face elbow deep in a canning project (or any big cooking project for that matter), the smells and the tastes and all the 'hands on' prep work, kinda leaves me without an appetite for whatever I've just made. I usually need some 'distancing time', KWIM?).....

I was tired last night, and didn't get my canning stuff put away before bed. I wanted to let the water cool down anyway, and use it for my houseplants (that's the thing about canning -- always uses lots of water. And sugar! Oy!). So, I need to go straighten the kitchen.....

Yesterday though, before I began I did take a bit of time to better organize my canning paraphernalia, which ought to make it easier to put it all away this morning. Everything had gotten scattered somehow -- full boxes of jars here, empty jar boxes there. Full boxes, but of mis-matched jars (pints with quarts, jelly jars, etc etc). Anyway, I managed to carve out a 'canning nook' in my basement, so now it's (almost) all in one place -- and the jars properly sorted. Much better.....