Wildlife Wild Race

In the beginning of this years Mountain Bike season, I vowed to race twice.  I added one more to the list last week.  I raced Novice at Wildlife Wild in Kickapoo, IL and didn't do to bad.  First place Overall Women Novice.  There were 10 women that raced (which is alot when it comes to women racers) AND I beat 21 novice men!

Felt strong on the bike and enjoyed it.  I made the 8 miles in 44:10.  Love the women that I meet when I race.  All so interested to talking about mountain biking and life.  It was a perfect Sunday.

At the Starting Line

PAMBA DAY!

This was the turn out for PAMBA Day (Peoria Area Mountain Bike Association).  Members from young kids to adults came out for group rides, potluck and endured the storm that rolled in during the afternoon.  It was a HOT day and I had to bail early on my ride because I got overheated. 
Great day, good food & beer and awesome friends!

Strawberry Rhubarb Jam

More canning.  Yesterday Amy McG and I made Strawberry Rhubarb Jam and a few sauces.  Long process for such a small yield, but that's what I'm learning from canning.  We made the jam then had left over strawberries and rhubarb but not enough for another batch so we made some sauce and it's delicious warmed up over vanilla ice cream.  Amazing!

Onions, Blueberries, Peppers and more Tomatoes

Mike & I ventured into canning by ourselves this time.  We used the pressure cooker this time but we learned a few things and probably will be attempting the cold pack method next time.  Oh, the adventures in canning.  Other than more tomatoes, we now have 10lbs of Blueberries in the freezer thanks to my mom.  She has a girl trip every year to Michigan and brings home a car full of blueberries and peaches.  The crop wasn't very large this year so I didn't get any peaches.  However, the blueberries are portioned out and are now frozen in our new deep freezer.  Mike harvested the onion crop last week and they are beautiful.  I was home sick yesterday and decided it was time to cut up our pepper harvest and freeze them too.