Melba's Jammin' wrote:

> It has been hot as Hades; we've had two incredibly gorgeous days
> yesterday and today. I tend to not remember the weather - nothing I can
> do about it. . . On this list, the apricot and strawberry stuff were
> done about mid-June. I start in mid-May with the rhubarb stuff,
> followed by the strawberries, then raspberries, then stone fruits. Some
> of the fruit is frozen and I can work with it at will. I prefer to can
> in the evening or very early morning. The other day, I had a couple
> batches of somethings out of the water by 7:30 a.m. Color me Nuts.


OTOH there is something to be said for canning when it's stinkin'
hot...when I used to can a lot I'd pick the hottest day. After awhiles
you enter a kind of zen - like state, you don't even notice the heat -
especially when accompanied by a case of ice - cold beer. After that
you are free to collapse into a comfy bed in an ice - cold bedroom and
recover...

[Where I grew up a lot of folx had a "canning kitchen" in their
basement, it mitigated the discomfort of canning on those torpid summer
daze...in the years that I've been to the city I've only seen one such
canning kitchen. A friend bought a house from an elderly Japanese
couple which had one. And it was used up until they moved out,
too...the lady left behind 20 cases of Ball jars!]

Lotsa luck too on your preserving endeavours...

--
Best
Greg