Thunder and lightening rolled in during the night.  We didn't get any rain at first, but around 6 a.m. the heavens opened and we received a heavy downpour that last for a couple of hours.  Needless to say, our morning walk was once again put off so we decided to sleep in for an extra hour of shut-eye.

After breakfast, we got started making the bread and butter pickles.  They are a little more complicated to make than the dills as after getting the cucumbers and onions sliced up they have to be covered with pickling salt and ice and then put in the fridge for three or four hours. 

The clouds cleared out and we had some sun for a while this afternoon.  John took advantage of the break in the weather to do some weeding in the garden.  He discovered that the stripped gopher got the rest of the "eating" cucumbers and is now trying to keep it away from the pickling ones until we can harvest all we need for pickles and relish.  


When the cucumbers were ready, we took them out of the fridge, rinsed them off, cooked them in the brine I had prepared, and then put them into some pint jars.  The jars were put into a boiling water bath for 15 mins.  We now have seven pints of delicious looking pickles.


John and I had planned on heading into the fair this evening, but severe thunderstorms were in the forecast so we decided to stay home.  It was a good thing we did.  We had some strong winds and heavy rains hit our area around 8 p.m.   Our TV was out for a bit, so we watched a couple of programs recorded earlier on the DVR and when the programing resumed, we watched the Olympics.