Eons ago, Minstrel Boy sent me a recipe for Cherry Spread. A few weeks ago, I felt ready to road test it. On the left: results. On the right, the Ball cookbook’s Lemon Cucumber Pickles. Kale and cabbage grow in the window box outside the kitchen window, where Topaz likes to nap in the mid-morning sun. Nearly every day, I’m jarring or freezing something, making notes or labeling jars. As existences go, it’s a bit monastic, but I love it.