Life flying by & Canning Peaches

Let me recap the last 36 hours...
Son comes running in house screaming.
Bleeding finger.
Farm Kitten bite. (farm kitten, key word, no vaccines, it's a FARM cat)
Run finger under cold water, Farm Cats have germ-y icky mouths.
Call Hubby, we discuss it, probably should check with Dr on call.
Call Dr.
Dr says catch cat. Cat will have to be quarantined for 10 days.
She has to call animal control.
She'll call me back.
Animal control? I think??? It's only a farm kitten! We're leaving in 2 days for 10 days!
10 minutes pass, county sheriff calls.
You need to take the cat in to the animal control lab to be watched for Rabies 10 days.
Tonight, do I need to take it in tonight?
(it's 8 pm, animal control is 45 minutes away)
Sheriff: Well they are open 24 hours, let me call and I'll get back with you.
10 minutes pass.
Nurse calls back says: Call tomorrow and check in with your regular Dr.
Ok, thanks.
Officer calls back. You can take the kitten in tomorrow.
Oh good thank you.
Officer states: they will need to euthanize the cat to do the test.
Ok.
(I think, it's only a little farm kitten! Who knew it could cause such a commotion)

...Thursday...

Kitten taken in.
Dr says son will need to be on antibiotic, and have tetanus booster. You need to come in today.
Ok.

My list for Thursday:
~School
~can peaches that are ripe and ready
~wash sheets
~hair cuts (we're headed to a wedding)
~pick up wedding clothes at dry cleaners
~last minute grocery items
~Dr
~call to check on rabies test
~pack hubby (he is leaving, last minute, TODAY)
~Pick up Subway for dinner

!!All accomplished! Yeah!!

Test back, rabies negative.
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Now, on to how to can peaches...
Start with clean,ripe peaches.
I normally pick my peaches and lay them out on newspaper to fully ripen for 1 - 3 days.

Dip them in boiling water for 1-3 minutes to loosen the skins.
Plunge into ice cold water, just like you do tomatoes.

Remove skins. Remove pit, slice.

I slice mine right into this XL pot. In the pot I have my syrup and a pinch of ascorbic acid to prevent browning.
Syrup Recipe:
2-3 cups sugar
6 cups water
*cook until syrup dissolves.
Depending on the amount of peaches you are doing you may need to add more. I use this amount for 3/4 - 1 bushel. When you slice the peaches directly into the syrup you utilize the juice the peaches release.
Bring syrup and peaches to a boil. Ladle into clean canning jars leaving 1'' head room. Peaches tend to boil over, don't fill your jars too full or you will end up with a sticky, icky mess. Put on new lids and tightly screw on rings. Put directly into a hot water canner. Because you just cooked your peaches, and they are hot, your water canner can already be boiling. This is called hot packing.*

Process your peaches, quarts for 25 minutes,& pints for 20 minutes.

*Hot packing helps to reduce air bubbles, peaches tends to retain air. If you raw pack, more bubbles will be realseased causing your peaches to be more prone to bubble and seep out. (I use to do mine by the raw packing method, I like hot packing much better!)Hot packing also tends to produce brighter colors.