Pickles and more

Yesterday I made pickled beans and pickled beets (the beans from our garden, the beets from the farmer down the road), while my husband built an amazing cedar compost bin. The composter is not quite finished (he ran out of screws), but it is beautiful. I'll post a photo of it once it's finished and installed in the yard! Meanwhile, here's a pic of the fruit of my labour:
Yes, only 6 jars of beets (from 4 lb, untrimmed) and two jars of beans (from a quart basket). The recipe for the Spicy Pickled Beets is from a Small Batch Preserves book that I have and love (I think it's the same as this one, although mine has a different cover), and the other two recipes (Classic Pickled Beets and Spicy Pickled Beans) are from RecipeZaar, which has become my go-to site for recipes.

Some giveaways to share for today as well:

For baby:

• Win a $75 gift certificate to Micah & Co. at My Mom's View. Ends August 17th.
• Win a $100 gift certificate to Zutano's Itzy Bitzy Boutique at tout-est-des-roses. Ends August 24th.
• Win a $150 gift certificate to Learning Toys (a Canadian company!) at My Mom's View. Ends August 17th.
• Win a baby star “rock the tote” and a gDiapers starter kit of biodegradable refills and two pairs of little gpants at Project Nursery. Ends August 14th.
• Win an Evenflo Snugli Hug carrier at Mom Central! Must register with the site to enter. Ends August 23rd.
• Win an Evenflo Snugli Sway carrier at Mom Central! A neat design. Must register with the site to enter. Ends August 23rd.
• Win an Evenflo Triumph car seat at Mom Central! Must register with the site to enter. Ends August 23rd.
• Win an Evenflo Symphony car seat at Mom Central! Must register with the site to enter. Ends August 23rd.
• Win an Evenflo Mimi Neo pacifier (35 winners!) at Mom Central! Must register with the site to enter. Ends August 23rd.
• Win an Exergen Temporal Scanner at My Mom's View. Ends August 14th.
• Win a set of Bummas wipes at Mommy Reviewed! Ends September 6th.
  

For ladies:

• Win two boxes of Evenflo Comfort Select Disposable Nursing Pads (24 winners!) at Mom Central! Must register with the site to enter. Ends August 23rd.

For anyone:

• Win a $25 gift certificate to Amelie Jo (organic baby and adult clothing) at My Organized Chaos. Ends August 18th.
• Win $60 worth of Art and Cook products from AllModern at Baba's Farm Life. Ends August 14th.
• Win a pretty Blue Flora Vase Set by notNeutral at Little Pink Magnolia. Ends August 14th.
  

And ladies, do check out my CycleBeads giveaway! It really is a great tool for tracking your cycle, natural family planning or trying to conceive!