P.S.

Well, it seems as if it did work that time.  Apparently something was wrong with the settings, and has been straightened out.  I hope it stays that way!

On Tuesday before the storms we picked cherries, and here's the result:  four quarts and one pint of cherry juice from Nanking cherries and an almost full 4 litre pail of pitted Evans cherries.

Our area is not kind to "soft" fruits, such as cherries, peaches, apricots, etc. but we are able to grow lots of small cherries like these.  The Nanking cherries are a medium sized shrub that really loads up with small, deep red cherries, with a fairly large pit.  I put about 2 1/2 gallons of those cherries into the steam juicer, and these sealed jars of cherry juice are the result.  It's very tasty and makes great jelly, syrup, table juice and wine.

The Evans cherry is a tree form that also produces lots of small cherries, also with fairly large pits.  These cherries are good for pies and tarts, but need to be individually "de-pitted."  I have a cherry pitter, but it doesn't work too well with these small fruits.  I've found the best method is to take a nail set, insert the pointed end in the stem hole and give it a circular twist to pop out the pit.  That bucket took me a full two hours of concentrated effort.  Jim helped every now and then as he was able.

When I finished I looked as if I'd been in a battle with a crowd of voracious insects!  There was cherry juice all over my arms, legs, the floor and the chair the container was set on.  But, you know, this winter I'll be glad that I did it when we enjoy cherry pie and tarts!