Weather Change, Bunky Cleanup, Bill Back Home,"Jam Up - Jelly Tight", New Camera!!

The Ridge

It was different waking up on Thursday, Aug. 22^nd remembering that I was on my own. Since it was only 5:30, I snuggled with Sergei in Clemson’s spot and drifted off and on until 6:00. Good thing I’d closed the windows last night, it was chilly this morning. Without wasting anytime, I texted Bill that I was up and we chatted then by phone.

Well, good morning sunshine!!
What a lovely sunrise

Leaving the Suite around 6:25 gets me to the Mat at 6:35. After backing in, Rob greeted me on his morning walk and we chatted for a few minutes before I went to start work. Jamie has been busy! There is a ramp right inside the back door, removing the need for a ‘watch your step’ sign, making it wheelchair accessible and removing about 2’ of the shelf for folding right inside the door. All very good ideas.

I wanted to see what the rains did for my garden
and I was very pleased

Then when I went to open the Lock Up, I noticed that he had changed the door from opening out into the narrow hall to an inside opening. There were a couple of things making this entry more difficult for me but only because of tools they are working with. Once I moved a machine out of the way, it was quite easy and would make the process of a few things much better.

Look at my watermelon!!

I was alone until 7:05 when Bonnie from Welbeck’s popped in and it was 7:15 when a regular Polish customer came in the front door with a friendly “Good morning, my dear!” He hadn’t even seen me yet but knew I was there. 😊 Nice, harmless fellow who indicated concern when he saw Jamie doing a sweep through one night. He wondered what had happened to me? I can’t understand 75% of what he says, his accent is very, very strong but I do my best to communicate.

Funny thing with hostas
This one is just little and just starting to flower

This one, the leaves are almost yellow and it has
just blossomed too
but I have others that have been done for weeks

It was 7:45 when I left the place, clean once more, and drove to Rob and Pat’s to use their wifi. I had texted and, of course, Pat invited me in. I declined with thanks and hoped to get my pictures downloaded and blog published quickly. That didn’t work as well as I’d hoped, my pictures were taking forever so even after a fruitless attempt inside their home I conceded defeat and drove home. It can wait until tonight or tomorrow and I’ll go to the library again.

I enjoy my bp coffee every other day for a treat

Back home, I parked B.B. down in her spot and came inside to make my tea. For some reason, maybe the frustration over my blog, I felt hungry so had a couple of small pieces of zucchini bread with butter. Yum, that went down quite nicely. With my tea finished, I tried calling my sister in Montreal. Today is her birthday and although I usually don’t call sibs on their special day, my cards generally arrive on time. This year, it wouldn’t be there so I wanted her to know I’m thinking of her. The line was busy a few times so I left a singsong text instead.

Since Audrey doesn't like being 'shared' in blogs,
I'm posting a picture of her in her late teens instead
Happy  Birthday, Aj!

I wanted to have a shower but (there’s always a ‘but’ – my Dad would say) I got distracted in the bedroom. Since I brought 4 new pieces of clothing home yesterday (yes, I did! – they were practically giving them away!) I needed to purge of 4 or Bill and I say the rule is 8 things from my closet or drawers. Well, I made short work (figure of speech – because it took me the better half of two hours) of that project but managed to move a couple more things to the Cancun cupboard and purge about 15 other things for the exchange bag. I was very critical of stuff.

The bunky, all ready for company

Then, instead of hopping in the shower, I made myself a b.p. coffee and sat at my laptop to start today’s post. It was 12 noon so I had some yogourt and took my coffee out to the Bunky. Around 11:00 I noticed that there was more sun than clouds so I unplugged from power and turned the inverter on. No point in wasting sunshine! The rest of the day sweeping and cleaning up the Bunky. I made the bed up for our guests and opened the window for a couple of hours to air it out. I think it will be quite comfy in there.

windows, a fridge and a lovely antique chair to have a rest on

I started into the next James Patterson book that I had left to read. The Quickie. It was going to be another fast read. Inside, I started pulling things out to make Choke Cherry Jelly. I’d found a recipe yesterday that sounded easy enough. Lots of instructions but that was typical for jam or jelly. First, I had to clean the cherries and make sure all the little stems were removed. That wasn’t as hard as it sounds even though they are tiny. Most pulled off when I picked them.

I lucked out finding this loaded bush

I didn't have a bag so carried them home in my shirt

 When the recipe I had called for 12 cups I knew I had to cut it in half but even then, I only had 4 cups of cherries. That didn’t deter me and I took a bag down the road to the bush on North Line and picked 2 more cups. The process went smoothly from there until I got to the last part. “Lift the processed jars of jelly out of the canner without tipping them.” Hmm, one slipped out of the tongs and tipped so I sure hope that doesn’t ruin the batch!

I thought this would be 6 cups but it was only 4

So, I went out the lane and down the road a bit to pick another
2 cups

It only made 3 jars but from the taste on my fingers (from the tip over) I think they will be yummy. If I get ambitious, I may pick more off the bush and fill another 2 or 3 jars. Clean up was the worst part, at least it looked like it. 

Preparing to separate the liquid in my colander

Sterilizing the jars and lids

The Jam up, jelly tight mash up
(for you younger gen, this was a song in the 60's)

I cleaned up the mess of dishes

3 jars of jelly boil in water for 10 minutes
before the removal and cool down

Many pots and pans were dirtied in the process of making this delight. 

Now that I know the process, the next batches will be easier
I can't open them until tomorrow after 9 to see if
we like it!

I got the dishes out of the way and sat and watched the last 45 minutes of On Golden Pond before Bill returned shortly after 9. He’d had a long day and once the groceries and his stuff were unloaded and put away, I got into the package I was waiting for.

And my hot dog supper was delicious!

Yes, my new Canon camera was in at Henry’s so Bill brought it home for me. The battery needed to be charged so I couldn’t do much fiddling with it but it sure is pretty! I’ll be anxious to get my hands on it tomorrow. I’m looking forward to having a nice pocket size camera to use again rather than my phone. My Samsung takes good pictures but it takes a longer time to download them onto my laptop.

Yay! My sweet little Canon power shot arrives!

Now that Bill is home, I can relax again before going up to bed. It has been a great day, seeming so long ago that I drove into work. My jelly has to sit and cool for 24 hours and then we get to taste it. I hope you’ve enjoyed your day.

The day ended just as lovely as it started

Good night all!

Thank you for stopping around.