A Little of This, A Little of That, Apples and Jelly

 The Ridge

I crept out of Bill’s arms at 6 am on Sunday, Sept. 1^st and out of the bedroom without waking him. He had a late night watching movies (that’s what afternoon snoozes do to him or ‘for’ him). It felt cool this morning and indeed it was. Only 58F inside and 48F outside. I wore long pants for the first time since June to go and clean. It also seemed dark out still and that reminded me that it would soon be fall even though it was a very distinctive cloud cover.

This morning's sky

Driving on Baptist Church Road where I’ve encountered deer, I’m anxious so decrease my speed to about 60 kmph. I’m sure I am over-worrying but I visualize how nasty it would be to hit one. Once out of the trees and bush area, I relax and find myself turning onto Hwy #4 without mishap. The little town was waking up already for a Sunday, cars and trucks out and about. It was closer to 6:45 by the time I arrived at the Mat.

A customer came in right around 7 and another soon after with her little 1 yr. old. Parker was adorable and very smiley. He was intrigued with my mopping the floor and followed me around each corner. He didn’t bother me and brightened up the day with his wily little looks. His barefeet left footprints on my newly washed floor but so did Mom’s flip flops. No worries, it happens and I know it is clean now and won’t remain that way long.

Today it was apples first
washing, cutting, coring, slicing

Before I came home, I drove to Foodland and picked up some more Zero Coke for Bill. It is good to stay stocked up while the sale is on. Soon enough, now that the children will be back in school, those prices are more likely to disappear. I made my tea at home and sat with Bill for a while. We get into some pretty good discussions, he and I, as I’m sure you do with your spouse. September seems to bring winter travels to the forefront and we toss ideas back and forth.

I wanted to get my jelly made today but realized that I didn’t have any more Pectin. Instead of jelly, I dumped the apples into the sink and began cutting and slicing them up for freezing. I remembered that Donna, who was at the Acreage and just a few kilometers away, was going into town to see Mom this morning so I asked if she would pick me up some Pectin. I’ll pick it up later. She has some berries growing on their property that she’d like to know what they are.

and all this turned into 6 nice size freezer bags of dessert
sometime over the winter
(and more apples to pick!)

It took me probably an hour and a half of steady chopping apples so it was a good thing we had breakfast first. Otherwise, Bill would be gnawing on his arm. Or mine! He went down to the Hangar and made ‘patterns’, for lack of a better word, for the wings for his other planes. We had enough quilting material to make it work so he pieced it together with my opinion thrown in every so often. He pinned some sections and I guess tomorrow we’ll get the machine out again.

I drove over to see Donna and get my stuff around 2:30. When she showed me the berries, we were both disappointed that they weren’t choke cherries. She was all keen to make jelly! When I left their place half hour later, I drove slowly, checking out all the bushes along the concession. I was excited to find many choke cherries growing along there so texted her to check it out. They were busy chopping wood from three downed trees their son-in-law had chopped so it wouldn’t be today that she’d be picking cherries.

The bunky is all put back into a 'sitting' she-shed again

Back home, I packaged 6 bags of apples for the freezer and then set about sterilizing 3 jars for more jelly. The cherries simmered and then came the fun part of squishing them into the colander to make the juice. Bill came up and dozed in the chair after a cheese and cracker snack. I made my tea and caught up on the blog while the juice oozed through the small holes. It takes time and I use the colander ‘plunger’ as well as my big scoop. Jelly bags are the ideal thing, apparently, but not in my cupboard.

Apples in the freezer

I had to set it all aside while I began making supper. Following a recipe for Hamburger Stew but really making it up as I go along, I got out Madame IP. Of course! That is the way I’ll try anything once and since it is a cloudy day, why not cook inside. I browned the ground beef with onions in olive oil first. Then I added mushrooms, beef broth, spices, mixed veggies and finally small potatoes. I set the timer for 10 minutes and go from there. Bill, my guinea pig again for supper.

The slow process of smushing

He was sitting in his chair reading his Stuart Woods novel and I’m sure he couldn’t wait to see what I’ve come up with tonight. Ha ha, I’m doubting that very much but it sounds good. After supper, I will finish the jelly and fill 2 or 3 more jars for the fridge. Moving on, within 20 minutes of starting the stew, I was dishing it up. I toasted our dark rye toast and with butter, this was an absolutely wonderful meal! Even if I do say so myself. Madame IP does it again!

This was yummy and I'll make it again

We cleaned up dishes and I finished my jelly. Bill couldn’t believe that after 6 ½ cups of cherries, I only got 2 sealer jars of the preserve. I wasn’t expecting any more but was just pleased to have more of the tasty treat. These jars are bigger than the first ones so hopefully it will last us through much of the winter. Doing the final stage of boiling the filled jars makes me the most anxious. It will determine if I did everything right and whether the jelly will set.

Looks like I've got a dahlia ready to pop
(and beside it in the pot, an oak tree ready to croak)

When it was finished processing, I removed the jars to sit and cool for 24 hours. Tomorrow, we’ll find out! The rest of the evening was just relaxing together with our books and the tv. My book isn’t turning out quite the way I expected, not like the movie in so many ways so a bit of a disappointment. Sometimes that works the other way around, with the book being better but when the movie is a favourite – good luck with the book living up to those standards.

And I thought I'd share a picture of Clemson a few years ago at
one of Bill's flying events

This was a busy but good day. I hope yours was too. Thank you for your visit today!

Last Day of August! Cooler Temperatures, Hanging Around Home, My Beautful Mom

The Ridge

It sure felt chilly when we woke up on Saturday, Aug. 31^st. Last day of this summer month and it shouldn’t be so cold yet! I think it got down to 10C/50F. I snuggled closer to Bill around 6:30 and waited until 7ish to drag ourselves out of that warm bed. The sky was clear though and that is always a good thing to see upon wake up. Bill made his coffee and I bundled a bit for my walk. I took a couple of grocery bags as I wasn’t coming home empty handed!

My camera takes great early morning pictures

On the way back, I found the 3 bushes of choke cherries and picked them clean. It was at least 2 hours before I finished! Also, on the way home, I stopped just before the house on the corner (many of us know that name of THAT house) and picked a grocery bag full of apples. The tree is not on their property so I had no problem gathering what I could reach. Bill was going to get water so I gave him the bag of apples while I continued my cherry picking on North Line.

And I never walk alone if I can help it

I hope next year the bushes are as plentiful. I like to think I’m helping them reproduce! When I got back home, I truly enjoyed my cup of creamy tea. I sat outside in the sun picking out the little branches and leaves that ended up in the bag. Then came the finicky removal of the little stems that about 1/3 of them still had. No worries, I know the end product and I was quite content working away at that.

So, these are elderberries and they are all over the place
Maybe one day I'll pick some for jam
Not this year

I picked apples though and have a small grocery bag full
This is a double size bag because it was stronger

And if you see berries in 'grape' groupings like this, they will be choke cherries

At 10:30, I took a break and showered before making Bill’s breakfast and having a nibble of yogourt and Clementine’s myself. Then I drove in to see Mom. She was resting with her eyes close (but not totally asleep) in a lounge room and when I gently rubbed her leg, she jumped in surprise. She knew immediately who I was (not by name though) and was tickled pink to see me. Yay! I knew it would a great visit after that.

She was very chipper and sharp today

When she asked me if I wanted to go back to her room, I was even more encouraged. The conversation got better when we got talking about housecleaning (somehow?) and she said she never did like it ‘with all you 6 kids’ running around. Wow! She remembered that period of her life too. It wasn’t long ago that she told me she hadn’t had children so you can imagine my glee today. So, taking it for what it is, even though her conversation mostly made no sense, we had a great visit.

I left her at the lunch table with a smile on her face and she waved to me all the way out both doors. My beautiful Mom, she made my day today. When I left there, I decided to go to the library once more and publish yesterday’s blog post. Today is the last day of August which also means a new month begins tomorrow and that means a new 19 gb of data. I’ll keep practicing turning my data usage off and on but still can’t help but be curious (and nervous) about what happened this month.

New JP books that we haven't read - cheap!

 On my way home an hour and a half later, I stopped at a Yard Sale off Hwy #4. I’m keeping my eyes peeled for a card table for the Bunky but not definite what I want to settle on in there. I need something a little bigger than 20” deep for some puzzles. I didn’t find a table but I found 2 bird feeders, an outdoor stepping stone, some James Patterson books and a nice little retro looking radio for my She-shed. All for $10. I was tickled about that.

Bird feeders at .50¢ each

And a nice new stepping stone

And my retro-look radio

Back home, I changed into my bathing suit top and shorts and sat at the patio table for 2 ½ hours stemming cherries. Bill and I had a snack of cheese and yogourt and I had a tea. 

My process - the colander are not stemmed, into the wash bucket
then into the bowl ready to come inside

I ended up with about 6 1/2 cups

I could hear him down with his plane, trying to get it started and then finally, I could hear the roar of the engine. Yay! I recorded some of it on my camera. By 5, the cherries were all stemmed and washed so I moved inside to husk corn for supper.

Bill has to stand in front of the tail fin when revving the engine
or the plane would be gone

Bill came up soon after, done puttering for the day. As I look across the table now, his head is drooping and I’m not surprised in the least that he didn’t make 15 minutes in his chair. He doesn’t know when to stop so it usually turns into a ‘go ‘til you drop’ scenario for him. 

Basa filets and corn

At 5:30 I started frying up some fish filets and cooked the corn. We had some black forest cake for dessert and enjoyed the evening together.

A couple of videos for you  to hear the Telemaster

So many great days in a row and I’m being selfish and hoping they don’t end any time soon. 

Good night!

Thank you for stopping by today.