Black Currant Jelly - My First Jam/Jelly Making Efforts of the Season

Word of the Day

E-touch - A method of staying in contact with friends by e-mail or other electronic devices.

Woodtick Count - 8

I juiced the black currants, with a few wild gooseberries thrown in to the mix, in late June but it's only now that I've gotten around to kicking my rear end in gear to make jelly. I've started prepping raspberries for jam-making...they're in the freezer, but I don't have enough to actually make any jam as yet. I gifted a whole tray of raspberries to Birchwood Babe and JC and I'm really not getting an over-whelming amount of raspberries this year due to the harsh winter but...I'll probably end up making at least a couple of batches of raspberry jam...eventually. I won't be making any strawberry jam because...well...I never picked any strawberries. I don't grow them so I would have had to go out and pick them at one of those U-Pick places. For the last couple of years, #1 Son and #1 DIL picked for me but...not this year. Oh well...I still have some that I made from last year so...maybe next year. Sadly, my old red currant bushes are still diseased. I dusted them but to no avail. The new bushes that I planted last fall aren't producing as yet. Thankfully, the black currant bushes haven't been affected by whatever hit the red currant bushes. The jury (that's me) is still out as to whether or not I should rip out the remaining old red currant bushes. The jury (that's me) will make that decision next spring. I may replace them with tame gooseberry bushes.

I picked raspberries again today, after the dew had dried off. I also picked more tomatoes. I made the decision to pick some of them tomatoes from the lower deck that were "mainly" turned, not fully vine-ripened. I didn't want to risk losing them to my errant bear. Must I remind you that my first vine-ripened tomato of the season last year was taken by a bear? I didn't want to risk it so the tomatoes that were almost vine-ripened are not continuing the ripening process in a box on my kitchen table. I'll be making salsa really soon. I have to laugh because I noticed that a chipmunk...or squirrel...picked one of my jalapeno peppers and started to eat it. I'm laughing because, they won't do that again. Next year, I WILL treat the soil around my lower deck gardens with ground cayenne pepper. I wish I'd done it sooner this year to save my peas. I have NOT attempted to trap and transport the little critters this year.

Kylee and I hiked up to the main road and back. The loggers were busily working out in the woods. We could hear them. They are working their way closer to the house. I noted that one of the logosauers was parked along with a pick-up truck on the first logging road turn off from my driveway. I'm trying to make daily hikes to the road and back...if not for me...for Kylee. She needs the training walks and the exercise. Me? We all know that I need the exercise. I still need to lose at Least twenty more pounds.

I made myself a wilted spinach salad for lunch today. Interesting...I'm not hungry for dinner tonight. The book I ordered from Amazon, The Big Fat Surprise, the hard-copy, arrived this week but I haven't taken the time to study it...other than the three chapters that I read on my Kindle. But, maybe, despite the calorie count, the additional calories that I'm ingesting from fat, will keep my binge eating in check. I've been craving popcorn....CRAVING! But not tonight.

It looks like I'll be boiling up another gallon of hummingbird nectar...or...maybe only a half gallon, as well as filling the seed feeders. The hummingbird activity has leveled off. I'm only going through a half gallon of nectar per week. The hummingbird feeders over at the edge of the house and near the kitchen don't seem to be as popular as the ones by the door near the deck. Interesting. And the seed-feeders near the other door to the deck are more popular than the one that over-hangs the edge of the deck. Again...just observing.

Since I went to a yoga retreat last fall, I've been intrigued by Yoga Nidra. I found a U-Tube offering that I've been using via my Kindle Fire. It has been VERY interesting and it has helped my insomnia issues...a bit. However, maybe THAT'S why I've been having such interesting dreams. I had a dream the other night that I had hair...a LOT of hair...growing on my toes. I don't...well...not a LOT of hair....not as much as I dreamed about. Where does this dream activity come from?...and in living color? Last night, as I played the program, I felt like I OBB'd (Out of Body'd)and then woke up when I felt like someone drove a spike through my brain. Major headache pain. That was a bit scary and made me feel a bit sick from the pain and a bit of disorientation but....interesting.

And...I practiced with my Sig Sauer Mosquito tonight, now that I have some ammo. I did hit my target but not as often as I should have hit it. Meanwhile, Kylee has decided to hide in her kennel for the rest of the night. Apparently, she doesn't approve.

Random Quote of the Day

Rejoice not at thine enemy's fall - but don't rush to pick him up either.

- Jewish Proverb