Jam, Jam, Jam

It's been a month since our last rain. Past two days, thunderstorms have rolled in and out , too quickly~ Still rain is rain.

Our raspberry patch has been chock full of berries- plump and o so sweet, you don't even need a pinch of sugar . Thus far, I've picked over 10 pints and have made the following jams: raspberry, raspberry-red cherry and raspberry-apricot-pineapple. I love looking at the jars(12 oz and 8 oz) -- lined up in neat rows, they make me feel rich. Love hearing the intermittent pop of their lids sealing. This is one of the joys of summer.

These recipes are no pectin, less sugar. So delicious. But, of course, I had to get up early to get this underway. We're in the middle of a heat wave. Today, the temperature will rise to 90's. Tomorrow will hit 100. So making jam when it's that hot outside is a bit outrageous. Our farmhouse doesn't have central air.

Gardens are doing well. Spent two days weeding the carrots. We planted these directly, so it's pain-staking work-- taking only the weeds and leaving the delicate carrots. Today, I'm going to work on the baby beet area. All of my green cabbage came up, but not one red. I'm so sad about this. I love red cabbage.


Yesterday, I went to my sister's house on the lake with my daughter Meghan. We spent an hour or so, body surfing the waves. The water was warm. We sat on the edge of the water and talked after our swim. I rubbed sand and bits of shell on my feet, over and over. I think it did a great job on my heels. A natural pedicure!

Project tally: 16 poems.