All Jammed Up!

What a wild and crazy week! Honestly, I can hardly remember half the things I did or where the time went. But there were several highlights and lowlights. 

On the weekend, I was able to get some sewing done (photos below). On Monday, I visited my friend Ruby who is staying with her sister Cathy (who’s also a good friend). Cathy just had knee surgery, and Ruby jokes that she’s practicing her nursing skills on her sister so she can take care of me this winter. Haha! I took them a roast chicken and lots of veggies and salads, plus a succulent plant as a get well gift for Cathy. I challenged her to keep it alive longer than I would - about a month - LOL. Ruby and I also went out in Cathy’s garden to pick plums and blackberries. 

On Tuesday I went to Weight Watchers and it was good to see friends again. Lots of hugs going ‘round! That afternoon, Bruce’s older daughter Emily and the three kids came down from Idaho Falls and we got to take them to lunch, show them the condo, the grounds, pool and creek, and get a picture. Our son-in-law had to stay behind for work, unfortunately. Here’s a picture of all 6 of us. The kids knew how to set the timer on the phone camera so we could all be in the photo. 

L-R: Bruce, me, Gunner, Abbie, daughter Emily and Deacon

On Wednesday I made plum jam to go with the strawberry, blackberry, apricot and raspberry jams I’ve already made this season. Two batches of plum jam, and neither one set up. GRRR. I’ll be laid up with the knee stuff around the end of the year (depending on surgery scheduling), so I figured that jam would be a great food gift that I can make now and freeze for neighbors and friends for Christmas. No December marathon baking of biscotti like last year. 

Thursday morning saw us making a trip to Costco to stock up on all sorts of things, and then in the afternoon I played cards with my friends at the clubhouse. One friend had asked us a couple weeks ago (or whenever it was) if they wanted her brand new unused bread maker that had too many bells and whistles. Since mine is at least 35 years old and has long since seen better days, I offered to take it when nobody else wanted it. Woo-hoo! I spent that evening reading the manuals (yes, plural), and I understand my friend’s angst. It will be quite the learning curve, but I told her I probably would get into it this winter when things slow down. 

On Friday morning I had my final eye doctor happointment after having had my right eye cataract removed a couple months ago. The eye is now healed, and the doctor’s skilled incisions helped alleviate the astigmatism in my right eye. The eye exercises and drops, as well as the full healing from the surgery means I can now read again without double vision or “ghosting”. I still have the ghosting a bit while trying to read signs from a distance, but I don’t need glasses for driving or mid-range most of the time. Still, I have a prescription for eye glasses that will better match my eyes now, so I’ll get it filled and maybe it will make me feel more secure reading signs when driving. 

Anyway, after that appointment I went grocery shopping and spent the afternoon “fixing” the unset jam with a cornstarch slurry and boiling the jam in small batches. It’s soft set now, and maybe will firm up more. At least it’s a passable consistency, and it is really delicious. It *almost* reminds me of the amazing plum jam that we had in Kenya back in 2018. I keep checking that Kenyan company, but they still don’t export it to the States. Dang! And with the Orange Idiot levying tariffs on anything that moves, who knows how much a jar of imported jam from Kenya would cost, anyway.

Plum freezer jam with new bread maker behind

Aaand, that brings me to the meager sewing I did get done this week. These are all the RSC (Rainbow Scrap Challenge) blocks I sewed. 

Four flying geese 6” blocks (above) and 12 Switchplate blocks (below) at 3x5” (finished sizes)

Other than that, absolutely nothing was done in the sewing room. I didn’t even have time to sew on a button I need to! (But then, just about anything comes before doing mending, right?)

So, I’m linking up to Scrappy Saturday for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. This morning is the final round of jam-making for me: raspberry-peach. And then, I’ll clean off my big kitchen island, drag out the big roll of batting, and proceed to start pin basting quilts. If I have the energy. If not, I’ll just curl up and read. Sounds good to me either way!

Have a great week!