Sunday, July 14, 2013

HOMEMADE JAM

It was our first ever attempt at making homemade jam today. Both Dave's Mom & my Mom and Nana too have always made homemade jam. But though I've helped prep as I was growing up I never knew the final process. Today we learned it was much, much easier than we had thought. I am praying it sets because we have some very eager jam eaters awaiting these homemade treats.

I received this little guy for Christmas.  This was his first time out of the box & he worked like a champ!

Do you think he may be a little excited?

Blueberries are squashed in a flash!

After we put together the blueberry jam it was time for strawberries.

Dave worked on finishing up the blueberry jam.

The kids wanted to be right in the middle of it all.

Thank you, Mom!  She got this for us to use in our jam making.

Our official taste testers.

She wanted to help stir & was very happy when it was finally her turn.



Next it was time to taste test the strawberry jam.  What a tough job, eh?

9 jars of blueberry jam

Daddy giving Boo instructions on how to fill the jars.

Boo & I finished up the strawberry jam and filled 12 jars.  This is all freezer jam.  We plan to make some hot jar jam with the rest of the strawberries sometime this week. 

Saturday, July 13, 2013

BLUEBERRY PICKING - ROUND 2

Yes, we went back again! I wanted some more blueberries for my freezer & really wanted to attempt to make jam. So off we went early one morning this week to pick. The boys were in day camp so it was the girls & I. Sweet Pea & Princess went off to the blackberry patch to pick while Boo Bear & I picked blueberries. It was a nice time of working & getting some time to talk.
 
Ready to start!  We got there early to try & beat the worst of the heat & humidity.



The blackberry patch.

Sweet Pea is way down that row.

Sisters hunting for blackberries.

See, Mommy?



My grown up girl picking with her mama.

It is such a pretty farm.  I dream of having one like it someday.

Great job, Boo!

I did almost as well as Boo.

We met some friends near the end of our trip.  The girls found this kitty & loved on it.


Of course we had to keep our tradition of going for ice cream afterward.





We stopped at a local farm stand for some veggies & fruit.  They had 3 adorable kittens!  This one kept following Princess around wanting her to love on him.
 
Sweet Pea showing off her blackberries.  There weren't many left but she managed to get almost a full basket.


Friday, July 12, 2013

BAILEY ON THE MOVE

Bailey is one of our cats. He has a big personality. He's always showing up in the silliest places. I came out of the bathroom the other night to find him taking a little ride in this toy truck. I'm not sure where he was headed but he was pretty happy in that truck. LOL!




Wednesday, July 10, 2013

PUDDLE JUMPING

A little over a month ago we had a huge storm. It rained inches in less than an hour. After the storm the kids had a blast puddle jumping in the backyard. This is what memories are made of.