Makin' jam!!

"Age puzzles me.  I thought it was a quiet time.  My seventies were interesting and fairly serene, but my eighties are passionate.  I grow more intense as I age."  Florida Scott-Maxwell

 I don't know who Florida Scott-Maxwell is, but I like her style!  Looking forward to those serene, interesting seventies...but can hardly wait for the passionate eighties!!

Tonight, we watched  a very dark movie...The Road..from the book by Cormac McCarthy.  I had read the book a couple of years ago and really liked it...not necessarily enjoying it; it is not a "fun" book, but it is a thought provoking book...and the movie followed the same line of feeling.  And, I love Viggo Morgenstern in anything he does!!

Yesterday, I spent the day making jam.  It is peach time here in Texas.  I had a lot of fruit frozen up to make  a batch of "mixed fruit" jam.

Now, I am getting a little anxious because, although they all taste yummy, I am afraid they are not setting up right and will be a little (or a lot) runny!!  The directions say it may take up to two weeks to really set up, but I am impatient to see if they do!  The last batch of peach that I made never did gel really well, so I am hoping these do not do the same...way to messy!!!

I think these are the coolest clouds!  A few mornings ago, we were sitting on the back porch having our morning coffee and doing the cross word puzzles when I looked up and saw these formations.  Just had to go get my camera and snap  a few pics!  They remind me of a Georgia O'Keeffe painting that I have seen.

We had a lot of "bluebird" activity for three or four days and were very excited as the little guys hadn't come to their house early spring because the blankety-blank grackles would chase them away.  But a few days ago, we saw a male and female spending a lot of time in and out and all around; today, there was nothing though so I am beginning to think they must have been just passing through!  I hope not; they are one of my favorites to watch!

How I've Been Spending My Time!

Strawberry/rhubarb jam! Little trapped hummer!

This is what I have been doing instead of quilting for a few days. My first batch (I made three) of jam didn't set up so I redid it according to directions on the pectin package. Had to reboil it all with some more sugar, pectin and lemon juice....set up beautifully. Second batch, after following the original directions religiously, also did not set! Redid this batch with great success. Third batch, I just added more sugar, pectin, and lemon juice in the beginning and had a perfect set! So guess what I learned....follow the directions along with the redo all at the same time!! Saves a lot of extra work!

Also a visual of my little trapped humming bird in the rafters of our back porch. Poor little guy would have beat himself to death trying to get out. Dick finally got him out and he flew away, but have no idea what got him confused in the first place....hummers usually have such great "radar"!