Plum Jam and Paper Jam
2:11 p.m. - 2010-08-02
The last two weeks have been all about canning and pickling. So far I have put up about 26 pints of applesauce and 32 pints of plum jam, and 14 pints of pickle relish (dill and sweet). There is no way on earth we could eat all of that, and I usually don't put up that much stuff, but this year some family members are out of work or struggling, so I decided to make the best of the bounty we have this good growing season. I still have one more double batch of plum jam to make (about 11 more pints).Added 8-7-10: Just finished apples, 9 more pints of applesauce for a total of 35.
I just finished one sewing project and need to get started on another. My brother bought my dad three pairs of casual summer pants, and they needed to be hemmed up, so I had that chore to do. I finished that up yesterday so now I am making another 'makeover' shirt for Abby out of another of WSP's shirts with a worn-out collar. This one is pale yellow. Abby really likes the frugality of this, making use of something that would otherwise be thrown away. I also found three shirts in the sewing room cut-out-and-ready-to-sew box where projects can languish for years before being finished. Actually they can languish for decades. Those shirts were supposed to be for Abby when she was in high school, but she has outgrown her taste for the prints. I remembered a yellow and white gingham shirt I made for her that January ended up with, so I thought that I could finish up these UFO's (unfinished objects) and give them to January. She says the gingham one still fits her, and it was made from the same pattern. There is a purple print and a blue print, and a white blouse from another pattern that is too small for me but might fit January. I also have some really cute kids clothes cut out in that box, so someone out there needs to have some babies so I can finish them.
Exactly one year ago today WSP got himself the printer of his dreams - it copies, prints, and faxes (not that we know how to use the fax feature yet). Anyhow, his joy was doomed because the printer died about two weeks ago. The printer tells us it has a paper jam, though it does not, and it squeals in agony when you turn it on. Usually when we buy some big item we start a file folder with the receipt, manuals, etc., but for some reason we couldn't locate the receipt. We must have forgotten to make the folder. We have been looking for two weeks, and last night I finally found it. I read it over carefully and lo, it looks like we bought a warranty for the thing. Hip hip hooray! For once, buying a warranty is going to pay off. I talked to the department at Staples, and I have to say that they were a real pleasure to deal with, polite and accommodating. They asked what was wrong with the thing, and I described it with sound effects and all, and they determined that it is a hardware issue and they are sending out a new replacement printer! How easy was that!
The garden is doing great this year. We have already harvested lots of cucumbers, and everything else is doing well. We are just now starting to get eenies, which is what the kids always called summer squash for obvious (zucchINI) reasons. The apple harvest was huge (ha,ha you squirrels), but the pear tree just fell over one day and we have to see if the pears will ripen. We just propped it back up and it seems to be sort of OK.
Melissa found a new job and starts next week. I told her that I never even got a chance to work up a really good worry, since with this lousy economy and the current incompetent goverment I expected her to be out of work much longer. I am, to say the least, very glad. It also meant that she could go to Texas over the weekend to support her good friend whose wedding was called off due to terrible-horrible-very-bad-no-good fiance behavior. It was sad for the friend, but lucky to find out in time, and lucky to have such good friends. Melissa called it "The Thank Goodness She Didn't Marry That Douchebag Celebration".
Last night we started watching the new show on AMC, Rubicon. It is very arty and could be good, but they will have to start putting more emphasis on the storyline and less on trying to be cutting edge arty. Also, that one girl in the office who likes the hero wears such office inappropriate clothes that it ruins the scenes she is in. No one shows that much chest in any office I was ever in. I mean really, you would catch pneumonia in the air conditioning.
