Brrr, that's frosty!

Hot damn folks, this girl made homemade strawberry jam this weekend.  I know, I know freezer jam is so much easier than normal jam but you know what?  I have to start somewhere and frankly my grandma's strawberry freezer jam was my absolute favourite.  And since she moved into the senior's home, we don't get it anymore.  So I thought (after seeing different recipes on Pinterest) that I'd make the attempt and see if I could replicate a childhood memory.  And since we are heading into strawberry season and locally grown strawberries are my absolute fave what better time than now? 

So here's the recipe I went with. I was a little worried that it wasn't firming up as much as I'd have liked, but my mom did remind me that freezer jam never really does.  But the consistency is alright so for a first time attempt I'm pretty happy.  It didn't yield as much jam as I would have liked, but since it was a total breeze to make I am going to grab a slab of strawberries this week and make some more this weekend.  I should then have enough stock to take me through the winter.  And I scored a box of mason jars (for a completely separate Pinterest project) a couple of weeks ago at a garage sale for $5 that have now come in even more handy than I was originally anticipating!  Double win. 

Freezer Strawberry Jam

2 cups of crushed strawberries (locally grown, in-season berries are the tastiest)
4 cups of white sugar
1 package of Pectin
3/4 cup of water

Clean and chop up strawberries, wash thoroughly as no one likes the green leafy stuff in their jam.  Use a hand blender to crush them even further and mix in sugar.  Let stand.  In the meantime,  mix the pectin in the water and bring to a slow boil on medium heat.  Boil for 1 minute.  Mix sauce in with sugared berries and let stand for a minimum of 5 minutes before filling containers.  Leave containers to sit on the counter for 2 hours or so before placing in the fridge or freezer.  Should last in the freezer for 8 - 10 months. 

Green Thumb Girl

Last year at a garage sale, I found a sweet score.  An red, antique toboggan made of wood for a mere ten bucks.  I picked it up with the intent to give it to Eric's brother for his son, but it really wasn't too practical for winter walks.  So I decided I'd keep it and use it for a planter this gardening season. 

I ended up having Eric extend our garden up the side of our front walkway so I'd actually have space to enact this idea.  I also thought the pea shrub Eric's parents got us in memory of my dad would look really nice closer to the walkway rather than tucked away at the far end of the garden.  Of course I was right.  (It's really not too often that I'm not.)  I moved a couple hostas over and planted some annuals.  There's the before picture up top and the after picture (by after I mean, two weeks later). 

Today after breakfast, Eric's mom surprised me with a rose bush she had picked up for me appropriately named the Marilyn Monroe rose.  It's an apricot/peach coloured rose.  I ended up planting it in the spot where we had originally planted the pea shrub last year, under my bay window.  I hope it takes off, it's a beautiful rose and it smells fantastic.  It's unfortunate with all the roses that come through our building at work that none of them smell so sweet.  They have all just been so over bred that they've just out and out lost their sweet smell. 

Et Voila!  This is my garden before I got all the annuals planted (well one side of it anyway).

Not Walking the Walk or Talking the Talk

Last year our family participated in the Relay For Life Cancer Walk in Windsor in honour of my daddio.  It had only been a couple of months since he had passed away so the wounds were still oozing with freshness.  It was an evening of mixed emotions.  Extremely emotional for me to watch the cancer survivors march as an act to "open" the walk but lovely to be surrounded by my dad's (and my) amazing family.  I cannot begin to do them justice for the way they ALL pulled together to support us and each other at, probably, the most difficult time most of us have/had gone through.  It was such a rewarding evening that this year the family was on tap to do it all over again.  This time with a potential lantern release (similar to a balloon release) and a proper tent set up and everything.  Then shit went down.  Waaaayyyy down.  And I've decided I'm not going this year.  And there won't be a next year. 

The point of the walk for me wasn't to raise money for the Cancer Society (though I was quite proud that we raised over $5000.00 in his honour as a family).  Quite the contary as I really don't believe strongly about that particular charity.  It was to acknowledge my dad (first and foremost) and to spend time with his (our) family as a whole unit. 
This year though, there is some huge shit (and that's the only way I can figure out how to properly descibe it) going on within my dad's family.  Mainly between two of his sisters but it seams like even without really trying everyone else is being pulled into it whether it's intended or not.  I'm doing my utmost best to remain neutral on the subject or rather just stay out of it all together and not get involved. I suppose I'm privy to a little bit of what's going on but not the nitty gritty details and that's just fine with me.   I'm not sure I have enough information to actually form an educated opinion on the subject.  Never the less, this situation has put a huge divide through what was once a very close family.  This year the majority of the family will not be present at the walk so I've decided that I'm not going either.  I just won't get out of it what I wanted to get out of it, what I got out of it last year and what I need to get out of it should I go this year. 

I have a pretty clear idea of what my father would say about doing the walk amongst all this crap, so I'd rather just stay home.  I'd rather not listen to people I love talk smack about other people I love.  I'd rather not hear information from either party that would taint my opinion of the other party.  I'd rather not have to fake my way through the night just to play nice should I form a negative opinion.  So I'll stay home and make sure my kid gets to work on time.  I'll help Eric at my mom's house work on the pergola he's building for her.  I'd rather hit up garage sales.  I will work towards the completion of my den.  These things are just more important to me right now.  And the main thing is I'll still keep loving all the people I love, faults and all.  Because sometimes ignorance is bliss.

Updated!

So we are merely into the second week of June and I can already update my summer time list.  Hopefully I can keep this pace going and get almost everything accomplished this sunny season. 

1.  Go camping
2.  Go to a concert
3.  Continue to eat less meat in my diet
4.  Spend enough time out in the sun for all my freckles to emerge
5.  Start redecorating Gage's old room so it transforms into a den
6.  Start building Gage's new room
7.  Continue crafting
8.  Find 10 new recipients of my crafts that I haven't given anything to  (4)
9.  Craft something and keep it for myself
10.  Garage Sailing
11.  Weed, trim and plant flowers in my garden
12.  Re-upholster a couch
13.  Take lots of pictures
14.  Go dancing with my ladies
15.  Make an effort to spend time with old friends
16.  Drink beers on a patio
17.  Finish my 'girlies' tattoo
18.  Roadtrip
19.  Buy fruits and veggies from a roadside stand
20.  Find and make new recipes
21.  Re-shingle my roof
22.  Have a bonfire
23.  Go for a hike
24.  Take evening walks in the neighbourhood and look through people's windows
25.  Spend time with family
26.  Play Scrabble like on an actual board, not the computer
27.  Play Cribbage
28.  Bring people flowers
29.  Spend an afternoon paying it forward
30.  Go to an amusement park.
31.  Finish Gage's new room so we can start the new rec room
32.  Sleep outside one night on the trampoline (douse self in bug repellant first though)
33.  Fire a gun
34.  Make homemade jam
35.  Do a photo shoot
36.  Go to the zoo
37.  Take Roan to a matinee
38.  Go to Lilydale for a night
39.  Finish the new den
40.  Go to the beach

Mushy and Complex

I learned at a seminar on the brain recently (besides how difficult it is to listen to a speaker with a speech impediment for 3 hours and stay focused) that the brain is divided into two halves.  Actually I knew that already.  It was also reiterated to me that the left half helps us deal with the organized aspects of our thoughts, the numbers, the letters, basically the OCD part of our lives and the right side is the artistic and playful side. 

What I wasn't aware of was that for 90 minute intervals one half of the brain is more dominant and in use while the other half 'rests'.  Since the brain is always working, even when we're sleeping, this is a way the body has adapted to allow it to have a break.  Which is why some times it's easy to focus on reports and tedious stuff but at other times I can't get my head around them or feign any interest in them at all.  Same goes for crafting. 

I also learned how you can tell which half of the brain is dominant at any given moment.  Take your right finger and plug your right nostril (on the OUTSIDE! Do not put your finger in your nose.).  Inhale through your nose.  Then do the same thing (after releasing your right nostril) to the left nostril.  You will notice that one side is stuffed up and the other side is clear for breathing.  **This trick won't work if you have a cold.  The side that is stuffed up is the side of the brain that is currently dominant.  Don't worry they switch up on average every 90 minutes.  So if you're having a hard time concentrating on a project perhaps it's because you're in the wrong half of your brain and you need to sit it out for the rest of the 90 minutes before tackling it again.  I wonder how far that theory will take you in the real world, but it sure explains why I want to blog because I have free time, but I really can't come up with anything to blog about.  Though now that I've just finished this one, I notice that my right brain has moved into the dominant position!  Figures.  It's weird too, because not 6 months ago did I just realize that one of my nostrils was always stuffed up and I was quite perturbed about that.  Now I understand.  And once I understand, my tolerance rises.

Brilliant Bob

He's not perfect.  I'm not either, and the two of us will never be perfect.  But if he can make me laugh at least once, causes me to think twice, and if he admits to being human and making mistakes, I'll hold onto him and give him the most I can.  He isn't going to quote poetry, he's not thinking about me at every moment, but he will give me a part of him the he knows I could break.  I will try not to hurt him, and I won't try to change him, and I won't expect more than he can give.  I won't analyze.  I will smile when he makes me happy, yell when he makes me mad and miss him when he's not here.  I will love hard when there is love to be had.  Because perfect guys do not exist, but there's always one guy that is perfect for me. 

- Bob Marley