Strawberry Balsamic Jam

Heidi Knitting

Got my jam on with Heidi. After work on Thursday we went to my apartment to do some knitting and make some jam. I fully used her for stirring the goopy goodies whilst I poured in the sugar. But for the most part she was practicing her knitting.

It smelt so divine! For my first time making jam and without any instructional help I'd have to say we did a damn fine job. Didn't take all that long from start to finish. Which might have something to do with the fact that I already had the strawberries washed, cut and cleaned; so there was none of that to slow us down. All I had to do was measure out my ingredients, prep my jars and cook.

Strawberries in a pot!

We did run into a hitch when pouring them into jars. By that I mean we ran out. So while Heidi finished cleaning off the rims and putting lids on I quickly washed more in water that made my hands hurt it was so hot. See I have this thing with glass ... I fear it'll shatter. So I was so nervous on this step I'm surprised I didn't make a bigger mess. Once we got the jam into the jars we cleaned the pot and put the jars into a water bath. This freaked even Heidi and Daniel out because the jars were doing a jig in that damn pot.

And done! They sat in the post boiled water for a wee bit then Heidi used the tongs and placed then in my mitted hands to be set on the counter to cool. Once we made sure everything was turned off Daniel and I took Heidi home with a nice warm jar of jam. I could have driven her on my motorcycle but she didn't seem to want to hop on. Not sure why!

I left the jam sitting out all night and this morning made sure all the tops were compressed and stored them in the curio cabinet. Made myself some toast and slathered on some fresh, still slightly warm strawberry jam. It set up nicely.  A soft, creamy jell that just melts on your tongue. The strawberries are very prominent and the vinegar gives a nice depth to the jam.

Best Quote

"The motorcycle is what the horse used to be. It allows you to be part of your environment and experience it in a very intimate way." ~ Laurence Fishburne

Indignation

We have some new neighbors living below us. A college couple. They seem nice enough. However, when I went down to water my wee garden I noticed cigarette buts hidden beside the drain hole for my pot. Okay that's probably the wettest part of the whole mulched bed but still with this dry heat and lack of rain very stupid. And okay I can't really be sure it's them. Then again they're the only people we share the patio with. It would be quite awkward for someone to pop a squat beside two doors that are not theirs and smoke 3 whole cigarettes. They also cook with a small charcoal grill ... and don't tend to it after their food is done to make sure the coals cool before putting it in the mulch. I think they're trying to burn down the building. I wish I could just nock on their door and be like "I don't care if you smoke but please be responsible about it and put your buts in the trash not the flammable mulch. And please make sure your grill is cool before bringing it back up to the building. I'd really not like to have the building burn down!"

Yesh! I can just imagine that going over well. The things they could do to my wee garden is horrid to think about. Not that it's yielding all that much. This dry heat sent my spinach to seed immediately, has dried my beets to stringy little husks, and is causing my tomatoes to rot on the vine. It's not looking like I'll have enough for tomato stew, let alone to jar. Oh and I completely forgot abut my poor little strawberries!  They didn't even make it past 2 inches before they shriveled and died. Man I hope we get a hard frost so that next year will yield better.

Even with my garden not yielding much this year I have my mothers to sustain all of us. She has some red peppers which I can use in all sorts of jarring fun. Like this roasted red pepper hummus I made over the weekend. De-lish! I gave 2 jars to friends and they seem to like as well. It definitely wasn't your average smooth hummus since I don't have an electric food processor but rather a hand crank one that just doesn't get things all that smooth. But the small chunks added a lovely texture to it that was most pleasing. Then she has the squash and zucchini for my breads, and plenty of tomatoes for my stew. The one thing my garden is producing in abundance is basil both garlic and lemon varieties so I made some pesto! I went to a local farmer and picked strawberries but I'm looking for a non reactive pot and pectin so I can make jam. I know I best hurry if I wish to make the blackberry lavender jam as well since blackberry season is almost done. Oh and I wanna make blackberry pie this year so I need to pick a lot of blackberries. The lavender flowers escape me as to ware to get them.

Granola bars for Daniel. He wants them smaller!

I still haven't done a photoshoot for my most recent costume. I feel quite lazy about that. However, since the costume is made to fit me I would need a model with my build or a photographer to take it and my friend is constantly busy. The only time she seems to have is when we go walking once a week. It's frustrating to no end! She has said that she would assist me in creating a modeling portfolio so I hold out hope. I'd have Daniel take the photos but he's constantly working. And my sister ... well she's have three wee bairns to deal with. Man aren't I just full of excuses!

I do have other crafts to speak of. The lucet I'm making is coming along. I got the wood picked out and the template drawn on. I'm just waiting for Daniel to cut it out for me so that I might begin carving. Then again if I get really bored today I might just cut them out myself the hard way. (with my wood carving chisel) I'm excited to start using it. However, since it might take some time I think I'll play with one of my hair pieces to see if I can create a cord without the proper lucet.

Then there's the 2 bracelets I made for Daniels mother. They're quite pretty. One's pearl and the other's Swarovski crystal. She didn't want any fancy patterns so it's just one bracelet of each type.

I've been knitting up a storm on my Gansey. I've been neglecting this sweater for far too long. Damn cables have just got me all flustered. But I prevail! I'm working on the last sleeve then it's just stitching up the sides and done! Another hour perhaps till completion. Here's hoping it still fits Ryan. >.> I do love the cables but I think after this is complete I might just take a break from them and make a sweater for myself in plain old stockinette.

I've been working on color works. With this little Christmas ornament. I was making them for a craft show this fall that I was to attend with a lady I met however it seems plans have changed. She now has a girl who make many a Christmas ornament and no longer needs me to share her booth. And I was looking forward to that experience. She says perhaps some fair shows in earlier months. We'll see if she sticks to. In the mean time I'll just make them for family and anyone online who would like one.

It would seem however that I'm out of luck this year for craft shows but I found a few that I'd like to attend next year. There's this all Ohio fair in Bath that seems fun. I'm going to attend and see what it's all about and if I like then I'll apply for a booth next season.

I still have my commissions keeping me busy though they seem to be slowing down at the moment. Which is fine really since I need to get a second job and continue my search for a home and now a car. Winter is right around the corner and my motorcycle just wont work with snow or ice on the ground.

Cable Beanie

Eureka! I have found the perfect yarn for my cabled beanie. Jennifer and I went to the yarn store after lunch yesterday to play with some of their yarns in an attempt to locate that elusive gauge. And we found it when this lovely alpaca blend jumped at me. Okay it was more like we had determined the other yarns wouldn't work and tried the next step up.

I was so impatient to begin that I've already started. My poor bearskin has been put on the back burner. Hopefully I finish the hat so I can get the bearskin done in time to enter the Brothers Grimm contest.

Traditional Crafting

So I've found yet another craft I wish to learn. It's called luceting. What you do is use this nifty little device called a lucet and some yarn of your desired weight to do this little braiding technique. The end result is a cord. I saw this lady using one at the rendezvous and did a wee bit of research on it. It's actually not hard!

I came across people on the internet using their fingers or modifying a plastic fork to create the lucet. So crafty! Me, I'm going to make my own (or perhaps convince Daniel to make me one). It seems easier to use a cord than to make ribbon for my costumes.

I also decided today to compile of list of traditional crafts and figure out which ones I would like to learn or have already tried and passed over.

• Knitting
• Crochet
• Tatting
• Irish lace
• Luceting
• Spinning
• Braiding
• Weaving
• Sewing
• Embroidery

Feel free to add some crafts to my list.

Old NorthWest Territory Primitive Rendezvous 2012

The End of the Line

My vacation all started on Thursday, July 6th with me attempting to secure my duffel bag to Saoirse' back. For those of you with motorcycles I wouldn't recommend  bungees! That duffel listed to the side and about 80 miles into the trip I had to pull over onto the side of 71 to straighten it. Standing beside semis going 80 MPH is a bit nerve recking. I also had my camera bag slung on my back and thanks to the size of the duffel I couldn't sit up straight. I had to lean forward the whole 2hr and 45min ride it took to get to the Rendezvous.

Once there however, I had a blast. The weather wasn't cooperating, what with it being 102 degrees on Sunday. Still we JEWETTs are a tough lot and pushed through to a much cooler Monday. Uncle Ken took it the hardest. I guess the heat can cause ones sugar to rise and it definitely sapped his energy. Then it gave me a wicked migraine and I took a 2hr nap. Uncle Greg, Philip and Kyle seemed perfectly fine if very sweaty!

We were given a reprieve from the heat thanks to Ram Rod. Everyday he made a batch of ice cream. My favorite was Maple and Honey. Yummy! Once we arrived at his camp he'd start mixing everything and allow us to crank. Turns out it's not so hard to make ones own ice cream and it surpasses what one could get at a store or shop. Not to mention healthier!



Cicada

We had many visitor throughout the day, everyday. Even though we were 'the end of the line'. Including this little tom. The uncles chased him off but I found time to give him a good scratch under the chin when I ran into him by Cactus' camp. The Colonel's camp also had many visitors of the flying verity. Mosquitoes, horse flies, dragon flies, cicadas and a gorgeous hawk who had her nest near by.


I learned many things while there. 1stly I'm a decent shot with a riffle and muzzle loaders are kind of fun to shoot. I got my tan shirt dirty thanks to the black powder though I hit a bulls eye for the trouble. 2ndly I should practice more with the hawk and knife. Also, don't shoot with someone elses bow. You always get better scores when you use your own. However, my recurves can't be used at rendezvous for some reason. I can only use a long bow so I'm going to see about trading one of my recurves for a long bow. I already mentioned the ice cream:  so lastly I found out I'm pretty. It seemed like everyone had fun teasing me about it. Perfect strangers flirted. It didn't mater if they were married or single or dating. If a lady's feeling self conscience or unattractive and they enjoy reenacting history they should totally go to one of these events. ;3

Not me best side but hay I'm shooting a muzzle loader!

There was a marquee tent and awning for sale or trade. I believe it was $1200, but I could be wrong ... it could be more. Either way I'm thinking of investing for future years if I continue to reenact.  It would prove so much easier to dress, bathe ... and well that's just about it. It does have a divider so I could potentially use if for multiple people and maintain a modicum of privacy.




Thanks to my revealing chemise I managed to get a nice tan. Its really cleared up my acne, which is bloody awesome. However, in return I may have gotten Prickly Heat a.k.a Miliaria (creepy). That last bit might not be reliable. Anyway, Sunday after having awaken from my heat exhaustion induced nap I noticed little bumps running up and down the inside of my fore arms. Uncle Ken had me visit the camp 'Dr' for a cure or at the least find out what it is. Apparently it could be a number of things:  allergic reaction, poison ivy, or heat rash. So to cover some bases he got me some Benadryl and Poison Ivy cream. Neither worked! Though by the next day everyone in camp knew what was wrong and asked 'How's your rash?'. Camp gossip, I swear!

The boys got to chop fire wood with their wee tomahawks! Poor things!

Philip's 'surprise' attack!

Such a cutie! I loved photographing the wee ones!

Paige showing off for the camera or my uncle ... not sure which!

Of the junior and sub junior contestants these two sisters won their own muzzle loaders! Go them!

All the wee ones 18 and under!

I went to urgent care when I got home ... after a nice, long, cool, shower and a short visit to Daniel at work (not in that order). Dr Tsai was a wee bit puzzled. Poor man. Doesn't look like poison ivy, never mentioned prickly heat, but settled on a contact reaction (even though by this point it had spread to other locations, the back of my ear and neck to be brief.). So I was given a cure all (Prednisone) and told to visit my family Dr if it persists. I just wont tell him he's cheaper!

PC Failure and Other Disasters

So Friday there was a wicked storm that came through. If not for a coworker my poor little Saoirse would have been laying on her side. As it was we moved her right up to the building so that she was blocked from the wind that so wanted to damage her. Sadly I had to leave her here at work until Saturday after noon.

The storm itself was fun! The power failed at around 4:45pm and so the customers and staff ended up sheltering in the building, complete dark, and playing cat games with the little children. :3

Of course I had to leave my bike at work and the next day walk 2 hours, in 88 degree weather, toting a messenger bag and several books to go pick it up. Not a fun walk and lucky me our security was just locking up so I was able to retrieve my helmet and thus ride home in stead of walking back.

Then Sunday disasters strikes again. I woke up early (8am-ish), made myself some hot tea and set to work finishing up my clients logo. About 2pm it was done in 5 different styles and saving on my thumb drive to take and show her Monday. Well ... freeze. Okay so I walk away and give 'er time to think. When I come back ... Boot disk fail! O.o Deep breaths! Right?! I restart ... same message. I shut her down, pray the files saved and go read a book before I pick up the tower and throw 'er out the second story window. Monday I show my client the designs and they didn't save correctly. All funky colors. I get upset but she's like it's all right I won't need them for a few weeks yet. (She knows I'm going on vacation come tomorrow) I pray my second HD is untouched. Then later on Daniel calls and says my pc is fucked ... an over sized paper weight! T.T I had a break down. It wasn't pretty!

However, when I got home and played around we realized that, no, she isn't dead but having problems. All my files and programs are there and looking proper but my machine just doesn't want to operate. So I'm going to go in and play with my settings, perhaps over clock it and see were that puts us. In the mean time I'm going to enjoy my experience in the Old Northwest Primitive Rendezvous with my family for a whole week. When I get back then I'll drag my secondary HD to my mothers, install Illustrator and fix the logo to give to my client. That's the plan. Please pray mother nature doesn't decide to add more catastrophic to my life!