it's the berries

in this case, the raspberries. this year rex's raspberries went wild! (wow..thanks, rex!) having been gifted with a generous containerful twice, we were behind on our planned rate of consumption when all of a sudden the refrigerator started freezing everything. including the raspberries. and because this was at the same time as a good number of the apricots on the counter started to ripen... raspberry apricot jam was the result.

incidentally, there was nothing wrong with the refrigerator. i had just been letting myself shove one more container of food into it far more often than i had been using up what was in the containers already on the shelf, and wound up blocking off air flow. frozen lettuce, broccoli, celery, parsley... the frozen onions i can use,but the lettuce is always a total loss. i thought my refrigerator was having a problem with freezing, off and on, but now i think that the problem was mine!

the other day somebody who knows me well mentioned that he looked at my blog, and that from my blog, my life looks perfect. well i guess there are a few references that indicate that life is not always sunshine-and-lollipops, but generally, i do want to include here the best and exclude the worst of my experience. i mean "life is just a bowl of cherries" or "it's the berries" applies part of the time to life....the rest of the time is great contrast to clearly see it!

what i'm learning to do is focus on the best and try to not think about the other as much. it works better for me this way. like attracts like, and good feelings bring more good. bad feelings seem to perpetuate more of the same. maybe it's all about momentum... keeping it going in the desired direction. not always easy. but worth practicing....dreaming it up the way we want it to be.

on that note, here are a couple of my favorite things: amira learning to make apricot tarts, and the finished product!

jammin'

summer fruit is here, and with it the lovely task of making jam. it's been years since i have actually done such a thing (doubly evidenced by the fact i can't find my canning kettle or jar lifter...), but the beautiful apricots our friend doug let us pick last weekend ripened almost overnight and it was time. one double batch made seven twelve ounce jewel-like jars. (one didn't fit in my make-shift canning kettle without the risk of overflow, so the seventh isn't pictured here...it was in my refrigerator!!) by the way, the sake in the background isn't an ingredient, but doesn't it look great alongside?i tried some this morning (the jam, not the sake) on the pancakes that amira insisted we have for breakfast, and it was yummy, if a bit stiff. i think i may have mis-measured the pectin, put in half again as much as it called for, thinking i had only put in enough for a single recipe. in today's batch i will try to include the inside of the pits, as alan's mother used to do. there are some schools of thought about this that think it is dangerous, due to the cyanide content (!) inside the pits....but it is a time-honored tradition, and the other, opposing school of thought is that it may possibly be beneficial, adds a unique flavor to the jam, and the amount used is the key to the safety of the finished product. we shall see.... any taste testers volunteering?

and back to this life in progress...

in looking back i now realize that the one post i had written for the month of june never got posted....oh well. such is this process called life sometimes, eh? not that things have been uneventful...

we actually have put the house back on the market, i know, i know....never say never unless you intend to eat your words. the good part and the bad part is the same: nobody has come to look or even called. there are a LOT of homes on the market here. so...having to have people come through has not yet been an issue. keeping the house looking close to ready for showing is now again a reality, i like to have it within an hour or so of showability, which for me means perfection. it isn't really to that point, but close enough. other than closets and such....

lately it feels like a house is a close metaphor for life....mine, on the surface, looks pretty good. but, man oh man, open the wrong door and watch out! on that note, i have been taking the time to occasionally reorganize drawers, closets, and areas that tend to collect junk. and giving away some things that i had been saving. it's funny how many issues this brings up, depending on what the item is i am parting with. decluttering is a process, i'm sure. letting go, as well, it seems.

do i finish unpacking? or start the packing process? it feels like i already had mostly unpacked, then packed some things away last time for the home sale process. now i am missing certain books and knick knacks that have some significance to me, and it is hard to know whether to even hunt for them. we could sell the house in a month, or it could be a couple of years. hmmm. being up in the air feels just so, well..., ungrounded.

so, i bury my face in a book. rereading Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series now, in preparation for the upcoming 7th book in the series. this is to the neglect of my other reading, i'm willing to admit. officially i belong to two book clubs, of which i sometimes even get to attend the meetings, but the Outlander story sucks me in so completely that it is hard to get really into another book, unless it is easy to read in spurts. thus, the five books currently in process. the book club choices have barely been cracked open...who knows if the deadlines will cause me to read or rebel!

knitting is another activity that helps me feel like i am progressing in some area...i have now completed my third pair of socks, some felted bags, and am working on more bags and socks. i can't figure out if people who knit lace actually liked it from the start, or if it is an acquired taste...but my so-called "easy lace scarf" has been restarted several times, and frankly, just doesn't call my name that often. maybe it is the fact that so much counting and focusing has to be done while i am the only one awake or the only one home. the former involves my sleepy self struggling to reacquaint said sleepy self with the pattern and the slippery yarn, the latter involves the "should i vaccum the house, or clean bathrooms or windows or floors, organize a drawer or closet, perhaps get some excercise, or maybe just read for a minute or two..." dilemma. yeah, i'll be lucky to finish that scarf in a twelve month time frame!