Monday morning

Another Hyde Hall photo.

And here we are, back into school time again, the first day of the new term (sort of) with a day's work ahead and the children due back in tomorrow.  The planning is all done and dusted and the bay needs about an hour's more work before it, too, is ready for go!

Yesterday was a nice relaxing day.  I made two sorts of jam, both with apple as a base.  The first was apple and lemon which was a mistake jam:  I thought the apples were the kind that held their shape so I peeled, cored and sliced some for blanching and open freezing.  However, it turned out that they were the fluffy kind - the reason they had held shape before was because I was cooking them in vinegar and sugar for chutney.  So after a few choice expressions of annoyance and some umming and ahing, I boiled the whole lot up to get rid of most of the water, then added sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice and jammed it.  It turned out OK, I think, tasting a bit marmaladey.
The other jam was apple and plum and that was such a doddle.  It set very quickly and without any problems.  I think I will try the mulled version, which uses red wine and mulling spices.

My goodness, it rained yesterday - huge raindrops and so hard too.  It was a surprise after a morning that began dull but then turned into sunshine.  I gather it was the remnants of Irene powering its way around the globe, so Dad said (I haven't been watching the weather forecast recently), and it certainly gave the garden a thorough watering.  No more tomatoes to pick though, sadly.