Sunday, 09-04-23

 Good morning everyone.  Wishing you a lovely Easter Sunday with, if you like the stuff, lots of lovely chocolate.
Yesterday's weather was glorious, wall-to-wall sunshine.  Today hasn't started off so great with cloud but the forecast is very good with more sunshine.  Bring it on!

I got my little shop done yesterday morning - although it was only little in terms of amount; the money I handed over in exchange didn't feel so little at all!  I did get carrots and parsnips on special though - I get through loads of the latter while the former freezes really well and is very handy for roast dinners.
Then I set off on our walk - there were four of us today - and on the walk we met a couple of other members of our group and have a good old natter before moving on.  That was lovely.

The rest of the day was spent in jam making and general idleness.  The seedless blackberry jam set almost as soon as it boiled which makes me think maybe I should have added more water to the puree but not to worry.  At least it won't be attempting to escape from the toast, unlike the marmalade.  That had definitely reached setting point but it's a very soft set indeed.  I suspect it was because it was actually very old, outside it's best before date but the pulp was canned so perfectly safe to use.  It'll be good for marinades and sauces or adding to pancakes anyway as well as toast, etc, while the blackberry jam will work with meats like pork or duck (not that I have duck but anyway . . .) or, maybe, instead of cranberry sauce.
I got three jars of the jam and six of the marmalade.  Beth's having some and I'll see if Chris is interested in some marmalade.

Today is a quiet day.  Beth and Alex are coming over for lunch tomorrow rather than today so that will be nice.
If it were needed, I have extra motivation to get that shed sorted out.  I KNOW I have some Bonne Maman sized jam jars and lids somewhere in there but could I find them anywhere?  So annoying.  I cobbled together enough jars for what I made yesterday but grrrr.  They will turn up, of course.  They always do.
So, today, I will be doing some garage tidying.  There's not a lot of room in the bin but I can bag stuff up and Chris might have space in hers if I ask - she almost always does, bless her!

Well, still no sun, but not even the slightest hint of frost so that's good.  It will be warm enough to sit out soon, fingers crossed.

Have a lovely day everyone.  xx