Summer is here!

These are keepers.  The bookshelf is dusted and rearranged.  And I could never part with these old friends.  The craft book is newer, but hey, it's pretty essential.

This morning I went over to my son-in-law's shop and retrieved jars out of his storage.  Mercy!  It was as though I were on a rescue mission.  Curious.  It thought that I'd cashed in the canning ritual.  For what, I'm not sure.  I guess for simplicity.  Or here in California the fruit is so incredibly expensive, and there is no U-pick.  I know when we moved down from Oregon in the spring of 1989, I was still reeling from having lost Dad, moving twice by the time summer arrived, and exhausted from starting our business and tending to six kids, the youngest turned two a month after we'd gotten here; canning seemed tortuous.  Why bother?  Anyways, I moved at least 150 various quarts of stuff from peaches to tomatoes.  And I just never started up again, until last year when I made a few experimental batches of jams.

Picking up a jar is real familiar.  Hello.  Hello.  Oh, look at you, yes.  You held peaches:  Veteran's.  Those were to die for, and I went overboard and picked 200 pounds.  Even the farmer was impressed.  Of course, canning them was a two-day process which involved all of the girls.  That was the day that Seth crawled to the park by himself, two blocks and across a busy street.  Goddess.

Here it is:  #1 batch of apricot jam.  Oh does it smell good.  A new approach to an old ritual, I am noticing that I am liking this morning of putting things by.

It won't be too long before the blackberries are ready to pick!  And the elderberries.  Maybe I will go whole hog, and pick peaches!

I love you.
xoxoLC