Making jam

I've never made homemade jelly or jam but when my daughter had blackberries that she didn't want I thought now would be a good time to try. I decided to try freezer (no cook) jam. It was really very easy.

Things were going well after I mashed up all the berries until I dropped the masher and it fell on the dog and splattered all over everything!

The ingredients were only blackberries, Sure Jell, sugar and water. But since my little jars didn't have lids I had to seal them with wax.

The only part of the jelly making that required cooking was disolving the sugar into the pectin. It almost boiled over a couple of times.



Here's the finished product. It had to sit for 24 hours and then go into the freezer. I only wanted small jars so we could try it and not waste it if we didn't like it. I'm pretty pleased with the way it came out. I hope it tastes good too.

A New Computer!

After spending some time looking at the ads and comparing prices, we bought a new computer! It's a really nice HP and has some features that I really like. I wanted a web cam and this one has one. And I wanted it to burn DVD's and CD's. My old computer used to do that, but that feature broke some time ago. I had hundreds of photos on my old computer that I wanted to get off and now I can organize all my digital pictures. It makes me feel better to have all the photos organized and categorized. I hate clutter, even on my computer.

What a week!

Well, the cold that has lasted for at least four weeks, is finally getting better. Of course two kinds of antibiotics might have helped. There are some side effects though - three naps in one day! Maybe that's why the cold is better.

And my mom is home from the hospital. She went in last Friday with chest pains that turned out to be congestive heart failure. She's feeling much better now - well as better as an 86 year old woman with a lot of health problems can feel.

Christmas is over!

The last of the Christmas ornaments are put away and the house is clean again! But I just don't understand how I just put it all away and what are they showing in the stores already? Valentine's Day! I'm not ready for that! It is just one holiday blending into another? I don't decorate for Valentine's Day. Maybe if my kids were little or the grandkids were here all the time, but any Valentine's Day decor would be lost on my husband!