Moving on

Laura_Elsewhere

2017 was a really good year for the wild fruit we forage round here, and I got completely carried away... eventually I counted it all up and I had made **forty-eight pounds** of assorted jams, jellies, fruit cheeses, etc... !!!

Cherryfudge

Laura_Elsewhere said:

2017 was a really good year for the wild fruit we forage round here, and I got completely carried away... eventually I counted it all up and I had made **forty-eight pounds** of assorted jams, jellies, fruit cheeses, etc... !!!

I am officially a non-starter!

Cherryfudge

Yesterday I spent the morning a the debt advice centre, which I'll call my Wednesday job. The client I was prepared for didn't turn up but that meant I had lots of time online looking through records, which has been extremely useful and shown me what to tackle next. Then we all went out for coffee which apparently happens quite regularly and is a sort of support session. They are such a lovely team, wise and funny. And I was treated to a coffee so that was nice too.

I walked home from there, bought a dog toy for J and L's dog's Christmas stocking (! ) and spent a time moseying around shops looking for a clipboard. However, clipboards seem to have gone the same way as A5 files so nothing was bought. Lunch was mid afternoon (tart apple soup) then I remembered I'd still to get my prescription and free doughnut, so that was a shorter walk. L!dl didn't have any of their cheap tinned peaches: I really hope they've not stopped doing them as the contents are about as cheap as you get nowadays (37p as opposed to over a pound) but are more generous than the other supermarkets' equivalents. 

I made a liver and bacon casserole for dinner using things from in stock, and there are three portions over. We had run out of carrots so I improvised with butterbeans and peas, and it worked out fine.

In the evening it was back to a new term at the Wednesday church group: a catch-up and mapping out our meeting dates.

I noticed the Church administrator is leaving, so I'm vaguely wondering whether to try for that job. It would fit in timing-wise with the other things I do, and would be a source of income.

Today it's raining. We have caught a mouse so DH is taking it out to release. We are currently sharing a humane mouse trap with one of his colleagues, but she got a rat in hers! They seem to favour this time of year as it gets a bit cooler outside. My jobs for the day are to do some baking, general housework and prep for the little ones on Sunday.

Watty1

oh dear!  It is pouring here and you have reminded me the rats and mice will be on their way back into the barns now so I need to think about "pest control"     I have discounted the feral cats idea I briefly considered on account of my dog and the fact that the last feral I bought home now lives indoors and is an indoor cat to protect her from the dog who chases her outside.

Cherryfudge

I wish we had a cat, @Watty1: there were generally several when I was growing up but DH gets asthma when near them so it would be impossible (I know there are hairless cats but not for me). I've sometimes thought a dog would be a good idea but we can't agree on those: DH likes little ones with hardly any hair and what to me are distorted features, and I like larger dogs with fur and who need more walks than I could guarantee. And then there's care for them when we aren't at home... Anyway I wish you luck with your autumn invasion. Can Watty Dog not be persuaded to take an interest?

Laura_Elsewhere

Cherryfudge said:

Laura_Elsewhere said:

2017 was a really good year for the wild fruit we forage round here, and I got completely carried away... eventually I counted it all up and I had made **forty-eight pounds** of assorted jams, jellies, fruit cheeses, etc... !!!

I am officially a non-starter!

Oh, it wasn't that clever an idea! I gave away quite a bit- although I hadn't learnt just how important proper labelling was and it's really quite difficult to tell from looking whether it's blackberry, elderberry, damson...! I ended up resorting to telling people it was dark-fruit flavour   

And then last year we had to be practical- what was left was set solid and the ones that hadn't been dark, like the red or yellow plum ones, had gone a murky dark colour and we just thought, nah... 

So now each year in about June I go through what we have left, and decide what to focus on this year. Sometimes we have plenty of blackberry left so I might do none or only a few jars; or we might have masses of damson but run out of greengage... 
I haven't been able to buy gooseberries at all this year which I am really sad about as for 4 or 5 years I've had lovely ones from Morrison's, but nope, it's all imported Spanish and Italian plums and no British gooseberries (or British plums!). I have local greengages from Ludlow market. 
I am determined to get a little patch of ground cleared this winter so that I can plant several gooseberry bushes. I am NOT going without my goosegogs! 

Also, I find it funny that without any consciousness of doing it, when I catalogued the jams, it turned out that I have labelled the same jam variously as gooseberry jam, goosegog jam and grosset jam (the Scots term)   

WelshmansDaughter

I've sometimes thought a dog would be a good idea but we can't agree on those: DH likes little ones with hardly any hair and what to me are distorted features, and I like larger dogs with fur and who need more walks than I could guarantee

Cockapoo

Cherryfudge

They all sounds delicious, @Laura_Elsewhere: you have chosen the very tastiest types of fruit - I love damsons in particular. 'Dark fruit' jam is a bit of an inspiration.  

Our gooseberries have been better this year than usual - possibly because I neglected them less.

WelshmansDaughter said:

Cockapoo

Interestingly, we sometimes look after our daughter's dog, who is a Cavapoo, and a real sweetie, but they have put a lot of time and care into training her, which has clearly paid off. I don't have a 'dog background' as her husband does, so I'd need to start learning from scratch. They are great dogs though - this one is a delight.

Floss

Well a pantry should have jam, my grandma kept spare candles & matches in hers, but not sure about the blankets...

Cherryfudge

Floss said:

Well a pantry should have jam, my grandma kept spare candles & matches in hers, but not sure about the blankets...

The blankets are for curling up in while eating an apple and reading a book when I should be doing my homework...