I stayed with my daughter for a few days, helping with her new baby. I’d forgotten how exhausting being on call around the clock with a newborn can be. It was good to be a mommy again, fixing healthy meals for my daughter and pampering her a little. Keeping her company at 3 am in a cozy nursery while she fed the baby was special and kind of emotional. Lots of memories from when she was little and hopes and dreams for our new little girl.
I came home to bring my youngest back to college. She’s all settled in and I’m catching up here.
The last of the beans, cucumbers and red peppers are picked. I made a couple more batches of pickles and dilly beans. Everything that was left, I fermented together and added garlic, onions and fennel seeds. Since my tomato crop is so sad this year, I won’t be pulling out my food mill any time soon. Any extra tomatoes I have this year, I’m just coring and freezing whole…..I learned this from my blogger friend from New Gardener Blues last year. It’s a good tip… so quick and easy.
The blackberry crop is wonderful. I made a batch of jam and have lots of blackberries in the freezer with still more to pick on the bushes. The second flush of raspberries looks good too.
The mornings are cold and the very first leaves are starting to turn. There’s still lots of cabbage and kale in the garden. The pears are knobby but I’ll put them to good use and I might even get a few peaches.
It’s good cleaning weather. Now that everyone is gone again, I’m starting the fall cleaning and organizing. That includes tackling the attic. There’s lots of good coats and things to donate up there, before the weather gets really cold.
I have jars of blackberry jam very similar to yours, only I made jam last May. 🙂 I use the reduced sugar recipe. Glad you had such an enjoyable time with your daughter.
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Thanks, Judy! I’ve seen the reduced sugar types. Are they delicious?
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There’s still a lot of sugar; 4 cups of sugar to 5 cups of crushed blackberries, but it’s several cups less than the full sugar recipe. (Going by memory on this. 🙄 ) I’ve found the reduced sugar Sure Gel to be better because the flavor of the fruit is enhanced rather than sugarcoated.
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Hey Judy, hate to jump in but my hubby is diabetic and I found the BEST way to make low sugar jam. I use Pomona Pectin and I only have to add a cup to 1 1/2 cups of sugar to a batch. I make sour cherry, blueberry and blackberry and they all jell beautifully. Pomona Pectin is owned by a mother/daughter and now the daughter’s husband….a lovely and small company. Just thought I would share.
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That’s something I need to try. I love that it’s a small business and that’s a big difference in the amount of sugar!
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I’ve never seen Pomona Pectin. I’ll look for it. The Low Sugar Sure Gel does have a recipe for using sugar substitute.
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I’m disappointed in my blackberry jam this year. I just tasted it and it’s definitely not great. Annoying
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Bummer.
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Productivity in the air, Congrats all round
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oh yes! Same to you…a new little grandaughter! Very exciting.
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🙂 Thanks, Cynthia
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Yes, yes! Congratulations to your daughter and her darling baby. Love blackberry jam! Yours looks divine.
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Thanks, Laurie! Blackberries are my favorite
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Congratulations! I’ll bet you’re a fantastic Grandmother.🌹
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Aww, thank you! I’m hoping she has a green little thumb and likes vintage tea parties. Okay if she doesn’t, of course..
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Those 3 am feedings are something, aren’t they? When I was nursing my firstborn, there was always a cardinal singing – in the black of night. So lovely that you could share that with your daughter.
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That’s funny, I didn’t know birds sang at night. Maybe she was up feeding her babies too:)
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Congrats, so lovely you could get some special time together and help your daughter. x
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Thanks, Sharon!
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How lovely spending time with the new family 🙂 It’s a great tip on coring the tomatoes. I’ll be using that one for sure!
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The tomato thing is so easy and obvious. I don’t know why I never thought of it myself!
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I really enjoyed this. I have loved similar times with my daughters as they became Mums, so very special. Love the news of your berries etc too. Lifted my spirits tonight, thank you . 🙂
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Thank you. It is so special. I love your posts with your little grands. How wonderful that they were all together this summer! Some things stay with you forever.
Here’s wishing you a speedy healing and a perfect recovery with your new hip. I have a feeling you”ll be chasing after those little ones again in no time.
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Thank you for this lovely positive comment. Recovery is much harder this time and your comments have lifted my spirits. 🙂
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Ugh… I am sorry you’re dealing with that right now. Physical, emotional and mental trauma… that can be so overwhelming. I give you a lot of credit. It takes courage to commit to a surgery, recovery and rehab like that, especially when it’s the second one. For sure you’ll win this battle but it’s nowhere near easy.
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What a wonderful life. Waste not; want not. There’s so much to learn from you. Your daughters and granddaughter are fortunate to be brought up with your values.
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Thanks so much, Mary!
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How wonderful for you and your daughter to spent such precious time together is the special first weeks with her brand new daugther. How wonderful for her to have wise mom around.
And than back to your garden and harvest…it look wonderful and jummy. I do not have a veggie garden anymore but i love to look at photos like these;0)
xo Johanna
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Thanks, Johanna. In no time at all, this will be you, lol. I wonder since you had all boys, if your first grandbaby will be a boy too. I was thrilled to have another girl. Then again, I bet it doesn’t matter either way.
Hope your neck problem clears up quickly. Mine is giving me trouble too…sooo aggravating
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Touching to read about your daughter and her newborn.
Something must be in the air as I am about to embark on a cleaning fest 😉
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Fall is in the air!!! Like it or not… Oh noooo
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Well, September is generally a lovely month here. Not least, I’ve got two weeks off work 🙂
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It’s lovely here too. It definitely means the end of summer though. My daughter is a teacher… You are too, right? She starts back for the year on Monday
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Yes, I’m a teacher but I’ve teaching throughout the summer. In two weeks I’ll be on holiday for two weeks – can’t wait 🙂
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We have been freezing and jamming a lot as well, our blackberries are just about ready to pick – my favourite jam of all time is Blackberry Crabapple – all courtesy of our local ditches!!!
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That sounds delicious!! I’ve never heard of it or tried it.
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All the comments about making jelly with lower sugar and the pectin are interesting and I’ve made a note of the name. Everyone in northern Illinois is saying it was a terrible year for tomatoes, but it is the best year I’ve ever had. I watered them everyday and that may be why. All your canning endeavors look beautiful. I love the feeling of having completed canning jars on the shelves; it is the same feeling I use to have when the wood was split and stacked before winter set in.
Ginene
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Congrats on your Grandchild. Grandchildren are such wonderful gifts to us. My tomatoes were a bust too.
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