Accomplishments:

• Sunday 9/1           Picked plums (not ripe enough)
• Monday 9/2          Made 2 batches of jam (they taste very good)
• Tuesday 9/3          Going to my parents (not quite, drove to the VA TWICE, UGH!)
• Wednesday 9/4     Spent 6 hours lugging boxes down a flight of stairs 
• Thursday 9/5         More of the same (exhausted)
• Friday 9/6             And more!   Arranging and post prices for a garage sale.
• Saturday 9/7         Garage Sale day!  6 hours (exhausted)
• Sunday 9/8           About 3 hours to clean up, pack up for goodwill pickup, Finally!
• Monday 9/9          Pick plums, it's hot out there.  Cut up and fill dehydrator.
• Tuesday 9/10         Make a batch of jam (and bread, brown rice and quinoa)
• Wednesday 9/11    Make a batch of jam and half fill dehydrator (used them up).

So the garage sale project has been in the works for 3 years now.  A very good friend of my moms has Alzheimer's (I have know her also for about 40 years).  She was so artistic and had a very large room full of sewing, knitting, floral supplies, paints,   quilting, etc.   Junk had also found it's way in, the theory being the Alzheimer's had affected her bringing home stuff that people had pawned off.  When I first saw the room, my jaw dropped.  It was the show "Hoarders" and I wanted to quit before we even started.  That first year we only pulled out garbage or contributions.  At least 50 big black bags worth in 3 years.   The garage sale was HUGE with only a quarter of what was left in the room, filling 7 tables and in boxes on the floor of the covered parking.  I thought a lot more would go, my guess is we packed up 2/3 for charity.  Sales netted quite a bit at .50 and .75 prices.  It is now finished, what a relief.

The plums came from my sister in law, my trees did not produce this year.  I have never seen so may on one tree.  One branch that was 15 feet straight up had bent over almost the the ground.  The tree is still fully loaded. An overload of dishes!  my guys didn't do any while I was gone and the fruit production has added doubled the days work.  We don't use a dishwasher.  I am tired!

I have also started on Christmas presents!  And a afghan project started before we moved in this house (maybe 7 years ago)  It's called a crayon colored pattern, knit on the diagonal with 2 yarns.  One yarn is the same constant color and the other changes constantly!  It uses up the little leftover balls that sit around getting tangled up.

Oh my aching . . . . Everything!

This morning I made a batch of Italian plum jam, did 2 loads of laundry, cleaned the kitchen.  This afternoon my daughter's family and I helped a friend by turning her compost pile, it took two of us to move that pile over  from 2 smaller piles  (for 1 1/2 hours).  Layering and watering, that was hard work.

When I arrived home, the rest of the bowl of plums were calling to me.  So another batch of jam was made!  I like to use my meat grinder on my mixer to keep the prep time down.  Plums are my second favorite fruit for jam.  If sour cherries were available I would be in heaven because they make the best jam!  After folding the laundry all I could think about is sitting down.

My husband asks  "could you make a blackberry pie if I pick them (7 pm).  Really!  My son pipes up  "I will", he is a good son.  Especially after he spent the afternoon chopping wood.

Plans to can (jam)

from summer 2010 learning session - fun day!

Told my daughter that I would collect jelly jars for next summer.  Found 2 dozen at Goodwill for .20 each.  Gold mine!  I like the tall ones so will keep those.  It's a good start, with the one's I'll let her keep from our little jam making party last year.  There is nothing like homemade jam in the middle of winter,  I can close my eyes and 'taste' summer.  Need to find more varieties of fruit this next year.

To Do List:

Been working in the basement again.  Whenever we get to move (sooner than later, hopefully), we absolutely cannot take all this stuff with us (years of accumulated stuff).  Most of it not used.  We all need to consume less and give of ourselves more.  Anyway, we went to the dump again (3rd time recently) and working on more!  Found more for garage sale stuff.  Just need to buy some storage totes, anything in boxes seem to absorb moisture or attract bugs which then has to go the dump because of mildew.  We have had so much rain in the last 2 days, I found a second leak in the basement, in the wall of the foundation.  Not good!