Jam, Jam, Jam

What could be more pleasant than going out on a beautiful September morning and picking blackberries and turning them into jam?  Janet says even more beautiful is if your friends go pick the blackberries and then give you a whole bunch!

Karen and Ken have a special spot they go to every year to pick blackberries.  They are obviously more seasoned than Janet and Phil who picked blackberries last summer for the first time and looked like WW II casualties when they were finished.

Janet walked over to their house and collected the berries they were kind enough to give her.  While Janet was really happy about the berries, she was somewhat mystified about their berry picking "system" that consists of a bucket with some type of a "rustic" type strap crafted out of duct tape.  Very interesting!

On the bright side, the strap matches the bucket!

Janet gently tucked the "strap" inside the bucket to carry the berries home.  And, look:

Delicious jam!  Janet says she is going to give Karen and Ken some.  She was able to make 18 jars from the berries they gave her.

When we had the block BBQ, Janet cooked 20 cobs of corn that Phil had gone to Silver Rill Farm to buy.  They were quite surprised that not that much corn was eaten, so Janet made Corn Fritters.

They had them with Chili Mayo dip.

And...no more trips to the grocery store.  Further bounty from our "Loser" Victory Garden.  Check it out!

Janet went to her Volunteer Reception job this morning.  The good news is that Janet no longer goes into near cardiac arrest every time the phone rings and she has mastered the skill of folding tax deduction donation receipts into envelopes.  It often boggles our mind that Janet actually had a job where they gave her a pay cheque every two weeks.

Janet is in a huge hurry, so Noodles, being Noodles, ruffles up the bed after she made it.  Bad, bad Noodles!

Do you believe this thing?  This is the ducky Noodles had her knickers in a knot when Beau was inside the house and playing with it.