Plum Jam with Mom

I haven't made jelly with my mom since I was in middle school. One year I entered her famous Wild Mustang Grape Jelly in the homemaking division of our county livestock show. We picked the grapes that were growing wild in some trees on our family land along the Nueces River. I remember it being hard work...picking, washing, culling, cooking, straining, cooking some more...but the reward was great...some awesome tasting jelly and a blue ribbon at the county show! Looking back, the biggest reward was the time spent with Mom in the kitchen learning about canning and the beauty of making something yourself from scratch. I was too young at the time to appreciate it, but I sure do now!

Recently, I had the treat of canning with Mom once again. A family friend, Michele, very generously shared some of the Methley plums she had growing like crazy on her ranch in Doss, Texas. This variety of plum grows great in the Hill Country and it is small enough to pop into your mouth whole. They are sweet and juicy as can be on the inside with slightly tart flesh. It is a favorite in these parts and I intend to plant at least five trees next year. They are amazing! I washed and culled, Mom squished out the juice, and away we went canning into the night! We made some beautiful and delicious plum jam and got to spend some good quality time together...just the two of us!

Sorting plums and reading one of my favorite blogs for canning...Tigress in a Jam. She has a great "Canning 101" page that I refer to often.

Sterilizing jars and lids in boiling water.

The beautiful plum juice with lots of yummy pulp squeezed out by Mom's hands.

Adding 8 cups of sugar and one box of powdered fruit pectin called Sure Jell.

You just can't go wrong with good old tried and true Sure Jell. Well...that's actually not true. You can and will go wrong if you do not follow the directions exactly. It also helps to say a big prayer that all of the fruit you picked/bought and all the prep you did doesn't go to waste.

Stir, stir, stir constantly.

Bring to a rolling boil that you cannot stir down and time for one minute.

Remove hot jars from water and set on wooden cutting board covered with wax paper in case of spills. Fill hot jars with fruit mixture using ladle and funnel to keep rim of jars clean. Only fill to 1/2" from top of jar. Wipe rims clean with damp cloth if necessary. Quickly put on hot seals and tighten rings onto jars. Place jars back into water and bring to a gentle boil. Process (boil) for 10 minutes and remove. Let jars sit for at least 24 hours. You will immediately begin to hear popping sounds. These are the jars sealing! After a few hours, test the seals by pressing down with your finger on the top of each seal. If the seal pops in and out, refrigerate the contents of that jar immediately. If the seal does not move, you are in business. Store your jam in a cool, dark place and enjoy. In my opinion, jam is best after it sits for about a week. Make or purchase some cute labels and give as gifts or eat it all yourself! Bask in the glory of knowing you created something with your own two hands.

Our little helper, Emerson, overseeing our project and eating all the plums she can get her hands on!

Quilting

I recently visited one of my favorite quilting stores with my friend, Serena, who is an amazing quilter. She also happens to be an amazing person and she is teaching me how to quilt. What a gift. Quilting is a timeless craft that, once learned, lasts a lifetime. Each quilt takes hours (days) to make and the thought and love that goes into designing it is played out in every fabric and stitch. Quilts are made to be treasured not just for their individual beauty, but for the stories they tell. Coveted by families, quilts are passed down from generation to generation and truly are a looking glass into our heritage. I have always wanted to make a quilt and intend to make one for each one of my children to give to them when they get married. This may be a lofty goal, but I like to dream BIG!
I am starting with coordinating twin sized Cowboy/Cowgirl quilts for a shared room for Harrison and Emerson. The fabric we found at Creations is perfect! I have purchased my fabric and the next step is to wash, dry, and iron. Once I get this done, I can begin cutting out my squares. I already have a second project waiting in the wings. My Grandmother gave me the fabric and pattern for a quilt she started for my daughter. Her recent medical issues are keeping her from completing it and she asked me if I would finish it for her. It is going to be precious and something for Emerson to treasure forever. I will keep you posted as my projects progress!
These are some pictures I snapped while in Creations which is in Kerrville, Texas. I highly recommend you check it out if you are ever in this neck of the woods! The people there are so nice and the store flows flawlessly. Their fabric is displayed with perfection that makes me smile the instant I walk in the door. They really have it going on!

This is the line of fabric I'm going to use for the kid's Cowboy/Cowgirl quilts. It's called Rawhide by Moda.

Friendly faces ready to help!

Seed Heaven

Wow!  What can I say...I'm in love.  Today was the day for purchasing seed for the garden.   My Mom and I loaded the kids into the car and drove over to Fredericksburg.   First we had a late lunch at Clear River Bakery, which is one of my favorite spots on Main Street.  I highly recommend the pimento cheese sandwich!  Next, we made our way to the Wildseed Farm where I found all of the cut flower and wild flower seed I need for the garden.  It's a great place, but very touristy.  We were hoping they already had their live butterfly exhibit, but we were four days early:(  Harrison was disappointed, but found comfort in a popsicle.  

I stopped at a feed store to pick up some organic feed for my chickens and stumbled upon a real treasure!  I walked into the front door of Woerner Warehouse and immediately got VERY excited.  Make that giddy.  I'm pretty sure I was skipping as I passed through the second door that opens up into the farm store.  I am in love with this place!  I busted out my camera and began shooting away.  

 

This is their bulk seed display.  It makes me so happy.  Someone really knows what they're doing here!

All of these old seed cans and jars are full of seed.  You just pour what you need into the little old scale, label your envelope, and pour.  It was extra work, but boy was it worth it.  The joy it gave me to choose and weigh each seed will surely make me love each little plant they become even more.  It was a labor of love.  (And there WAS the awesome teenager who helped me along!)  

These old bins made the perfect display for the seeds and stored all of the seed envelops nicely.  I love the color!

I wish I would have asked how long the scale and seed canisters have been around.  Some of their labels were so old I couldn't read them.  I didn't care.  I love their character.

Sister perched on Grandma's hip!

This is their planting calendar according to the moon.  

Chicken chart!  They are currently taking orders for chicks.  I managed to resist!

Silly Willy!  What a great day.  Accomplished everything on my list today and loved every minute of it.  I'm a very lucky girl!

Saving Crawly

Another day, another adventure!  Today I am proud to say that we saved the lives of 7, yes SEVEN crawfish!  We spotted them in the seafood section of HEB and couldn't resist.  Harrison was hilarious hiding behind total strangers as I held one up and said, "Don't eat meeeee...aaaaahhhh!"  Everyone around the vat of googly-eyed and very aggressive little morsels came alive.  Grown men were sneaking up and goosing elderly strangers who were eyeballing the hundreds of red pinchers just begging for someone to get close enough.  It was a hoot!  I grabbed the tongs and filled a little bag with some and tossed them, writhing, into the cart.  Harrison was beside himself.  "What are we gonna do with them, Mom?" I can't lie, I was really planning to take them home and boil them up for an experimental sauce to go with the salmon we were having for dinner.  There is one I really like at Pappadeaux that I have been wanting to try to recreate.  Then when I saw the look on Harrison's face as I explained to him how we were going to cook them, I just couldn't go through with it.  And I am no bleeding heart liberal.  I can look a deer right in the eye and see venison as I'm pulling the trigger.  But putting a live crawfish into a pot of boiling water...I couldn't stand it!  I had already bagged the little mud bugs and was heading to the check out when I came up with my plan to liberate them from the fate they would surely face if I didn't go through with the purchase.  The check out girl was horrified and wouldn't even touch the bag.  It was great!

Here they are, the lucky seven, digging into their new home in the creek near our house.  Better than a boiling pot, wouldn't you say?

I love this picture of Harrison.  It truly captures who he is right now...confident, free, and on a big adventure called LIFE.  Man, I like this little boy!

                                         

This is the one Harrison named Crawly.  Who could resist those eyes?  I think that look is him telling us thank you.  Thank YOU, Crawly, for letting us practice a little kindness on you today!

Chicken's New Digs

Well, we finally made it to the ranch at 8:45 this evening. The chickens ended up having to stay an extra night in our garage because Emerson has had a high fever and needed to see the doctor before we could leave town.  Sounds like she has a virus and it probably has nothing to do with the tubes she just got in her ears.  I hope that is really the case. 

The transfer from the raccoon trap to the cardboard box was seriously tricky.  If Dominica, our housekeeper, who now is also fondly known to me as Dominica the Great Chicken Wrangler, had not have been at our house to help me, Louise, Henrietta, and Clucky would have had to fly to Hunt in the raccoon trap strapped to the roof of my Suburban.  Luckily Dominica is lightening fast and sly as a fox.  I basically dumped them toward her and she snatched them out and stuck them into the box.  Emerson was sitting in her stroller and Harrison was keeping an eye on the lid of the box to make sure no one escaped.  Well...Clucky made a break for it between the trap and the box and flew right over our heads around my garage!  Emerson and Harrison were freaked out, screaming, running, panicked...I was laughing hard and trying to unstrap Em from the stroller so Clucky didn't perch on her head, scarring her for life.  Dominica on the other hand was as cool as a cucumber.  She had Clucky caught and in the box in seconds.  She's good.  Makes me wonder if maybe she, too, has chickens in her garage.  Something to think about.  

Anyway, our sweet hens made the six hour drive with no problems!  Louise even laid an egg in the cardboard box we transported them in.  Good thing she did since I didn't want to add another hour onto our trip by going to the grocery store when I got into town and Harrison was STARVING when we got home later that night.  I was able to cook up Miss Louise's egg for a great late night snack.  He said it was the best egg he ever had!   He really digs this chicken thing.  Here he is below in the chicken coop waiting for me to free the girls from their box.  We put some hay in each of their boxes and filled their feeder and waterer and then set them free.  You'll notice there are no pics of Emerson below.  That's because every one I had of her looked so sad.  She didn't feel good at all, but still managed to squeak out a "chick, chick, chick" every now and then.  Poor, sweet baby girl:(

Harrison and Emerson's pretty head

The nesting boxes Lynda gave us are perfect.

Henrietta

Louise protecting Harrison's late night snack.

Clucky

Harrison, the proud little chicken man wishing the girls a good first night in their new home!  

Scratching around in the sand, eating,  and checking out their new digs!      

Chicken Louise Lays an Egg

We got a BIG surprise today after lunch.  Dylan came running into the house squealing, "Lisa, I think they laid an egg!" We ran outside and sure enough, we had our first egg!  It is big and white and sure to be really tasty.  We named our white, egg laying girl, Louise.  Louise the white Leghorn chicken! 

This is what it's all about!  Turns out that Harrison is a great pet owner.  He is very protective and attentive of his chickys.  He named the black one, Clucky.  Em broke and ran to make it out the door when Harrison would go out to check on them.  She finds them very funny and wants to pet them really bad.  Poor baby had fever all day today, so we delayed our trip so she can see her doctor tomorrow.  I think her ears, which just got tubes, are infected:(  She felt terrible all day, but the chickens cheered her up!

Loiuse stands guard over her perfect egg.

It was such a beautiful afternoon, we took the girls out for some sunshine and tender, green winter grass.

They were very happy and hungry.  We now have Louise the white Leghorn, Clucky the black Austrolorp, and Henrietta the Rhode Island Red AND an egg to eat for breakfast in the morning!  Great day!

I Dreamed of Chickens

I dreamed about chickens last night!  I was so excited I guess they're all I could think about.  I dreamed that I picked up my sweet chickens and got them settled into their new home and when I returned to check on them, they had multiplied by 30!  I was covered in a sea of chickens and I was totally okay with it!  

This is the Crossroads Feed Store where my mother-in-law's friend, Rachel, had three young hens waiting for me to pick them up.  It was raining and very messy today.  Not knowing exactly what to expect when I went inside, I put on my rubber boots and declared it "Chicken Day" (in my head)!  

This is how I found them.  One white Leghorn hen, the matron of the bunch, who is already laying eggs, and two young pullets who are close to beginning to lay...one black Astrolorp, and one Rhode Island Red...I think.  Exactly what I asked for!

The cardboard box they gave me to transport them in and the feeder and waterer my mother-in-law gave me.

I had them in the back of the car when I picked up Harrison from school.  He was so excited!  Here he is doing a little chicken dance to celebrate.

Harrison scooped out some feed for his first pets.

I just knew they were going to jump out and claw my eyes out as soon as I opened the box.  It's been so long since I handled chickens, I REALLY had to psyche myself up.

Pretty Sissy eating a cheese stick and watching intently.

I didn't know she was the boss at the time, but I am glad I took her out first, since she is obviously the leader.  They were amazingly calm and still in the box.  I was very relieved!

Into the temporary pen they'll stay in until we make the trip to the hill country tomorrow.  It's a live trap...the kind of thing you'd use to catch a raccoon that's raiding your garbage.  As I am writing this, I am wondering how on Earth I'm going to get them out of this thing.  Guess I should have considered that before I put them in, huh?

One in successfully!

Two!

And three!  She is a sweetheart.  Both of my kids walked right up and pet her without hesitation.  I was glad to see them so excited about having a pet.  Glance into the future:  Mr. Field, what was your first pet?

All settled in with food and water.  I have chickens in my garage!  Don't tell the Homeowner's Association!

Right before bed, Harrison and Emerson went out to tell "the girls" good night.

Sister just can't get enough.  She stares at them and says, "Chick, chick, chick".

Pretty little hen.

We're working on names.  I have a hard time with names...so permanent.  Planning to leave town tomorrow.  They'll have to go back into the box to travel.  I hope they'll do okay and not get too cold out in the garage tonight.  I considered bringing them into the laundry room, but decided against it when I saw how much mess they made in five hours.  Pretty, but nasty little birds!