I was in a Jam

 Actually it was about 10 batches of Apricot jam.
 
My whole jam making life I have been frustrated with Pectin.  Pectin and runny jam.
Most Pectin directions would say  "Reducing Sugar will result in FAILURE." Then they proceeded to call for more sugar than fruit.   I couldn't do it.  I couldn't make jam with more sugar than fruit ...so I always settled for failure.  My jam always tasted good...it was just pourable.  I tried the low or no sugar pectins. Same results.
Runny jam failure.
 Last fall I found this bulk package of Pectin at Palmer Wholesale.
Yeah...It is a wholesale business.   There are perks to being a relative

 
 I love it!

I made super low sugar jam (8 cups fruit/3 cups sugar)  It Set!
I made NO sugar jam (use 100% juice concentrate to sweeten).  It Set!
I made a combination of the two (8 cups fruit/ 2 cups juice concentrate/ 1 cup sugar)  It Set!!!!

And every batch tasted great... of course, depending on how sweet you like your jam.
Did I say I LOVE this stuff.  I think it's kind of spendy...I haven't taken the time to figure out the cost per batch.  I probably won't.  But at the the next Sibling Reunion I'm buying another bag.  It keeps FOREVER.

This should be a paid endorsement...but it's not.  
So if I've sold you on the stuff...and yer' not a relative.   You can get it at the Mending Shed.    Mention my name and tell em' they need to pay me for advertising for 'em.   And Hollie will laugh.   But don't take it personal... Hollie is always laughin'

Fishing Derby

We started our Saturday morning  with Karl's band playing at the 

Fishing Derby at Floyd Lamb State Park.

 

 

When they weren't cooking pancakes the scouts were lawn fishing.

This little girl hooked the BIGGEST fish prize.

 

No city event is complete without a Fire Truck.

Exploring the Historic Floyd Lamb Park

And  I FINALLY got all my "Ducks in a Row."

Snippets of our Weekend

 The Apricots

 

 The apricots are getting ripe. 

 The birds are having a feast and Karl is having a fit.

It's all I can do to keep him from pick them all at once

...ripe or not. 

Early Sunday morning (the ox was in the mire

...or the birds were in the tree)

we did a quick batch of jam and froze some puree for smoothies

 

 .

.

This next week we'll be doing everything "Apricot".

The Hair Cut

 My hair clipper must be old, dull and tired.

They have always had trouble cutting Jake's thick hair.

Last night they rebelled...

and started cutting stripes...cool.

Twenty years ago the kids would have loved it. 

 Jake wasn't so thrilled.

It must be time for new clippers.

Just an Observation

 One of our regular visitors might be getting  a little OCD with the Jelly Beans

Summer Kick-off

 To kick off summer Steph and I started our day with a trip to Savers.  50% off everything.  Our goal was to search for dresses that could be re-fashioned in to Princess dresses.  No luck there but we did manage to find a few treasures including a stack of children's books...that weren't included in the 50% off. 

 But they never are.

Then we headed up Mt. Charleston for our first hike of the year and Ethnie's very first hiking experience.

She did great.  Slept all the way up. 
Chattered and cooed all the way back.

'

 Perfect day for hiking.

Oh you're thinking...where are the men folk?

Jake was studying for the CFA.  

Karl was hanging out at Guitar Center and Harbor Freight.

After a brief soaking of the feet in the pool,

 due to a lack of time to get all the way in,

 we took Jake out for his Graduation dinner.   

Thai food  

(We enjoy our traditional Grilled Hamburgers on Sunday) 

at PinKaow. 

 Love that place...everything was so good.

Jake finishing off the last of the sweet and sour pork.  

Note the three plates stacked up.  

He finished off several of the dishes.  

 We were all stuffed 

but managed to find our way to a nearby Yogurtland 

to satisfy our sweet cravings.

.

 Ethnie was really interested in what was in those cups.

Well the spoons were good.

 It was a wonderful Memorial Day...hope yours was perfect too.

Saturday with Grampa & Gramma

Jammin' with Grampa

One is never too young to start learning and loving Bluegrass.

Working on some skills with Gramma.

Look Ethnie...do this.  "Blehhhh"

Ohhh....

Such a smartie

!'

It's so nice to have nice to have Grandparents close  by

so they can help teach and influence the children.

Great Gramma Palmer

'

This is how I felt when I had to take my mom to the airport this morning.

I miss will her.

We had a good time together...just  being together.

We didn't do a lot this visit...we just moved slower.

She always brings articles to share with me.

It's hard to see how much she has aged in the past year

...but I'm sure she had the same thoughts about me.

 

We went walking most mornings

...some mornings we even  made it a mile!  

 But now I felt a little more confident/steady

 if I held on to her arm.

Occasionally she gets a little disoriented or confused.  

 But I'm use to it...I do it all the time.

She was very prompt about writing in her journal.  

 If she wasn't she'd have to ask me what we did/when

...and I couldn't remember.

It takes her longer to do her floor exercise 

because she usually falls asleep doing them.

This picture is from last years visit...when she was 88.

She likes me to cut her hair when we get together.

 

We enjoyed a couple visits with my brother, Lorin.

She really enjoy "Lil' Snookums"

...her name for Ethnie.

 With her quick wit and her sunglasses she reminds me of "Maxine"

without the crabby.

  .

At 89 years...she is still amazing.