Ever busy

Wanted to share a couple of pictures today. 

How 'bout them apples?

Looks like I'm going to be busy, huh?

Except they're crabapples

And, there are only four cups.  But, that is a new record for me.  I've never had enough to make more than a half jar of jelly so far, so getting 4 pints this year is very exciting.  My trees started as two sticks and I almost lost one a couple of years ago.  But, they've pulled through and I keep them very well maintained.  The arborist that works on our trees told me that crabapples don't like our soil and I should cut them down and put in something else, but I don't plan to do that. 

Crabapple is one of my favorite jellies.  These little apples are as tart and bitter as they can be.  Even the birds won't eat them until they are overripe.  But, boiled down for their juice and with a lot of sugar added, they make some of my favorite jelly.  I took care of all that last night and froze the juice and will make the jelly as soon as I can find a few hours to boil this small batch of jelly.  It's not enough for a pectin package, so I use the old fashioned method that my great grandmother described as "we boiled it for hours and finally, after the whole house was damp, it would get thick and we'd put it in the jars." 

I'm sharing a picture of my backpack because I am not planning to do anything to counter the fact that the zipper pulls look humongous.  Not so much in this picture because my camera can't handle this much red, but they're huge and stick out.  But, it's going to work perfect for what I wanted and it's heavy and sturdy

I want to take it for a test drive, but it won't hold all the junk I needed to haul to the office today, so there it sits, waiting for a low baggage day. 

Now, I need to cut one for Rob, who wants his to be denim blue.  I picked up the zippers (yes, the same kind) and other hardware the other day.  His won't need a lining, so I am hopeful that it will be easier. 

I heard from the quilt shop yesterday.  Looks like I'll be teaching quilting in July and maybe some other classes starting in August.  I've suggested drafting and piecing a mariner's compass, using Judy Neimeyer's method and hand piecing and hand quilting classes.  They seemed excited.  Who knows, maybe I could make some vacation and stash money at this. 

Okay, so that's it for me today.  All is back in alignment at home.  Real people are living. 

I don't know where I picked up "real people" from, but I've been using it for a while in things like calling the family to dinner..."real people are eating". 

Another eccentricity...I guess I'm trying to collect the whole set.

Lane