Today I’m turning thirty.

Perhaps I should have deep and introspective thoughts on this new decade. Perhaps I’ll save those thoughts for the next decade. These days there isn’t much time for introspective thought. I’m fine with that.

Age isn’t something I think about often. It seems subjective to me. Somedays I feel I’m already firmly planted in my 30’s. Somedays I forget I’ve gotten older. Somedays I feel very young indeed – fresh with insecurities that have popped back in to say hello. Although I tried to convince Dan that 30 is really the end of my 20’s (meaning I won’t be “in my 30’s” until next year), the number doesn’t make me gulp. My 20’s have been full of love and life – familiar, new and unexpected. There has been richness, sorrow, favour, aching, mourning, questioning, laughter and joy. And I expect the same fullness of life in this upcoming decade. I feel the weight of its promise and I’m thankful.

I’m turning thirty but it’s really just another day. Another day full of the people dearest to me – another day missing some of the dearest to me. Another day where love grows deeper in that always miraculous way. Another day where frustrations find thankfulness, thankfulness finds joy. Another day that I look around in wonder at how this life of mine is unfolding in so many wonderful and surprising ways. Another day in this life that is so blessed.

Thank you, friends, for sharing in some of these moments with me. Thank you for taking the time to encourage, laugh, commiserate and listen. Your presence here is one those delightfully unexpected ways my life is made richer.

So many projects on my needles this week and plans in my mind for more. We’re heading out on vacation later this week – back out to visit the west coast and Dan’s parents. Our last visit was quite the knitcation and once again I have the dilemma of which yarn, how much and which projects I want to plan for…and I haven’t even started thinking about the books I’d like to bring.

This week I’ve been working on a bookmark, fingerless mitts and an unplanned addition, a scarf for myself. The Hurricane hats I was breezing through last week kind of lost their…force. I still have the two smallest to finish. As I was warned, the bookmark is slower going than I’d expected. It looks nice but because of the linen stitch it isn’t the quick gift I’d hoped. It’s small though and very handy to carry around.

The fingerless mitts are my slightly altered version of the sucky thumb mitts in the same blue so many of you admired previously. The pattern is simple and quick but I’m feeling very nervous that my wool is not going to last. I popped into Michaels to find another skein but they’ve changed the blue they stock so I’m out of luck if I run out. I decided to leave the one I’d started and knit the second on to the same point and that way make the most of the wool…in the meantime I’m hoping it won’t be too strange to do the top ribbing in a different colour.

And the scarf for myself…well, it’s lovely. I mentioned the accompanying KAL as well as the wool I’m using here (Dan would like me to clarify that KAL stands for knit-along). I’m in love with the soft and delicate alpaca and the pattern is deliciously relaxing. I’m so looking forward to having a wool scarf for myself. I’m already dreaming about the next one.

I haven’t done much reading this week other than reading with the kids but I’ve read a little further into This Life is in Your Hands. I think it will be great once I get into it – so far my popcorn style of reading (a couple minutes here and there) has not given me that chance. Other than that I’ve been spending too much time browsing ravelry…oh the joys and sorrows of ravelry.

Oh, and that gorgeous raspberry coloured wool which jumped into my hands at the yarn store, it’s Fleece Artist Africa from Nova Scotia (shout out to the homeland!!). I’m hoping to knit it into one of these for my yellow girl. Although it is not yellow, she also approves of pink.

:::

joining Ginny for another week of yarn along

There has been plenty of canning craziness going on around these parts lately. So much so that I haven’t had a chance to write about it. Remember how eager I was when I wrote this…so much for keeping you all posted and sharing some recipes. I think there have been a few (most pleasant) distractions since Mira arrived.

Hot on the heels of cherry season came peach season. I gratefully put aside the cherry pitter and began blanching peaches. We’ve been through an almost shameful amount of peaches… I think we’ve passed two hundred pounds this season. Our freezer is packed with pies, pie filling and peach slices. Our canning shelf, and..erm.. surrounding floor, is full of peaches canned in water, peaches in light syrup, vanilla poached peaches, peach marmalade, peach pit jelly and peach salsa. Could there ever be enough peaches?

The peaches I canned in water will be pureed into baby food for Mira next year. Without the sugar they will likely suffer some discolouration but they will still be delicious (and safe) for eating. The rest of the peaches are for sharing and enjoying during the colder months when a taste of summer is just what we need to lift our spirits.

For the peaches in light syrup I made a simple syrup of 2 1/4 cups of sugar to 5 1/4 cups water. I brought this to a boil then I added blanched, peeled and quartered peaches and cooked them for a few minutes – enough to be warm but not mushy. Then packed them in sterilized jars and topped with the syrup. Any leftover liquid gets reduced to make a thicker peach syrup for pancakes or ice cream.

The peach pit jelly was a happy surprise this summer. I love finding a use for all the peelings and pits. I first heard it mentioned here and then read about it a bit more. The first batch I made did not set up but the second batch gelled nicely.

Pits and peel with some of the leftover canning liquid (the black specks are vanilla bean seeds) covered in water and boiled for thirty minutes. Then covered and left to sit overnight.

Here’s a peek at the lovely remains after the mixture is poured through a sieve. It smells much better than it looks.

Bringing the juice and sugar to a boil before adding the pectin.

I had to stop to admire the beautiful colour as I prepared the jelly for water bath processing.

Peach Pit Jelly

peach peelings and pits

sugar to equal juice

2 packages pectin (I used Certo Liquid Pectin)*

Place peelings and pits in a heavy pot and add enough water to cover. Bring to a boil over medium heat and boil for 30 minutes – be careful not to let it burn (Dan did not thank me for the upper arm workout he got after scrubbing burned peach peel from one of his pots…). Cover and leave overnight. Strain though a jelly strainer, cheesecloth or sieve – I wasn’t worried about truly clear jelly so I simply used a sieve. Measure the volume of your juice – I had 3 cups of juice (some water can be added if you have less than this). Follow the directions on your pectin – powdered pectin is added to juice and brought to a boil before the sugar is added, liquid pectin is added after the liquid and sugar are brought to a boil.

*Note: I attempted to reduce the sugar but it affected the gel. I first used one package of pectin but it did not gel so I followed the directions with my pectin to add another package. I suspect that if I’d stuck with an equal amount of juice and pectin I may have gotten away with a single package of pectin.

I wasn’t sure how it was going to turn out. Despite the woody smell as it was cooking it had a beautiful deep peach flavour. So great to have a jelly from something we would have otherwise tossed in the compost!

Peach season is petering out here – we picked up what will likely be our last box over the weekend. Now we are simply enjoying them fresh – and moving on to the last of the tomato canning and APPLES!

What produce are you enjoying in season?

P.S. For those of you who asked I’ve got a ketchup recipe to share later in the week!