Stolen Fruit Tastes Sweet!!

Well ... another week has gone whizzing by and I haven't really achieved very much. I've been back at work after my two week break and playing catch up ... as you always do when you have time off work! :0) However, my Beloved Geek Boy has still been on holiday and working around the house, so the chaos has continued. The funny part is ... I thought I'd escape the noise, clutter, disruption, paint fumes and warnings of "Watch Out! That paint is wet!" by being out of the house and back at work. It turns out the maintenance boys at work were scheduled to refresh the paint in our community hall ... where we have smoko and where the loo is ... so I was STILL getting those wet paint warnings!!! You'll be happy to know I avoided all wet paint and didn't end up with a skunk's white stripe on my jumpers! Tee! Hee! Hee!

So ... with very little to share with you from this week's sewing efforts, I thought I'd share another of the adventures Mum and I had together when she and Dad were visiting last week. We were out in our back yard and Mum pointed to our side fence and said, "There're a lot of oranges from your neighbour's tree hanging over your fence. We should make some jam." Hmmm ... hadn't really noticed (isn't if funny how you don't notice things right in front of your nose sometimes! Tee! Hee! Hee!) but the jam sounded like a good idea. So out came the step ladder ...

Here's Mum up the ladder saying ... "You are NOT taking a photo of me up here!!" There is no photo of me standing at the bottom of the ladder giggling as I put my phone back in my pocket! Tee! Hee! Hee! We decided Mum should go up the ladder cos I provided a larger and softer landing spot if she overbalanced! :0) After collecting all of the oranges we could reach from our side of the fence, we were ready to start jam making ...

Don't they look tasty? Do you like my fruit-filching basket? It's quite an old one that a friend of my grandparents' brought back from New Guinea for my Grandma many years ago. It's a lovely roomy and sturdy basket ... just right for raiding the neighbour's fruit tree! Tee! Hee! Hee! So ... some time spent in the kitchen with two of us chopping and chatting (OK ... maybe more chatting than chopping, but we got there in the end!!) add some sugar, a bit of water and boil in a large saucepan and ...

VOILA!! Home-made orange jam. And let me tell you it is YUMMO!!! Our recipe ... well ... we honestly didn't HAVE a recipe! :0) Our "formula" for those wanting to make a batch of orange jam was cup for cup, fruit and sugar (we used four cups of fruit and four cups of sugar) and half the amount of water (we used two cups) plus the juice of one lemon to help it all set. Pop everything into a nice big saucepan over low heat til you melt the sugar, then bring it up to a good low boil until the fruit rind has softened and the jam starts to thicken quickly when you put some on a saucer and sit it in the freezer for a few minutes ... like most jam testing.

Oh ... and in case you're worried that the Police are going to come looking for Mum and me to arrest us on fruit theft charges ... you'll be pleased to know that I rang our neighbour to confess and offer him a bottle of jam! :0) Not only did he accept the jam with thanks ... he gave me some more oranges from HIS side of the fence!  So I guess there'll be another batch of orange jam cooked up this weekend. Hmm ... I think I'll try adding some diced preserved ginger to this batch ... YUM! :0)

Has your week been a productive one on the stitching front? I'm hoping to get a bit more done over the weekend, but OPAM gals ... It's that time of the month when you need to update your sidebar finishes lists and email Sweet Peg or me with your tally of finishes. Even if you didn't have any finishes, a quick email to Sweet Peg or me to let us know would be a great help. We'll be blog-hopping in the next couple of days so stay tuned for the random prize winners.

Okey doke ... that's about it from me for today. I'm off to play Polly and put the kettle on for a cuppa to enjoy a bit of a read before bed. I'm catching up with some Angelic stitching friends tomorrow, so need a good sleep to have sufficient energy for a play date! :0) Hope your week has been fantastic and that your weekend includes some time to do something that makes you smile! :0) Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS