Grape Jam!!!

I figured out what to do with all the Grapes from the back yard.....

Jam Jam Jam! 

This is my first time canning Jam all by my self. It was stressful and lots of work. It smelled awesome in the kitchen. I did 7 batches in two days. I had about 40lbs of grapes to use. I think I used most of them. But after the 7th batch I was done. So I did throw away some, well I composted them so not to worry.

If you are in the area- guess what you are getting for Christmas this year!  Grape Jam!

I must say I am very proud of my self!

Here are a few steps that I took:

5lbs of Grapes

 Smash and cook down the grapes- get bottles clean and hot 

 Strain Grapes and collect the juice! 

 Add the sugar and pectin- boil for 1 minute

 Kind of scary because it foams up almost to the top of the pot

 Ladle jam into jars

 Make sure top of jars are clean

 Put lids on and hot water bath! 

 Done!  

Grapes from the yard!

Can you believe we found all these grapes in our back yard?  

Yes it is crazy!  We let the grape vines grow up in the pear tree. The pear tree has been dying for a while now. So we decided why not let the grapes grow there. It made a great trellis for them. But it was a little challenging to pick them so high up. 

Now what do we do with them? 

Jelly? Juice? Syrup? 

I am researching on You Tube for ideas. 

Do the Puyallup!

Last weekend I did the Puyallup with Andrew and his friend Mathias. 

I wondered why I had not been there for so long....now I remember. Talk about expensive. Parking, entrance, food and cost of the rides.  It was fun, but I don't think I want to spend $9 for a cheeseburger again. There was a lot of fun "people watching" that is for sure. 

 I guess they did not like this ride....they said it was boring. 

The Zipper was a favorite. No way was I getting on it.

Go Vincent

Well- I don't think Vincent will stop Longboarding any time soon.  My goal is to keep his head covered when he boards.

His friend recently wiped out in our neighborhood. He called me and told me Kallan was hurt. I wish I had taken a picture of poor Kallan when I got home. Vincent had cleaned is wounds and did not have bandaids big enough. So he used napkins and ace bandages and blue sports tape to cover up his wounds. He was pretty proud of him self. Kallans Mom came and took him to the doctor to have his head looked at. All is good- he was fine. A small concussion I think.

Vincent in action...

Senior Photo Time!

I was lucky enough to take some fun photos of a couple of cute girls last month. 

It was fun to be taking photos of girls and not of soccer. Not that I don't love soccer. But they don't wear cute cloths and smile at you. 

How fun and cute are these girls.......? Very!

Here are a few of my favorites: