Just Plum Fun

What do you do when a friend blesses you with lots and lots of plums??????

You make plum jam, of course!






Plum Jam

3 lbs. of plums
1/2 cup water
1 T. lemon juice
8 cups sugar
1 pkg. pectin (3 oz.)

Cut plums up and remove stones. Put plums, water and lemon juice in large sauce pot and bring to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, reduce heat and simmer until fruit is tender, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, start preparing jars. Heat them in a large pot of water.

After the plums are tender, stir in sugar. Bring to a boil and continue to stir. Once it boils, reduce heat and cook until sugar is dissolved. Add pectin and boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and pour in hot jars. Process jars in a water bath for 10 minutes.




I also got in a little sewing this weekend. I made these flip flops before my machine decided to give me trouble. It's headed to the shop tomorrow for a tune up. I've been putting off it's yearly check up and now it has to go in. Hopefully they won't keep it too long, because I've got lots of ideas of things to make. If they keep it very long, I'll probably forget all the great creative things I've been planning.

Say Cheese

Have you ever tried getting that perfect picture???? Taking good pictures has never been easy for Mike and myself. We are just not very photogenic!!!! And then try to add 4 precious grandchildren in the picture and what do you get??? Chaos! You have all the people behind the camera yelling and trying to get everyone to smile. In the long run, it can really scare and confuse the kids!


Uhh, girls .... Kaylee .... Aubrey .... get your fingers out of your mouth.
And, Granna .... quit pointing that finger at the camera.



Grandpa, it will be okay, you can smile.
Granna, close that mouth.
Aubrey, it's okay, don't be scared.




Nolan, quit making faces.
Aubrey, no pulling Kaylee's hair.
Grandpa, look up.
Granna look at the camera.



Almost there. Oh, Nolan, don't pick your nose.



We're getting close.
Nolan look at the camera. Aubrey, again, no pulling hair.




Yea! This one will do! It's going to be as good as we can get.

A Few Things I've Been Working ON

For 2010, I was determined to get back to blogging, but as you can see, I haven't been doing very well. What can I say? But, I have been busy with a few things. Here's a few burp cloths and baby wipe case for my grandson, Easton, who should be here in a few weeks.

And here's a big sister shirt for Kaylee.

And a big brother shirt for Nolan and of course a little brother shirt for Easton.

A baby set for little Robert Clay.

Some little wristlets for a few friends of Jenn's.

And a kitchen towel for Mike's Aunt Jenny.

Dinner with Friends

Aren't Saturday nights great when spent with family and friends around the dinner table? We enjoyed a good dinner with friends last night and we didn't even have to bring anything. What a treat! During this busy tax season with all the added stress of work and taking care of my dad, it was nice to just relax and have someone else do the cooking. And look at what we had:





Robert fixed us sweet potatoes chips to munch on while he prepared the food.





We had roasted broccoli and brussel sprouts,






corn on the cob and new potatoes,



bacon wrapped asparagus, grilled chicken, and T-bone steaks.





We managed to save a little room for the chocolate peanut butter cake. Sorry, no pictures of the cake. I was too busy eating to take anymore pictures. Needless to say, we were miserably full!

A Few Sewing Projects

I was so bad in updating my blog in 2009! Maybe in 2010, I'll do a little better. But look, the first month of 2010 is already nearly over and I still haven't posted anything. Not a very good start! I wish I could say it was because I was concentrating on my new diet and exercise, but that would be a lie!


So I thought I would go ahead and show a few things I made recently:




This was a set of hand towels I made for my hairdresser for Christmas. She had recently redone her shop with pink walls and black fluer de lis, so I thought these would go great with her decor.





And here is an apron I made for the dog groomer. She treats Snickers really good!



A burp cloth and baby wipes case for a new little daughter of a man at work.



And a few more things for my new little granddaughter. Wish I had more time to sew for her!!!!!



A Christmas pillowcase dress I made for my oldest granddaughter. Isn't she a cutie!




A few "I spy" bags I made for the grands to take on their long flight to Alaska. And another one for the son of a co-worker. These actually turned out pretty good and keeps the children occupied in church, too. I may have to make a few more of these.






And a little pillow I made for Aubrey's room. I'm going to make one of the other grandchildren, too.