Strawberry and Vanilla Jam

The last couple of weeks have been so busy that I simply have not had chance to Blog.  I have been looking after Little P and Baby H every Wednesday and Friday and I have definitely missed having my days off as that is when I usually clean my house, do my weekly shop, banking, clothes shopping and other chores.  The house has definitely been a little dustier and untidier than usual but after a blitz yesterday evening it isn't looking too bad now. 

It has certainly been challenging having the three children together but there have been a few amusing moments as well.  Nat and Little P are the same age but it is surprising how many people seem to assume the three children are mine, despite the fact that Nat is so fair he is nearly albino and the other two are black.  Of course it isn't helped by the fact that little P keeps calling me 'mummy' - after all thats what he hears Nat calling me and he clearly hasn't yet grasped my name. When asked whether they are mine I now have a wicked temptation to say yes and declare that the two boys are twins just to see the reaction.

Last weekend, when I should probably have been cleaning the house, I spent a lovely afternoon with David and Nat picking strawberries in readiness to make Strawberry and Vanilla Jam. 



The strawberries were abundant and it took no time at all to collect bucketfuls of them.  Nat managed to trip over and knock over my bowl of fruit and then he scrabbled around on the floor squashing strawberries into the ground so he wasn't terribly helpful.

We picked about 10kg of strawberries and it took me the rest of the day to cook and bottle the jam.  I made three batches which all turned out differently. 

The first batch was possibly the most successful, qthe second is more of a strawberry syrup as it is a little runny.  The third was somewhere between. 

However, I had great fun making it and most of it will probably end up being given away anyway.

Today I have been helping my mum make sandwiches and serve afternoon tea to her Red Hat ladies.  I have been on my feet all afternoon serving drinks and washing up so it is nice to finally sit down and enjoy five minutes to myself and write my first blog for July!  I'll try not to leave it so long until the next one.