Thursday, January 12, 2012

Making Jam

I've been making jam this week.
There's not been much stitching going on lately -
but there's been a whole lot of gardening,
and a whole lot of bed and breakfasting,
and a little bit of jam making :)

I remembered to pick my gooseberries this year,
before they over-ripened,
and then I thought,
what should I do with them,
and I decided that it couldn't be too hard
to make
gooseberry jam.


So,
after much boiling,
('cos the recipe said
"boil til the berries turned pink"
and it seemed to take forever for them to turn pink!)
I got jam :)
It looks quite pretty,
and honestly,
it tastes fantastic !!!


This year for our New Year's Day walk,
we went flat,
instead of uphill.
We went to some beaches we had not yet explored -
Long Beach first ...


...and no walk is complete without
flowers...


...and not technically flowers,
I know,
but still so pretty ...


Then it was over the hill
to Purakanui,
which seems to be the perfect place
for a lovely wee holiday bach.
It's truly delightful :)


This is very probably
the cutest
bach you will ever see :))


... and yes,
more flowers...


... and again,
not really a flower,
more of a weed, really,
but quite beautiful all the same.


Not another flower,
but a gorgeous boy chook...
isn't he fabulous :)


So,
that's the end of our New Year's Day walking tour :)
It was a nice way to start the new year,
talking stuff over,
making plans,
and dreaming of what may be :)
Hope your year has started happily too.

Jenny

6 comments:

Leeanne said...

What a lovely feast for the eyes, such lovely photo's.
me and jam making don't go together! Long story! I'm glad things are going great for your Bed & breakfast business.

Deb said...

Happy 2012 Jenny. Wow, your jam looks beautiful. Gooseberry jam reminds me of my Nan, its so yummy. That beach has beautiful white sand, is it far from your place? And yes that bach is really cute, I just fancy staying somewhere like that at the moment.

Anonymous said...

Happy 2012! Great photos, the jam looks scrummy. We had a day trip to Purakanui and Long Beach too - love the Pilot's house - hasn't our Otago summer been fabulous.

Ali Honey said...

I love gooseberries raw when they get really ripe. never had them as jam!
What a cute batch!

Happy 2012 to You.

brandy1 said...

Happy New Year Jenny, loved your new year day journey. Ours up north was not good weather. In fact so far the weather up north is horrible, definitely not very summery, more wild spring.Guess it will improve soon and we will be complaining of the relentless still days and heat. I have been stitching-- lots. Your jam looked absolutely delectable, yum and such a pretty colour. I have to admit to not having eaten gooseberries before. Glad to hear that the B&B is busy. The beach pic looked really lovely and superb coloured sand. Shirley

Carole said...

I am right into jam making. I posted about it on my blog http://caroleschatter.blogspot.co.nz/2011/11/making-jam.html