canning apple jelly

It has been two years since I was able to pick, cook, and can apples for jelly. For all the jams/jellies I make, apple jelly takes the most time and makes the most mess in my kitchen.





Yet the reward for me is how my favorite jelly always takes me back to my childhood, and memories of my Grandmother. So to me, the work, the mess . . . it's priceless.

Today's Knitting ::

Today, I've been doing a little knitting in the round. It's so satisfying and almost mindless, just one stitch over and over. I can pick it up work a few stitches or a few rounds, put it down for later.

This hat will be for Jonmichael. I've been holding on to this pattern for awhile - its a London Beanie. I knitted up a rolled brim hat this summer for him, but I thought it looked better and fit better on Elise! Lena put in her request too for a scarf, so once my scarf is finished, I'll need to find a pattern for her, then on to something for Rosemary!

apple picking ::

Last weekend, we ventured to our local apple orchard for our annual Elliott family apple gathering adventure. It was a different year for us. We decided to pick Golden Delicious first, and quickly realized that the only way to take any of these home was to pick very selectively the good ones . . . from the ground! The trees were empty!

We walked to another section of the orchard, there were apples, but way up high. So we were given a nice long branch from another family and knocked down apples from the trees, catching them as they rolled down the hill into a lower row. Then we inherited an apple picker - nice long pole with prongs and a bag at the end. In all the years we've gone apple picking at this orchard, we have never had to use an apple picker. But slowly but surely we filled up our basket a couple of times before we trekked off to buy apple donuts, one of the many highlights of our trip to the orchard that we look forward to each year.

Going apple picking has been our family tradition since Jonmichael was a baby. I still remember taking him to the orchard just weeks old in my sling, as I did Lena too since they were both late September babies. This was Rosemary’s first apple picking trip, so for me it's like looking through a baby book full of memories of trips past and how much the kids have grown since having our first in 2001.

We'll be back next year for sure - looking forward to more surprises and another great year to look back on!

This Moment ::

Inspired by Soulemama's {This Moment}

{this moment} - a friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from my week. A want to pause and savor this moment.

scarves on my mind

Here lately, I've thinking a lot about making scarves, what patterns to choose from, which yarns would be perfect for scarf knitting. Maybe it has something to do with the vast weather change we had last week, finally some nice cool/cold mornings, I love the first brisk fall mornings of the season. Last week I found the perfect pattern and perfect yarn, but something led me to search a little further for a little out of the ordinary wool knitted scarf.

And this is what I came up with. I had some leftover Anna Maria Horner fat quarters leftover from this project and this project. I love how her fabric can be used for so many projects. We have a dear family friend who is turning 7 next week and this will be her gift, her very own scarf, I think she’ll love it.

This scarf is sized 4 x 40. I pieced the scarf and sandwiched the two sides between a layer of flannel for stability and warmth. I sewed it together with flannel piece on bottom, then two sides with right sides facing, sewn all around except for about 3 inches where the scarf would be worn at the back of the neck, turned it right side out and hand stitched the opening.

I will definitely will be making more of these, one for sure in an adult size!

columbus day tournament

Our son was in a soccer tournament this weekend. In between games, we picnic'd/tailgated with some of the other families and I too stole away some knitting time while the baby slept. There was this wonderful breeze, and the background rour was so peaceful, kinda reminded me of the beach, ahh the beach. It was a spectacular day.

weekending ~

I hope you have a fun, happy, and peaceful weekend!

this moment ::

Inspired by Soulemama's {This Moment}

{this moment} - a friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from my week. A want to pause and savor this moment.

Have a great weekend!

this moment ::

Inspired by Soulemama's {This Moment}

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{I know . . .no words . . . but this will need some explaining.} The past two days I have found Rosemary under: a child’s chair, coffee table, end table and behind a this blue/white sitting chair. She is on the move, but not crawling yet. I call it breakdancing, going from a sitting position to knees position all across the room or just backing up under anything she can, it’s quite comical.

Have a great weekend!

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