Preserving.

I finished work today and went to the local green grocer and there I saw boxes of 'rain marked' cherries for five dollars. I had lent my bottling pan and bottles to a friend just yesterday as she wanted to bottle cherries again as her mother used to do . I was on the phone to her as quick as can be to say that the cherries were there at that price. We decided that we really couldn't go wrong with them being that cheap and I quickly bought two boxes. I went and got new rings for the bottles at Dahlsens. It gives me hope that they are so available as that means there is a demand for them.
Well I went around to my friend's place and we sorted through all the cherries. She washed and sterilised the pan and the bottles and prepared syrup, while I checked each cherry and took out those that had a mark on them but were still good enough for jam and pulled off the stems. We washed and put into the bottles the best of the fruit.



Rain marked cherries -yum!

It was such fun to be doing something so useful and it was great fun to be doing it with a friend. I was so grateful to have someone to ring and say 'look how cheap the fruit is' and she got where I was coming from and was excited too!
I was also really pleased that I had kept the old bottling outfit that I was given, along with lots and lots of bottles, probably about 18 years ago! I kept thinking that I should get rid of it over the last few years but I just couldn't bear to part with it. Now I am glad that I have it, as I don't think you can buy stove top ones anymore, only electric. That means I can use it on a gas stove or for that matter a wood stove. I bought a new thermometer and that was pretty cheap at Dahlsens. I am now busy looking in my books about preserving and conserving for recipes for various yummy things to make.
I am at my happiest when I am doing homemaking things and I often wish that I could find the best path to having enough income to live but still have plenty of time to care for things. I am an earth mother at heart but I only have one child and she doesn't live with me anymore.
So I will enjoy my cherries and share them with friends. 

It is such a warm feeling to be making things to enjoy over the coming months. I also love the fact that I am using a bottling outfit that has been really well used and is really very old. That makes me feel the connection with my elders and their wisdom. I have asked my 94 year old mother to let me know her secrets about living through the depression and I can't wait to read the letter and learn some things that will be of use to me.

Well I am off to walk the dog in between the storms I hope! I am bound to see something of interest in the park as I nearly always do. Here is a honeyeater I saw last time I took the camera with me.

I write this blog with the intent of preserving my experiences in the hope of encouraging others to also remember and preserve their own memories and/or food.