Apple Butter

Sooooo I finally did some canning at my place! Yayyyy. I made apple butter and all my cans sealed properly which is quite exciting. I used Bramley apples which are very tart cooking apples so the finished product is very apple pie like. It's excellent in a cheese sandwich.

Raspberry SyrupMaking simple syrup is so easy. Fruit flavored ( Read more... )

Today I went to a "baby welcoming" at the main central public library downtown. Despite living in Vancouver about three years, I very rarely actually go downtown. Vancouver proper is kind of shaped like your right hand held palm facing you and fingertips to the left. The thumb is downtown. I live in the palm, and I pretty much never have any reason ( Read more... )

I'm feeling a strange mix of blessed, stressed, and depressed, which all rhyme and which I somehow feel ought to be spoken by a sassy southern woman in an 80s movie, like maybe Dolly Parton. "Honey, I'm blessed, stressed, and depressed ( Read more... )

I've been collecting tips to tell first time moms (or some for first time mothers of girls) and one of them is the awesomeness of sleeveless dresses. Sleeveless dresses, especially ones that fit loosely without a defined waist, are amazing, because they fit for such a long time. You can wear them in the summer over nothing, or in the winter over a ( Read more... )

I feel extra sorry for waitstaff (and other on-your-feet-all-day) jobs now, because my calves are killing me, and while I did some walking, I don't think it was that much more than typical--about 3 miles (5 km). It was the other being on my feet that made the difference I think ( Read more... )

The apple festival was a lot of fun, but quite cold, and we had a minor disappointment in that the apple tasting tent was already sold out when we got there. However, they had people doing free simple face painting, so Pippa and my SIL got matching cherries on their cheeks, which was very cute. I also bought six pounds of Bramleys, which are ( Read more... )

Last night Mary-Alice slept through the night (according to the semi-medical definition, which is to sleep from midnight to 5am). Specifically she slept from just after 11pm until about 5:45am. Unfortunately I didn't sleep all that time because I had too much milk and it hurt ( Read more... )

Soooo Thanksgiving was actually pretty great! I've discovered that the secret to not overeating at holidays is to be the host. I spent so much time popping up and down, that I basically ate a normal dinner size portion... none of that postprandial stupor ( Read more... )

So, it's Thanksgiving Eve. Sort of. See, unlike the US, where Thanksgiving is Thursday, Thanksgiving in Canada is on a Monday. But because it's on a Monday, most people don't actually celebrate it on Monday. They do the dinner on Sunday, or even on Saturday. That leaves Monday for traveling day. But some people still do celebrate it on Monday. I ( Read more... )

Ok, so the medical problem I mentioned here has been diagnosed as retained placenta. I still feel like I should somehow dance around this, as if I'm going to offend or disgust someone. Keep it a secret and not tell. I don't know WHY though. Would I be embarrassed to share on Facebook and ask for prayer if I had a wound in my foot or arm or back ( Read more... )