Vacation Day 3 and 4

Day 3
This one is easy...NOTHING.  It was the Sabbath and I kept it holy.  Okay, that may be pushing it, as I did not even get out of my PJ pants. 

Day 4
This is my official first day of vacation I guess, it is a Monday.  I can already feel that I am going to lose track of time. 

We didn't do a lot of work on the farm per se.  I cleaned out the chicken coop and lay down new straw.  I gathered three eggs today and there was another softshell on the coop floor.  I know the hens we got from Meyer Hatchery were not healthy; one-third were dead upon arrival, one-third died by the first night, and the 8 hens that did survive are as healthy as I can make them naturally, but we do only get 3, sometimes 4 eggs a day.  That is what I get from straying from McMurray Hatchery...never again.  I keep the freshly gathered eggs in an egg container that came with the refrigerator that I have labeled unwashed.  Once a week or when it becomes piled so high that there is danger in breaking eggs, I wash them and put them in cartons.  The eggs are usually very clean anyway, so I see no point in washing off their protective layer until we have to.  

Sarah and I gathered some plums and blackberries before it got too hot.  I am debating on smoothies for supper or attempting some jelly.  Quite frankly I hate to use jelly jars since that is usually what we sell our honey in.  I am, however, going to attempt to make some jalapeno jelly.  This is probably an odd jelly to be my "first time."  I don't know that for a fact, but strawberry or blackberry would definitely be more Bolin-esque.  I told the family recently, as we make this change into more self-sufficiency and homesteading, our food choices are going to have to change, and for the better.  As we were cleaning the driveway Saturday morning, we enjoyed a few blackberries from the wild bushes at the top of the driveway and even some mulberries from one of the tree branches that had to be trimmed away.  There is just something satisfying from picking it and eating it right there, isn't there.

Well, there it is, jalapeno jelly...or more like a sauce. (Used our plums instead of cranberries, which are not around this time of year.) The good thing is that when I spooned it onto a snack cracker with cream cheese and put it on a plate, Bruce did ask for seconds-a plate of seconds.  He is not one that eats sweet and sour and sauces or fruit with meat so to have him like the jelly was a wonderful surprise.   Next time, there will be more jalapenos added though for a bit more heat and, eh-hem, maybe a little added pectin or longer cooking time.  Nonetheless, I don't think it will be wasted, which is really all that matters, right?