Wednesday, July 22, 2020

Pickles and Jam


After thunderstorms, summer has returned. Neighbors and friends leave zucchini on my front porch but I'm not complaining. I don't plant them so I enjoy everyone else's harvest. The cucumbers are rolling in from my garden. On Monday, I made a second batch of bread and butter pickles. I cranked up the music while I sliced, diced, pickled and thought of my Mom. I learned to can by working beside her and this is the recipe she used. Her heart and her kitchen were often filled with music. My voice has aged and I can't hit the higher notes. Still high on vinegar, cucumber, spice fumes, I sang to my heart's content. Singing is good for the soul.

I finished Norah's little mitten ornament. The yarn is a little rustic but the stitches didn't unravel when they fell off a DPN. The sticky wool would wear like iron if it were knit into a pair of socks. Last night I finished the second hand of the raspberry colored mitts but didn't take any photos.


The scrappy shawl is back on my needles. Not being one to give up, I searched my stash one more time and discovered a skein of sale yarn. Who knew this shawl wanted to be blue instead of purple? Of course I had a skein of blue yarn - several in fact. This Corriedale yarn is a base different from the other scraps, but it works well. The other good news is I have knit parts of the pattern so many times I know the stitch patterns I prefer. My shawl isn't going to replicate the designer's pattern but as Elizabeth Zimmerman wrote, "I am the boss of my knitting." She was a wise woman.


I listened to Lucy Gayheart by Willa Cather while I put the shawl back on the needles. It's an old-fashioned story and like several other of her novels, death is part of the plot. The ending, while not of the "happily ever after" variety, is satisfying and well done. I admire the way she layered and repeated themes. I also finished Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Linda Brent. I can see how it was shaped to influence abolitionists at the time it was published, 1861. The glimpse into one community and family living in slavery is worth reading. I plan to look for more details on how the book came to be written and published. Literacy is a powerful tool. I'm not sure what I will read next.

As always on Wednesday, I am linking with Kat and the Unravelers. Ripe nectarines wait for me on the counter. I've never made jam from nectarines but I'm going to give it a whirl. Cue the music.









7 comments:

  1. It makes me happy to know there is another kitchen singer out there! Singing is indeed so good for the soul! I like how that little ornament mitten turned out! And your pickles look delicious!

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  2. I can be a bit of a grouch when I'm working in a hot kitchen in the summertime, but singing along to some music almost always helps. I also made pickles last week and was high on pickle fumes! I've never made nectarine jam but it sounds like it will be delicious! You are the boss of your knitting and the boss in the kitchen, too!

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  3. Between your pickling and your singing, your kitchen sounds like a very friendly place to be right now! I'm not a jam maker, but nectarine jam sounds like a taste of summer. I hope you let us know how it goes!

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  4. The mitten ornament is so cute (and the embroidery behind it is sweet). I made pickles earlier this summer and may need to make more. Home-made are always the best. Nectarine jam sounds delicious! I made rhubarb jam on Tuesday.

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  5. I LOVE pickles! I am imaging you making them and conjuring up your mom while you do it. Lovely image. WE planted one zucchini plant and it's giving us plenty.

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  6. ohhhh I love your scrappy shawl!

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  7. I'm totally intrigued about the kitchen singing! do you have a playlist?! LOVE the finished mitten and that tray of nectarines waiting to become jam. nothing like a little contrast to spell summer!

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