...then a Black Cat Crossed my Path

On my way back from the airport yesterday a black cat crossed my path.  I am a little superstitious, so I nearly wrecked the van trying to see any a patch of white or anything to not make it a BLACK CAT!

My next thought was, it's nearly 8 o'clock, the night is almost over, what could possibly happen?

At 9:30 p.m. Sadie had just finished watching Rapunzel.  The credits were running, the music was playing and Sadie was dancing. Then our night takes a turn for the worse...
In Sadie's words..."I was just dancing and the t.v. broke my face and I had bled all over me".

Her face is already glued here, taken the next day

They cleaned out her owie, numbed it and said they would be back to glue it shut and it would actually be better if she was asleep.  3 hours later, she was still wide awake, climbing up and down the hospital bed, and opening and closing the room door...while her Mommy and Daddy nodded in and out of sleep.

Sadie: Where's the doctor? I'm just gonna leave.  When's the doctor gonna glue my face? Where's the doctor?
Me: (on the hospital bed) Come lay by Mommy and take a little nap.
Sadie: I don't want to take a nap, where's the doctor.
Dustin/Daddy: (in the chair, blanket over him) *sigh* Sadie
Sadie: What? I'm trying to find the doctor's at.
Dustin/Daddy: *sigh*

4 hours later we were back home from the Emergency Room, our sweet baby with the gaping cut in her forehead glued shut.  It's 1:30 a.m. and she's still awake...I assume she went to sleep as soon as she laid down but I don't know because Dustin and I were both asleep when our heads hit the pillow.

8 o'clock in the morning, "Hi Mommy, Hi!"
How does she not require any sleep?

Above her left eye, poor baby!

The next time a Black Cat tries to crosses my path, I will stop the car, back up and turn around!

1st You Take the Grapes & You Squish em...

For several years, my Mom & Dad's grapes have not done well, but this year, thankfully, we have plenty of grapes and I can once again cross off grape jelly from the grocery shopping list! I can proudly say that in the past my grape jelly has taken first place every time I put it in the Holden Fall Fiesta Fair!  My secret is (was, :) ) instead of straining the grape juice with cheesecloth, I use a flour sack towel.  The jelly comes out very translucent this way and that is what the judges love!  This time when I made jelly, it wasn't for a contest, so I didn't strain it at all.  Not straining it, cut down my processing time immensely and I'm sure there are extra vitamins and "good stuff" that didn't get tossed out.  

 I used a combination of white grapes and concord grapes.  I cooked the grapes down and the whole house smelled delicious! (lol, recognize the pot above?  If you look at my cute laundry room blog, it's "home" is on the top shelf and is only allowed to come down on canning days :) )

 After you cook the grapes, you put them through the Foley Food Mill.  As far as food mills go, this one is pretty big, which fits perfectly on my 32 cup Tupperware "That's a Bowl".  In the past, the girls would help me turn the handle on the food mill to "help out" but this time, they helped me stem the grapes.  Stemming the grapes is a pretty sticky, messy job.  I was happy to have the help and they were happy to be in a perfect grape sneaking position. 

 It's funny how, having several years to reflect on my jelly making, made me realize that while I was taking extra time to press out every last bit of the grape through the food mill (see picture above) and then I would pour it through the flour sack towel twice...hmm completely counter active and it only took me like 15 years later to realize it. :)

Instead of making the jelly immediately, I froze the juice and made it a few days later.

Not translucent, but completely delicious!  The recipe comes straight from the Ball cookbook (with my additional hints).

Grape Jelly
5 cups grape juice (about 4 1/2 lbs. of Concord grapes (White Grapes) and 1/2 cup of water)
1 package of powdered pectin
5 cups of sugar

To prepare juice: Select 1/4 firm-ripe and 3/4 fully-ripe grapes. Wash and stem grapes. Crush grapes, add water; cover; bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat; simmer 10 minutes. Strain juice through a damp jelly bag or several layers of cheesecloth (I didn't do this).  Let juice stand in a cool place for 12 to 24 hours (I just froze the juice and it worked fine); strain again.  Cook the juice and pectin on high heat until boiling (stir the whole time).  Add sugar stirring continually until sugar is dissolved. Boil mixture to a rolling boil and continue to let it boil for one minute. Ladle hot jelly in clean sterile jars. (I timed it just right for the dish washer to finish sterilizing the jars right when the jelly was ready. As soon as I put the jelly in, I skim off the bubbly stuff and wipe the rim of the jar.  Place the two-piece flat and lid tightly on the mouth of the jar and turn upside down. Let it sit upside down for 20 minutes and then flip upright. You should start hearing the tinging of the lids.  This is the jelly's way of saying, "Good job, you at least got it sealed right!"  I made 6 times the amount of the recipe but only added 5 times the sugar.  Wow, 30 cups of sugar...yep, 25 was plenty enough!

Cute Laundry Room!

Last year I decided that my laundry room was not cute enough.  So I used my computer savvy skills and typed into Google, "Cute Laundry Rooms".  The picture below is what came out and I agree, I do think it is very cute!

So thus, it became my inspiration for my own cute laundry room, with a few changes for practicality purposes.  The first thing I noticed was, "Where's their dryer?" 

I have lived without a dryer before. It is a greener way to go, but believe me, I had to remind myself of that every time I picked the green grass off of my clothes that had fell into the yard!  I can't give up my dryer, so I'll just have to work around that.  The second thing I noticed here was, they don't have a cabinet where I have a cabinet.  I also am not willing to give up my cabinet.

I'm not sure my husband saw my vision, but he was willing to do the work, even though he (being the minimalist that he is) does not understand the "cute-thing".  So below is our creation...

Our own cute laundry room, which is a pretty happenin' place when you have fourdarlingdaughters!