Working towards our goals

Brock showed us several different methods for preparing high and low pectin fruit jams and jellies, along with two different ways to save them in jars. I'm excited to try it - and if all goes well, a lot of people are going to be receiving these as holiday gifts! Making jam yourself isn't cheaper than buying premade at the store (three large jars of preserves require a lot of fruit and a lot of sugar!), but:

• you'll know exactly what's in it
• you can customize the flavor and try things that aren't necessarily at your local grocery store
• if you have a garden it's a great way to preserve summer's bounty
• and it's just fun to say that you've made something yourself from scratch!

Eric worked on the fence all weekend and it shows - he finished the entire back length of the yard! As for the pool installation, we have yet to hear back from the pool guy. They should've gotten the permit back from Falls Church by now. I keep saying that I'm nervous that the pool guy just took our deposit money and took off but Eric has more faith than I do. He's sure that it's Falls Church that's holding things up. Either way, I guess we're in no rush because by the time the pool is completed (if it is ever completed!) it'll be cold outside anyway!

I ended my weekend by hosting our bi-monthly book club meeting last night. The host is responsible for providing all food and drink, as well as picking three books to choose from for the next selection. That can make for a fair amount of stress on the hostess, but the up side is that you only have to worry about hosting once every year and can relax every other time the club meets! We like to pick a menu that matches the theme of the book, if possible (often this requires quite a bit of creativity) but it was easy this time. We had read "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen and so last night I provided everyone with circus-style food! We had appetizers of kettle corn and caramel popcorn, animal crackers, and a veggie plate (to balance out all the sugar); dinner was a hot dog bar (all-beef and soy-based, too) with french fries and an heirloom tomato/mozzarella salad from the garden (again, to balance out the other crap we were eating)! Dessert was apples served with caramel dipping sauce. Our next book, which I am already currently reading, is "Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortense