Project Bag Prize

 It's finally done and ready to come to your house. Be sure and comment below if you haven't already to be put into a hat for a drawing to win this bag on Thursday June 28th.

And if you haven't visited the shop lately, stop on byThe Calico Bush on Etsy. I'm working on a whole new set of fabrics for my project bags.

Rose Pedal Jelly and a Give Away

Can you believe it is Thursday? Well, I'm shocked because last night I would have swore it was Tuesday but my husband insisted it wasn't so. He never lies to me, unless you are talking about he time he tried to convince me that youngbugidise was a real disease or the time .... Well, almost never lies to me unless he's out for a laugh.

So I believed him when he said it was actually Wednesday and then my over worked brain remembered our daughter had surgery on Tuesday and my mom and I had gone to see her today, the day after her surgery. It's just that since my folks came to stay, requiring a great deal of care, with one having Dementia and the other having had an amputation, my days start really early and end really late smooshing everything together. Good thing I have a hubby to keep me straight.

So at 10:30 at night, after this discovery, I was peering through sleep deprived eyes and making rose pedal jelly. After all, a promise is a promise. 

And today I'm celebrating things Jane Austen. I don't know if Jane ever made rose pedal jelly but I thnk she would have. It seems so very English and my imagination sees this delicate jelly  with ladies wearing flowing dresses, their pinkies raised, sipping tea and delicately savoring rose pedal jelly on crumpets.  

  

So In case you want to have your own Jane Austen tea time, I'm sharing my recipe. Collect and rinse over a cup of rose pedals, sorting through them to remove any leaves or damaged pedals. Drain and press down to fill one cup. That is all the pedals you need for one batch. It makes only three 1/2 pint jars. Then put the pedal in a blender, something Jane wouldn't have but would have wished she did, along with 3/4 cup of water.

Add the juice of one lemon....

...plus one cup and a half of sugar.



Meanwhile, in a sauce pan place 3/4 cup of water and 1 box of pectin. I use the pink Sure Jell box that is for no sugar or low sugar jellies and jams.  Whip and boil hard for one minute but don't let it burn so whip, whip, whip.

Now turn on the blender and blend the lemon juice, pedals, water, and sugar. Don't skimp on the time for you want your sugar thoroughly mixed in. The original recipe called for 2 1/2 cups but I cut that down by a cup because the sugar remained grainy being over saturated. I want to taste the pedals and lemon more.
 
When blended, turn on low and gently pour the hot pectin in, preferably through the small whole in the lid. You don't want a splattered mess. The jelly will get really thick. If you have rose pedals with white ends, refer to my blog from some year back for details how to handle this bitter tasting section of the pedals.
http://easylivingthehardway.blogspot.com/2010/07/rose-petal-jam.html

Pour into three clan 1/2 pint jars and put a lid on them. When cool, refrigerate or freeze. I have some frozen that I've used to make rose pedal ice cream. I can so... see Jane doing that too. Did they eat ice cream back then?

As for the project bag give away. You have to consider that I thought today was going to be Wednesday, the day I made the bag so here is the fabric which I will sew today while watching grand kids and caring for aging parents. Multi-tasking is my middle name, no wonder I don't know what day of the week it is. LOL I'll get pictures up as soon as it is done.

Or if that fabric doesn't trip your fancy, you will have a choice of this lovely springtime bag. Neither one quite your fancy, well think Christmas or birthday gift. This would be a great present.

To get in on this give away, just comment after this post stating that you want in on the project bag give away. Then next Wednesday I'll have my hubby draw the names out of a hat to pick the winner. Because of course he will know what day of the week it is. So get to signing up and tell your friends. You will have a whole week to comment after any post during this period of time on this site in order to get in on the drawing.

Have a wonderful Thursday!!! 

Jane Austen is the Style

 I have found that making the products for Etsy isn't the hard part. Getting the photography to work is. The Etsy site scrunches your photos to a square, a shape the camera doesn't operate in and I'm having difficulty getting enough light on the subject.

It just donned on me. I did have  setting to change for the kind of lights you use. Maybe that will work. I don't know but the projects bags look have as good on the site as they do in person and somehow that has got to change.

I have seven Jane Austen style project bags in the works with four complete so if that is your style keep checking back on my Etsy site to see what's new.

And as for feed sack bags well, I have an addition to our family. I brought her home yesterday when I was having our goats appraised for correctness of conformation. This is Madelyn or I think that is how her name will be spelled. She is not registered yet but will soon be. That means one more of our doelings will have to be sold to make room for her. The limit has been decided upon four does. I think that is quite enough for me to milk morning and night.

This of course means we will have more feed sacks than ever to make into bags. Doesn't it seem like one thing always leads to another?