Eyes down...

...for forty winks. With extreme idleness, I sat down for a relax (as they say in these parts) and was woken ten minutes later by Tilly shaking her head, ears flapping loudly. Now the first batch of today's jam is cooling, the second boiling and the third still steeping. Only another hour or so and I'll have finished. I made twenty jars yesterday and, remarkably, they have all set.

The Sage has gone off to the Wilds of South Suffolk to pick up more china for the next sale. It's all going well at present. We will have to put the catalogue together in another couple of weeks. I'll have to work for my living for a bit.

Pause to take jam off heat Always one isn't there. This batch resolutely refused to set on the saucer. I boiled it a bit more and eventually, in desperation, added more pectin. If it doesn't set I'll use it in icecream (thick yoghurt and strawberry jam make splendid, almost instant icecream) and if it's like glue I'll warm it up and use it as sauce.

Pause to pot first batch of jam After I've done this, I'll go and attack the garden again. I wonder if the Sage will be horrified to come home and find the fence demolished? Probably. May not stop me though. My happy little shining face will mollify him.