Autumn Memories!

In the past 2 weeks the leaves on our trees and bushes suddenly erupted into beautiful shades of copper, red, orange and yellow!

It has been a gorgeous view wherever we walked or drove in our area.

Looking down one street an arc of color greeted us.

Now, we hear the hum of leaf blowers.  We also see and are homeowners raking up the dried brown leaves that have fallen from the trees.  Two nights ago the strong winds and rain changed our scenery.  The above photos are beautiful memories of the Autumn of 2019!

Now, it's time to get to work collecting the leaves.
We did Enjoy!

  

Welcome Spring!!

Our perennial gardens are beginning to come alive!  The Rose Bushes survived the cold winter and the Salmon Daylilies are beginning to sprout.  Forsythia Bushes have small buds and the Hydrangea looks like new shoots are coming out.

It's interesting to watch the flowers as they begin to grow and then blossom. 

Hyacinths

 

 

 

These dainty Vinca flowers are much smaller than the dried Oak leaves.

Vinca

A great surprise has been the clump of Daffodils!  Last year they did not make an appearance.  Wondering what color they will be!

Daffodils

 

 

Spring is definitely here!!!

Enjoy!

Just Around the Corner

Question: 
What is the season??

...might be Spring!  You know, the season when we enjoy wearing short sleeved tops, light weight or no jackets outdoors.  Maybe even shorts.  This year we need to rely on memories when thinking of Spring! 

As I write this, it is raining.  Earlier we had snow.  It does make for a fascinating photo.  

Three seasons are represented in our backyard perennial garden:  Autumn- Zebra Grass, Winter- Snow and Spring- pink Hyacinths and sprouting Japanese Irises.

However, this is New England!  With a blink of our eyes the weather will change again!  :)

Enjoy!

 

~Strawberry Freezer Jam~

Strawberry Freezer Jam

Part II of my Strawberry Season is making Strawberry Freezer Jam! 

Back in the day I would stand over my stove, stirring the pot of crushed fruit & sugar- feeling quite warm on a summer day.  Then, one day I looked at the recipe for Strawberry Freezer Jam that was included in the Certo box's directions.  Certo is the liquid pectin that I always stirred (still do) into the fruit/ sugar mixture while making the cooked (now Freezer) jam. 

The 24 hour let it set, then freeze method looked really good, so I made a batch.  From that day on I always have made Freezer Jam! 

Hints to remember while making Freezer Jams:

• Read the directions first & follow exactly!  
• If you are making more than one batch, make only one batch at a time.
• Use clean bowls & utensils.
• Click here for more hints. 

We were missing the taste of this homemade jam.  There were no more containers of any flavor in our large freezer.  Somehow, the commercial jams, preserves, jellies just do not taste as good.

Woohoo!  It's strawberry season & my 3 batches are doing their thing on our dining room table!  Tomorrow they will be placed in our freezer!

We will Enjoy!
Yummy!