Happy To Be Home

You know how you’re like, I need a break from my life!

And then you take two back to back trips with your kids totalling like six days in a car and then you’re like, I’m never leaving my house again!

And you settle back into life.

And do things like grocery shop.

And buy strawberries for one dollar a pound.

So you buy sixteen pounds.

With the sole purpose of making…freezer jam!

And you also buy pectin.

Freezer jam kind and cook jam kind because you’re still waffling about what to make, plain strawberry freezer jam…orrr…strawberry rhubarb!

You decide on plain freezer jam, because…good heavens, it’s hot!!!

And you start stemming, slicing, measuring and making away…till you realize…

for an unknown number of jars you had unknowingly used the cooked jam pectin.

Because in your ambitious state you had convinced yourself that you were indeed going to make the cooked jam and therefore only bought ONE freezer jam pectin, but then you had mentally told yourself along the way, which you forgot that you had told yourself, that you were not ambitious at all and had actually bought TWO freezer jam pectins, which was obviously a lie.

Sooo…

back to the store you go.

To buy another thing of freezer jam pectin.

And while there, there is a truck that has started on fire.

Like serious fire.

Like guy throwing all truckly possessions off of burning truck fire.

Like the flames are burning nearby trees fire.

And people are filming it all because…it’s Wal-mart.

Anyway…

you head home.

You realize you are almost out of sugar.

Like half a cup left.

But you’re a bit of a self reliant guru and pro food storage individual so you know you have some in the basement on standby.

But not just any sugar.

No.

It’s free sugar because you’re a frugal girl, afterall.

From your neighbor’s food storage.

Who have recently moved.

{They also coincidentally also gave you an amazing pie safe…}

But back to the sugar.

You dump the entire bag of sugar into the sugar jar.

Because, that’s all the sugar you have.

And carry on.

And every once in awhile, you lick your fingers.

Don’t worry it’s freezer jam, all germs die.

And notice they’re a bit less jam flavor and a bit more something else flavor.

And Meg who is helping in a not always helpful way says the jam tastes funny.

But you don’t believe her.

Mainly because she’s a child, but also because she does interesting things like eat unripe grapes and not thoroughly rinse the conditioner from her hair…orrr not even wash her hair because there’s no shampoo.

I eventually knuckle down and try the jam.

Salt, guys.

The free sugar was salt.

Half of my batch I had used the wrong pectin.

But I was not super concerned, thinking if it didn’t set I could use it as syrup.

However, there was no way on God’s green earth that salt-instead-of-sugar jam could be rescued.

And I even had to dump the salt because there was the smallest amount of sugar left in the jar when I added the salt so I couldn’t even salvage the five pounds of salt.

And then I wallowed in self pity on the couch, took a nap at 5:30 while Bryce picked up Taco Bell because I was under such duress I couldn’t even cook the meal I had planned, and shed a tear or two about the money lost and the effort wasted.

But at least my truck didn’t catch on fire…

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I actually love to grill.

When I have a decent grill.

Up until a few weeks ago we had a grill that Bryce’s dad had given us that was left behind at one of his rental houses.

Thanks, Wade!

No offense, but this one we picked up at a garage sale is 500x better.

Final chair that we purchased during this garage selling season is re-done.

Trimming and washing the beets.

Sand park play.

Adeline turned 10, we celebrated a couple days early because we were going to be gone.

I made a maxi dress from some vintage knit.

Summer time lunch.

On the way to Idaho.

Idaho sunset.

This rocking horse was mine and my sisters’ growing up.

Chores.

Pit stop in Idaho.

We reunioned with my cousins and aunt and uncle in Eastern Idaho where my grandparents grew up.

Our campsite had a creek running through it.

Those of us that were super lucky, or arrived later, were able to camp across the creek so we got to cross the water 50 times a day!

But the wildflowers…!

At Bear Lake.

My cousin put together a scavenger hunt that was totally my thing.

Kinda like Amazing Race-ish.

We had to photo document various activities or buildings that represented my grandparent’s youth by a certain time and each one counted for points.

We won!

And earned some Pop Rocks and R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

The high school where my grandma graduated.

The building where my grandparents had one of their first interactions.

The house my grandma was born in.

Where my grandma lived.

Great grandparents.

Where my great grandpa worked.

The hill that my grandpa went sledding down.

This amazing house now occupied by cows and horses.

Montpelier boasts the only bank now standing that was robbed by Butch Cassidy.

Playing Annie, Annie Over and my parent’s house.

Idaho sunrise.

Libby and Brcye checking the library catalog.

Our friend invited us over for dinner and swimming.

And diving board nose picking.

And kitty holding.

We’re staying local for the next little bit so I’m hoping to get caught up on some sewing and projects and books.

Hope you’re summer is going well!

Katie