Nineteen Twenty Four

   Today, May 29th to be exact, the universe was blessed with a beautiful baby girl named Marion.

 She is my Grandma.  She is my mom's mom and she is pretty darned amazing.  I will not curse in this post because Gram is pretty miffed with the way society treats the English language these days.  People are just a little too lax with the words they use. She's right.

Gram's usually right about a lot of things but is never quick to judge.  She is quick to love, pray and (no not eat, although she does love a good meal) care.  Those qualities are extended to everyone.  Whether you are family, a friend,  an acquaintance from church or the waitress from the diner she is genuinely interested in what's going on.

 Her heart is open, always.

Part of her loving nature for many years has been about 'nature'.  Gram is a gardener!! Even now at the age of 89 she is a gardener.  She keeps up with her pots of African Violets that sit on her tables and ledges and takes clippings from them to start in new pots for friends or grandchildren.  She used to do the same with her geraniums and impatiens storing them over winter in the crawl space or keeping their seeds to 

begin in new pots for spring.

She moved away from her wonderful gardens in Sauble a few years ago and resides in a Retirement Home in Owen Sound.  They have a beautiful courtyard and Gram brought her gloves and clippers with her when she left and is able to put them to use there. 

 My grandpa passed away about a year and a half ago.

 Having a 'green thumb' is something that's been able to give her some moments of tranquil thought.  If you are a gardener you know what I mean.  Taking care of a plant(s) helps you to take care of yourself.

Pruning, repotting, watering, or dead heading a plant are all things that remain necessary   in maintaining a healthy plant and in doing so it helps to keep you healthy. Gardening is equal parts meditation and activity. I'm glad Gram is able to escape reality for little bits at a time and still do what she enjoys most.

 Bottom line gardening is therapeutic and also very hereditary, my mom has a big
'green thumb' as well and I enjoy my gardens more and more every year.

I'm so grateful for my Gram and the 'gift of the garden' she has passed on to me.

Happy Birthday today to a wonderful Lady and one of God's Best Blooms!

....HERE IT IS PART TWO!

I  followed the recipe which basically said to clean & chop 4lbs of rhubarb and store it inside a container with 2lbs of sugar and some lemon juice. 

After 24 hrs.... Ta-Da! Couldn't believe the juice in the jar, no water was added.  The kids didn't appreciate the fun with rhubarb I was having or the smell.  I guess that's why there's never been a rhubarb line at Bath & Body works yet.  Anyways after a crazy day I didn't have enough time to to start jamming again until tonight.

 Well, this is what happens when everyone goes to bed and I'm left to my own devices.  There are now two batches of jam, one made by the 'book', the other may have had some LCBO approved liquid added and half a bowl of cherries.

 It's probably close to a diabetic jam now.

I'm on my third piece of toast and I can tell you I don't mind diabetic jam at all!

In the Rooh~barb!

  For the last couple of weeks we've been graced with amazing warm sunshine and beautiful weather.  Rick was able to get the crops all in before the end of the long weekend this year which if I looked into it I'm sure it would be some kind of record for us.  All of the spring tree blooms were gorgeous and lasting this year the magnolia's, crab apple's, flowering pear's, cherry tree's and eastern redbuds to name a few held onto their blooms for longer than usual because of the good weather.  As you know though all good things must come to an end and yesterday the rain and cold fronts came through. 

 Having spent the last couple of weeks outside in the garden preparing the beds for my own crops and topping up all the mulch in my other gardens.  I've decided to take advantage of a day I don't mind turning the oven on.  This leads us up to Springs first official 'fruit'~ Rhubarb! 

I grew up in Cottam and The Collards were an elderly couple that lived about six houses down from me on the corner of Hill St. and Fox St.  As kids we played over there a lot because they lived across the street from the Banfills (my best friends at the time) and Fred Collard had a great yard to play in.  There were various pieces of concrete statuary that you could use as your base for just about any game you could make up. 

 Why am I telling you this?

 I was about nine years old when Fred pulled a bunch of rhubarb from his garden ( he had an amazing vegetable garden and would often let us pick peas or beans from it) handed it to me and asked "Would your people eat this?" Well, I didn't know who my people were or what it was he gave me but I was sure as hell gonna go running down the road with my freshly picked leafy bouquet and give it to my mom to figure out who the people were and what this was.

  Flash forward to the events of this morning.......

 My inlaws have kept a couple of rows from what used to be Papa Jack and Gramma Tootie's vegetable garden.  What is so luscious and leafy at the end of it? 
That's right, Rhubarb! 

 Freshly picked tart stalked goodness! Rinsed off and ready for transformation!

My mother in law makes the most amazing Rhubarb Pie so I won't dare go there because why try what someone else has perfected. I instead will go the jam and possibly muffin route!

My reference guide from which I may or may not actually follow a recipe from.

so.......stay tuned......I'll let you know what I come up with...or perhaps this will give ya'll some time to pass some of your own recipes on to me.

..........to be continued......!