Peach jam. Guess what you're getting for Christmas?

Do you know what the best sound in the world is? The sound of the jar lids popping down. It is a distinct, lovely, 'pop' that signals success!

Ellen and I worked pretty much 5 hours today and made 17 half pints and 7 pints of peach jam that is absolutely delicious, if I do say so myself. Of course, we also used two 5-pound bags of sugar (!) which was astounding to us. We were worn out with the work, but at the end, we were plotting what to do next. I want to put up applesauce this fall.

(Note on the photos: Ellen, the happy jar filler, is not holding a cigarette; it is the handles of the tongs.)

Someone needs to design better holders for jars in the hot water bath. We had a serious deficit of needing a jar lifter, but we managed, and I ordered one from Amazon. Good old Amazon. I love the whole "you bought this, we think you'd like that." Amazingly, much of the time they are right :) I wonder what genius wrote that program?

And a big thanks to John, of John and Tiff, who came over from Freehold to move a desk up a flight of stairs for me, thus solving one of my largest problems. Which means, of course, I'm not awash in problems, thank God. Paul now has a place to study when school starts. Now, if he will only actually study.