Up To Me Eye Balls In Jelly

Welcome back autumn. I've missed you. I'm glad to see all you trees finally deciding, Diva like, to get dressed for the season and join the ball. It is a lovely thing to renew acquaintance with your fresh, crisp air and your rustling, papery leaves. I'm still waiting for the hauntingly, achingly beautifully sad sound of the geese flying south.

As I wait for the geese and the first killing frost I'm immersed in my first paying job of the school season. One of the school teacher friends at Micah's school phoned on Monday to ask if I could make crab apple jelly for her husband. Her mom's not doing it for them this year, and the jelly situation seems to be getting serious. So, I thought, why not?! I like making jelly and jam.

I'm half done now. More than half. The first two batches were finished after supper last night, and the next two batches are waiting to be put in the jelly bag. I only hope I have the nerve to charge enough. I have an insecure estimate of my own worth when it comes to asking for reimbursement for things like sewing and baking. Especially sewing... do I include the time it takes to rip out a seam, if something needs adjusting was it my mistake or was it their fussiness... but I think the jelly making will be a little more straightforward. I've been keeping track of the time, and I'll probably suggest $10/ hour (my usual rate, and less than half what I can charge for teaching piano lessons!). When I was buying Certo and sugar I checked out the jelly in the next aisle over, and Smuckers makes an apple jelly. It was $2.17 for 250 ml. If I keep that in mind it doesn't feel so bad to think that the hours may creep close to being 10. Even at $100, the 24- 500 ml jars are fairly equable. It will taste 100% better, too.

Ah yes. The clock hasn't stopped yet, so I should crawl back into the kitchen and see if I can get some sandwich meat thawed in time to make the big ones lunches. And get the breakfast going. And get one pot of cooked apples into the jelly bag and hang it from the cupboard knob. And tidy the living room and kitchen before the Church Ladies' executive descends for the meeting after lunch. And get the laundry started. Some of us are out of underwear. And get the jelly made so I can phone the Good Lady at lunch and tell her to pick it up after school. I haven't even thought of supper yet...shoot. I should have taken something out last night. Better do that first.....