I love Fridays

OK, so this is meant to be about Friday and now it is Saturday, but I went into the pantry to show you what I've been up to, dropped my camera on the concrete floor and, disaster, it's broken.  I was so cross and so hope it can be fixed.  Bugger.  Anyway, I took this photo on my iPhone instead:

As you can see, I've not been idle.  I have also potted up 200 plants for the school fete, but more on that later.  All the jars on the bottom row are either crab apple, quince or apple and rosemary jelly. Above there is tomato sauce and relish, jams, marmalade, apple and quince sauce (from Plum Kitchen), pickled cumquats, plum sauce, preserved lemons.  Some we will eat, some will be for the fete.  Does anyone else get school/kinder fundraising fatigue?  Honestly, it never seems to end and I wish the government could organise its funding so that instead of a "multi purpose hall" which has taken two years to build and is still not ready we could actually have classrooms that were not second hand transportable buildings that are falling down.  Education revolution indeed.  But enough time on the soapbox for today.

Here's a better photo of the apple and rosemary jelly, which I made yesterday:

I tried some last weekend at a friend's house and found a recipe here.  That green thing in the background is the thin end of a massive zucchini.  It was enormous.  I made some soup.

Anyway, back to Fridays.  Friday afternoons actually, on the rare weekends when there are no comings or goings.  I love the day at the end of the week when the lawns have been mown and garden is tidy, the house is clean, when we have been flat out all week and the kids are home, when dinner can be whenever and when it is time for a large gin and tonic and a sleep in on Saturday.  The last couple of months have been insanely busy, even with one child at boarding school, and we've been constantly on the road.  Time to regroup for the next round of action.

I am so loving autumn.  We had lots of rain last week but the sun is finally out and it is so beautiful with that autumnal stillness pervading the afternoon air.  The trees have been very slow to turn this year, some have not even begun.  The Pin Oak is looking glorious.  I think my sweet peas may have been washed out.  I have started planting in the new veggie garden and also in the new bed below the house:

As it is school holidays I am squeezing as much labour out of the junior workforce as I can.  There is a lot whingeing but now that we have bought a farm buggy (or "rhino") they seem to be more enthusiastic.

The Jack Russell likes it too...