Live what you love.

Good Evening! It feels so strange sat writing this post while it's going dark outside. Is it a sign that Autumn is definitely on the way? or maybe it's just because I am writing my post late... again! Ooopsy :) It has been a super busy week as I finally starting teaching my own class on Tuesday, YAY!! Even though it wasn't technically my first day at school it was still really exciting to get into MY classroom and do things my own way. As well as the first week of school I have had new glasses, been doing some more yoga and trying to spend time with Ryan too so it's been a really lovely week. I've made a deal with myself that I will try and leave work at school so I actually have a life besides teaching.

 

Despite this deal I've still been spending a lot of time looking teaching stuff on teachers pet and Pinterest, it is all so cute that I wish my classroom was big enough. I must say that the pencil hospital and caught you being good ideas I talked about before have been VERY successful in this first week. I've also watched a few episodes of New Girl ready for the new season that starts on September 17th (American). Regular readers will know how much I LOVE Jessica Day and I hope that my teacher work-life balance will be just like hers in the coming year! 

Talking of Jessica Day, all avid New Girl fans will remember the Jamboree t-shirt she takes back from Spencer in season 1 of the show.

"Girl made a lot of jam, Spence. You know how time-consuming that can be? You need a jar funnel, a canner, some fresh fruit. Strawberries, raspberries, maybe a tayberry."

Schmidt 

Well today I really really really wanted this t-shirt, I had a jam making sesh with Ryan as he is really good with foody related things. He will probably blog about it too so check out his fancy WordPress blog which is mostly food related here.

Anyway, after this weekend, I now know aaaaaaaall about making jam. That is partly the reason why this blog post is late. I was supposed to come back to Harrogate at lunchtime to get on with my to-do list but I just got so into the jam making! Yesterday we had a little drive around Pocklington, where Ryan lives, and found lots of Elderberries and Blackberries. I helped pick some but left the messy blackberries for Ryan to do while I whinged about being cold :P does anyone else think it's really cold lately? I wore boots all weekend!

 Last night at 8pm I was sat on the floor in my reindeer onsie raking berries off the stalks with a fork so we decided to leave it until today to get stuck into the actual jam making, However, when Sunday morning came, rather than rushing straight into the jam making, we decided to go out for a lazy Sunday morning breakfast. It was a good idea of mine I think :) tucking into half a full English and a pot of tea would make me ready for any day.

So... making jam! I was in charge of sterilizing Ryan's old jars, always the eco-friendly with his recycling. It's not too tricky, you just pour boiling water into them to kill any germs. Then you cut circles of greaseproof paper for under the lids but I forget why!! 

 Then you have to weigh and wash all the berries before leaving them to boil/simmer for 20-30 minutes. Then you put the sugar in (how much depends on the amount of berries) and leave it for AGES again. Finally you end up with a yummy smelling, gooey mixture that sets when it cools :)

and there you have it...

JAM!

I am very much looking forward to tucking into toast with homemade jam in the morning. What a perfect way to start my second week in school!