Saturday, May 17

Up at 7 a.m., and intended to do an exercise session, but shortly after breakfast, Hubbie's daughter called to say she would like to come by for a visit today. So I went ahead and showered and dressed, so I could spruce the house before she came after lunch.

Also, I wanted to wash strawberries, so Mother could cap and slice them. The strawberries needed to come to room temperature after being in the refrigerator overnight, so we could make jam from them in the automatic jelly maker.

Before I started on any other project, I made a trip to the greeting card store to pick up a puzzle for Mother. A store employee called yesterday to let me know that a new order of jigsaw puzzles had arrived, and I wanted to see what they had before they got picked over.

Mother received a gift card to the store for her birthday, with which I had purchased one puzzle for her a few weeks ago, but there was enough money left on the card to get another one. I found a puzzle I knew she would enjoy that cost almost exactly the amount left on the card.

There were a couple of other puzzles I thought she might like, too, so I bought those to put away for Christmas gifts.

No one knows what to wear in this kind of weather. I wore a fleece hoodie to the card shop, but while I was there, I noticed that one woman was wearing a winter coat, while a younger woman was wearing shorts and a tee-shirt. I'm beyond ready for the weather to moderate. I fear, though, that we will probably skip spring altogether, and just leap right into summer.

Back home, we had our usual lunch of Ramen noodle soup for Mother, and deli turkey sandwiches for Hubbie and me.

After lunch, I gathered all the supplies and equipment necessary for making four half pints of strawberry jam in the automatic jelly maker. Mother crushed the amount of strawberries needed, and measured the sugar and pectin. I scalded the jars, and set up the automatic jelly maker.

But, drat it, the jelly maker didn't work. It indicated that it was working, and the paddle went round and round in it. But it didn't heat. Guess the element is dead. So I'll be packing the frazzling thing up and sending it back...with my opinion of it. Because this is the second unit I've received that has been defective.

All I could do after the failure was try to cook the fruit on the stove top. I added an extra minute or so to the time, and then we ladled the jam into jars and I processed it in a water bath, as usual. Won't know until tomorrow if it worked or not. But whatever happens, we'll eat it anyway.

I was pretty frustrated afterward, but I went back to my card making and managed to complete five more.

Hubbie's daughter arrived around 3 p.m. She visited until 8 p.m. For supper, at 5 p.m., we went to a local steak house. Daughter and Mother ordered fried catfish and baked potatoes, Hubbie chose hamburger steak and baked potato, and I opted for baked tilapia, with sweet potato fries.

Mother was ready to go home as soon as we got back from the restaurant, so I accompanied her. Then, after Daughter left, Hubbie and I watched TV for a while.