Sunday Preserves.

Today I finally had a chance to make the blueberry jam I've been meaning to do for the last week. It was a small-batch jam that made only a pint of sugary goodness. This means no worries about the fruit boiling over the sides of my small-ish pot and just enough jam for me and somebody else.

I used a version of the recipe off a neat side called 'Food in Jars'. The recipe is for a Blueberry Ginger jam, but I was worried the ginger would be too intense. Instead I used a tsp of freshly ground cinnamon (in place of the ginger). I think it could have used more because the cinnamon doesn't really come through in the finished product, but I think it still turned out pretty tasty! Hard to go wrong with fresh blueberries and sugar!

Recipe Inspiration - Blueberry Ginger Jam from 'Food in Jars'

 Two pints of Bluebs.

 Mashed.

Cooling and sealing!

Spoils of Summer.

During the spring, summer, and fall, one of my favorite things to do on the weekend is to go to a nearby farmer's market. Ottawa is teaming with markets big and small, but luckily for me my favorite one is only a 15 minute walk from my apartment. At this time of year, it's possible to find just about everything you could ever expect to find at a farmer's market, the produce is in its prime. Here are some photos of some things I picked up on my last trip.

 The goods.

 Farm-fresh eggs.

 Heirloom toms.

 Flowers from (someones) the garden.

 Basil, rainbow carrots.

 Yum.

And so I decided to make Aloo Gobi for dinner!

Strawberries and Jam.

On the Sunday before last I decided to make jam for the first time by myself.

 The set-up.

 The berries.

Boiling away.

Flags Away!

I had an idea that I would fix my broken lampshade by painting things on fabric and sticking the fabric to my lampshade. The thing I didn't think of was how crummy it would look once it was back-lit by the lamp. Believing that no creative endeavor should be wasted, I decided to turn my fun cloth into a flag banner for my window.

How to make your own set of nifty fun flags - an excerpt from my craft and inspiration notebook.

This is what I did to make my flags - I can see my future apartment being home to many fun flags that add a little happy to creative spaces.

Paint.

Cut.

Sew.

String and Hang.

 Voila!
Note - in the future, I will be better at taking blog photos.

Places and Spaces.

An assortment of things seen.

Honduras.

Sackville.

Sackville II.

Home.

Jasper.

Jasper II.