Champagne jelly and cleaning out goat pens

Happy Fathers Day to all the Dads, Uncles, Dads-to-be and those who stepped up to help as Dads!  My dad passed away in 1987 but as I have written before he is where I got most of my inspiration for living off the land. He inspired while my mom was a doer...the gardener...the one who helped my dad through his dreams.  My dad was a beekeeper and fisherman and pretty good at it. We never went without honey as long as he was keeping bees. He was a sailor, a marine (26 years of military service) and a darn good dad.  Miss ya Big Guy!

Today was a hot one...we reached 100 plus degrees !  We took the day slow.  I started out working with the hens and dude milked and fed the goats.  I brought in the milk, strained it and make a big country breakfast.  Then off to mass.

Came home to Dude out in the heat working in the garden. I lured him inside with ice tea and James Bond movies. We took it easy for the hottest part of the day and later got to work.

A lot of the time we are shoveling manure and cleaning out poop.  It is very important to us to have even our animals living areas to be clean.  Dude spent most of the day shoveling. It is great that he built the pens with easily removed fencing.

Boots are definitely necessary... I went out in sandals ...oiy.

Cleaning out pens and using even the manure, mixing it with our compost.

The cat just doesn't care.

And he mowed out by the bees.

After running to the grocery store I settled in to making champagne jelly. I make it every year. We don't really drink. Dude doesn't at all and I am toast  at half a glass. Inevitably every year someone gives us a bottle of bubbly and I later use it to make a wonderful  jelly.

Canning is fun. The important part is cleanliness.  This recipe is with a water bath and easy. Be sure to have your jars wash and ready. I put mine in the water bath, letting them bubble away while making the jelly.

It is a basic recipe with 1.5 cups of champagne, 3 cups of sugar and a package of liquid pectin. It makes exactly 4 jars of 1/2 pint size. It turns out perfect every time. Just dissolve sugar and champagne.

Bring to a boil on high heat. Add and stir in pectin.  Continue to stir and boil until you cannot stir down the boil. Stir constantly and boil for one minute. Now this is where I think of those who taught me to make jelly. They would actually count down 60 seconds out loud while stirring. Just a fun memory. Ladle into hot jars leaving 1/4inch  head space. Process them in a water bath following the instructions for your altitude. My mom used to skip the water bath and seal the jelly with paraffin wax.

Time to clean up and take it easy. (if there are any errors blame it on the bubbly...wink)

peace, health and happiness.