Caregivers coffee break...

I have tried many pickle recipes over the years and they are always... not quite what I'm looking for. Now jams are easy - fruit, sugar and follow the directions that come with the pectin. Jams and jellies that aren't as readily available at the store can be a real treat!

This time of year relish and chili sauce use veg that are in season and are easy and good, or salsa!

My hubs made pickled banana peppers that just go in the fridge..no canning needed. He got the recipe off the internet, and they are really yummy. Not bad for first time.. but BF said they need more sugar.. an easy fix

I got this great little book called Small Batch Preserving from Amazon. The recipes make just a few jars at a time - it gives me the fun of canning without it being an all day job. There's a peach jam recipe that you make in the microwave - peaches, sugar and lemon juice. I'm hoping to get a few jars of dilly beans put up for the holidays.

Mmmm....bread and butter pickles.

I think about Pepsee and wonder how she is
She responded to one of my first posts. Later I heard her story and was amazed. Wishing you well

Oh that's sad to hear tacy. Thanks for letting me know

Lately I have been missing my dad. I don't know if it is because of the holidays or if it is because I just had something good happened and I want to tell him. I miss his wisdom; I miss his weird sense of humor.
I watch movies or hear a song and think my dad would have like that.

I miss how he kept other family members from attacking me. But he did raise me to take care of myself.

I miss how the kitchen was our play ground. Us cooking together enjoying the food that we prepare.

I wake up some morning were I just can't catch my breath. I know he is with me; I also believe that all the wrongs that my mother & brother have done to me he now see it.

I pray that he forgives me for I did not know the truth. My heart is heavy at times because I did not realize that he was the one who truily loved me, and that my mother lives in a world were she believes she did nothing wrong because her love for me was right, but her love was just to use people and it was always that way-I just didn't see it.

It is sad that it took my dad's death to make me see the truth.

I just pray that he sees the hard decisions I make everyday and is proud of me. That he looks down and says, "that's my girl".

I wonder will this ever get easier?!

Just wanted to get that off my heart:(

i have been worried about peppsee too. she was so supportive and we had so much in common.

Has anyone heard from Becky? her husband PJ passed a few months ago, and she went to spend some time with her kids. I was really hoping she would come back.

I have thought about Becky too
Never had communication with her but it was so sad to hear about her sudden widowhood

I didn't quite understand about getting hit hard by PM which am assuming translates to personal messages. This is regarding Pepsee. If she only knew how she is missed

Hi...Im feeling burnt out.My mum is in advanced stages of dementia and has just this week developed an obsession with the toilet! I dont know if shes anxious because shes loosing control,or of she really believes she has to go,but shes back and forwards every 15 mins to the toilet all day and half the night.
This involves assisting her to use her walker,washing her hands...etc
But she doesnt do anything!
Its driving me crazy!
I have been caring for her alone for 4 and a half years now.I get 4 hours respite a week.
Shes deaf,nearly blind and still treats me like the help,as if there is something wrong with me,when I tell her shes just been.
I was just coping with her behaviour and caring for her,but this is really exausting.(I am also renovating the house as we have to move,trying to work part time at home,and remain sane living in the centre of this noisy city).
What do you do when you just want to scream?

Shell. That was such a beautiful post. I would say your father's spirit lives on within you. I too had a father like that. He passed in 2010 from complications due to heart bypass. I find consolation in knowing he was having other difficulties with aging that he would not truly want to have lived with.