A Very Productive Day

We had a rather productive day on Thursday. Grant came home from work that evening, and we just got to work. I am very happy with the results.

First, we made a drastic change in our bedroom. This lovely hole has adorned our ceiling since summer of '06. It was a hot summer, and Mother and Gary were very kind to give us a fan that they had never installed to try to help us beat the heat. It was just a fan with no light fixture on it, so we would have to come up with alternative lighting. Grant eagerly took down our cheap light fixture to install the fan, but during the process, the top of an old screw broke off, leaving the tail end in the hole. We began debating if we wanted a fan without a light on it and discussing how we would get enough light into that room. The entire process was at a standstill because of one screw and our lack of a decision. You would think we could have just put up the fan for a year and a half while we mulled it over, but that would just be too simple. Instead, we survived with the small amount of light put out by a touch lamp on the nightstand (and later, two touch lamps when we finally got a set of two nightstands) and a hole in our ceiling.

But on Thursday, we replaced that ugly hole with this. It was ordered as a Christmas present, but we had to wait for it to arrive. Now, when I flip the lightswitch in my bedroom, something actually happens. It looks so good in there, and it even has a reverse function that circulates the warm air in the winter. It's very quiet; I look forward to using it on hot summer nights. Also, since our bed is right under it, it doesn't hang down very far from the ceiling, so no little monkey jumping on my bed will get a bonk.


The other thing we accomplished that night was blackberry jelly. Don't the berries look pretty in the pot? They looked (and smelled) even better in real life. We picked a bunch of berries last fall, and they've been sitting in my freezer ever since, waiting for me to get the energy (and the guts) to try to make jelly. This is the first time I've done canning in my own house. The only canning I've done before was at Dana's or my mother's house with their help. Of course, I made Grant help me. I couldn't just go straight to flying solo. Besides, many hands make light work, and my hands can't touch hot stuff the way his can.

And here's the result. We made three batches, and it is sooooo good. Dana helped me make this jelly in 2006, and I made some with my mother, too. I could eat toast with this jelly every day; it's that good. Hopefully, these jars will last until it's blackberry season again!