There's something about the rituals of everyday life that begin to heal over wounds and grief. We know this, of course, but it's hard to trust that it's true when one needs it the most. Then it turns out to be right - you realize that you had completely forgotten to be in pain while you, say, fold the laundry or get out the summer clothes. It doesn't completely go away but you get a break and the breaks get longer every day and, pretty soon, it become just a dull ache. Because of this truth I've decided that it's not a betrayal of my friend to get on with life and the things that need to be done, but rather it would be a betrayal of myself not to.


With this realization I began processing carrots for pickling. I still have several pints but, for some reason I can't remember, I bought ten pounds more and something must be done with them. So pickles it is - I've canned things like carrot cake or other sweet breads in the past but doing so is no longer recommended for long term storage and I really hate sweet relishes so spicy dilled carrots are just the thing. We covered pickles here in depth already so I won't go on too much about it but this time things will be just a little different - I'm documenting the process with photos and text for an online craft and DIY site. Should be interesting, no?


Other than the pickles I'm still formulating my canning plans for the summer. Cherries and berries will be first and I can't wait. Last year's strawberry jam didn't set up so I've got lots of "coulis" (some of which was used in Easter Sunday's trifle) so I'm trying a new recipe and a different type of pectin. I'm not sure why various pectins work differently - maybe it's kind of like yeast in that way - but I intend to find out.