Itsy Bitsy

Today before meeting Ann for lunch I made 3 batches of courgette & ginger jam

The grapefruit & apple marmalade that I made yesterday seems a lot thicker than I think it should be, so I'll get it checked out by Janet on Thursday before deciding whether or not to inflict it on a wider audience.

Ann brought me a bag of more very welcome jars, which I think I will fill with blackberry chutney - I like to be able to offer something not widely available.

I'm aware that my life is becoming taken over by this preserving, but it's the time of year when so much fruit and vegetables need something doing to them. When I run out of jars I will have my life back! When I visited the allotment today to water the tomatoes I brought home courgettes and raspberries - I ignored everything else because I didn't have long enough to harvest if anything was ready. That's a job for tomorrow.

This afternoon I discovered that it's not the time of year to realise that my swimming costume could do with being replaced - all the reasonably priced ones have gone, and all I could find were horrendous prices or "itsy bitsy teeny weenie" (I can cope with "yellow polka dot" although I draw the line at the last part of this song title for the sake of everyone around). I shall keep looking because there will be a small swimming pool where the team is staying in Zambia which I suspect I'll appreciate using.

excuses, excuses

Yesterday I collected a box of jars from Sarah in Winchester - I think the jars were really just my excuse for an evening catching up with her. I don't think I've seen her since June, so it was about time. I have mixed feelings about the jars - I am very glad to have them but I think secretly, deep down, I was enjoying the excuse of time away from the jam pan! So this evening I was able to get on with grapefruit & apple marmalade (recipe provided by Janet from w*rk) and preparing 3 batches of courgette & ginger jam from 2 giant courgettes that my allotment neighbour (Trevor) gave me on Wednesday evening. Hopefully I'll get them jammed before I go out for lunch tomorrow morning with Ann (who might bring yet more jars!). If anyone asks what extreme jam making is.... I think this is it.

The 4th of the patterns sold on eBay went in the post at lunchtime. This weekend is another free listing one, so I'll have to think what I could offer for sale.

Making a difference

A few months ago a team went from Romsey Abbey to Burundi to grow the link between our parish and the town of Matana, both between the communities and the churches. Yesterday Tim, Bridget, Mark, Sharon and Harriet (the team) shared their experiences and hopes for the link at a presentation. It began with a bit of background to Burundi - the poorest African nation, with an average annual income of only about £95 and with very little in terms of infrastructure. The schools in Matana (high in the mountains, very rural) don't have electricity or water, the hospital doesn't have water.

I was hit by the gap between those we are helping in Zambia and those in Matana - and yet the project in Zambia is so needed.

During the presentation I kept thinking of the story of the boy and the starfishes that is part of Mission Direct's Mission Statement: 

A boy was standing on a beach that was covered with thousands of dying starfish. He started to pick them one by one and threw them back into the sea.

 "What are you doing?" his mother asked - "We can't make any difference here." 
"Well, I made a difference to that one and that one....." replied the boy.

 So many starfish, but it's good to have the opportunity to make a difference.

So when I got home I made a batch of blackberry and apple jam ready for the next preserve sale.

Sales update

Yesterday's marmalade-ing was worth it - after church today I made £55 from marmalades, chutneys (sold the final 2 - I'll replenish stocks with the last of the rhubarb that I'll pick later today), jams & cards. This was a good sum to raise considering that very few people came into the hall for after-church-coffee because that didn't happen today - no milk!  

So far I've raised £615 through kind donations and sales on Amazon & eBay & at car boot sales, and of course these preserve/card sales. This is around £500 more than I thought I'd manage. It looks like I'll hit my new target - will I be brave enough to raise it again, this time to the k!!

I'll build up my stocks and try again in a few weeks time - maybe I'll also take some milk with me just to make sure coffee happens and I get more customers!

marmalade sandwich

Today has been an inside-out marmalade sandwich - I began and ended it by making marmalade. I'm wondering if this is slightly heroic because I seriously don't like the stuff. Or perhaps it's the buyers who are heroic because I won't be sampling it before they do. Over breakfast I also made the first blackberry & apple jam of the season, which I did sample and it passes my quality check :-)

The middle of this sandwich was a lovely time helping to celebrate Ruth's 60th (which was in February) on a river boat trip on Southampton Water and up the Hamble, with a delicious lunch. It was good to catch up with some people who I've not seen for a long time (including David who is going with MD to Uganda next month). 

Afterwards another Ruth (M) and I sauntered around IKEA, trying out this (Ruth) and this (me) which we found so comfortable that we stayed nattering and watching the world go round before we remembered where we were! Ruth managed to escape the store with no purchases, and I came away with what I went in for (oh, plus a box of these) so I can organise the airing cupboard before work gets done in it.

This evening I found that 3 of the patterns that I listed on eBay have sold (£11.88 total, including postage) and another has sold but I've not yet been paid for it, so that total should increase. Of the remaining 2 patterns, one hasn't sold and the other still has another 2 days before I know.

My fundraising is slowly and steadily coming along, and people are being generous so I've now increased my justgiving target by £200 to £700. If I sell 49 jars of jam I'll hit that target - tomorrow I'm taking 33 jars to sell after the morning service along with some greetings cards and a couple of shawls that I brought back from India. So maybe tomorrow I'll be increasing the target again - that would certainly be good.

Just in time - jars

Just when I thought I'd run out of jars, Mary brought some around this morning. So this evening I'll use some of the blackberries that I picked yesterday for some B&A jam and a bit more marmalade (I really can't understand why it is so popular!). Next week, as long as I have enough jars, I plan a trial run of grapefruit & apple marmalade when I get the recipe from a colleague.

Today too I've had more donations of bandages etc and knitting supplies - I wonder what 24kg (my baggage allowance) looks like because I am beginning to think I might have to stuff my pockets full of the lovely gifts that are coming in.

Jammin till the jam is through - for the moment anyway

Today's lunchtime jam sale was a great success - colleagues bought around 30 jars of chutneys/jams/marmalades and about 10 cards, and gave me ideas of other preserves they'd be happy to buy.

So if you were one of those people "Thank you !!!"

I've still got enough jars for Sunday morning to sell at Romsey Abbey - but can see I'll be jammin' again soon to build stocks up.

Paddington would be happy

I've followed up one of the Good Ideas that was suggested on Sunday, and now have an appointment with the manager at Ruscello's, a lovely Italian restaurant in Romsey, about holding a fundraising event there - I'm not sure yet of any details, and there are different ways this can be run, as explained here. But hopefully it will appeal to lots of people so that I can get closer to my target.

I've booked appointment with travel nurse for rabies & meningitis jabs - on previous trips I've not felt the need for these, but this time it seems to me that the risk might be higher because of the location of the schools and other projects that I'm likely to be visiting. Hopefully I'm being over cautious.

Marmalade making this evening - it's the first time I've made this because I don't like the stuff at all, but so many people have asked for it (including a whisky variation) that I've given it a go. I have no idea if it's OK - I've sampled all the other preserves that I've made, but there is no way I'm trying these!! It looks very pretty.

In between batches I had a surprise visit from Juli who brought some empty jars - very good timing, because I'm running out!!

The marmalade helps meet orders from colleagues - yesterday I emailed everyone where I work to let them know I'll be selling jams etc later in the week, and already have had orders for 10 jars, which is terrific.

It looks like blackberry jam is next to be made after I've done a final batch of marmalade (with ginger this time) - they are really early this year and those at my allotment are ripening as fast as I can pick them!

Wotcha-wa-wa-wa, we're jammin' (wotcha-wa) (Bob again)

Yup you've guessed it - even more jammin' tonight. This time 4 pans on the go at once so I could use up all the mirabelle plums that I gathered this morning. So I think that could well be extreme jamming, and 9 jars are cooling down waiting to be labelled and prettified. There is still enough in the freezer for 3 pans that I'll use for some smaller jars (reduced price, although my pricing system is pretty haphazard) because I'm beginning to run out of "half pound"-ish sized jars.

and will join the others that I got ready over the weekend

It's still a lot of work for not a huge amount of return (about 3 hours for 9 jars which I hope to sell for £3 each). This evening I had a chat with a Very Good fundraiser who had some interesting ideas that I will have a think about to see if they would work for me in Romsey. I'm still hoping that Swishing will get off the ground, but still need to find people to help me run it.

Child of the 60's

Among the things that M gave me to take to Zambia are some sewing patterns from the 50's & 60's including this one

If only I fitted this size I'd be busy sewing them! I love the style, possibly not just because vintage/retro is chic right now but more likely that it is pure nostalgia - I remember my Mum making this sort of thing for both of us.

As vintage is so sought after at the moment I thought it might be better to see if I can sell them and raise funds for the project than to take them with me & find they aren't going to be used. So while I was making courgette & ginger jam I've taken advantage of e-Bay's free listing weekend and listed them here - it's quite handy because there is the option to donate a % to Mission Direct, and claim Gift Aid on it too. It will be interesting to see if they sell.

Jamming till the jam is through (as Bob Marley sung!)

Yesterday I noticed a lot of this fruit under the cherry tree a short distance from my home

and after asking on Facebook and Ship of Fools I found out that they are Mirabelle Plums. It would seem that when the developers of this estate planted the cherry trees about 40 years ago, they chose cherry trees that were grafted onto Mirabelle root stock. A few years ago the cherry tree was hacked to the ground, and the parent plant has fought back - much better than the orginal ornamental (non-fruiting) cherry.

So this evening I've made 10 jars of Mirabelle Plum jam, and am in the middle of removing the stones from the same amount of plums that went into that jam. I'll freeze it in batches that I can jam with so it doesn't go off. And there will be plenty more windfalls tomorrow too!

Added to that, yesterday when I was at the allotment a neighbour gave me 2 giant courgettes, so now there are 3 pans of courgette, ginger and sugar "marinating" to be ready for me to do some jamming tomorrow before going off to tackle the weeds that are growing as fast as the courgettes.

I can see another jam sale on the horizon!

An evening with a fascinating woman

When I put the article into Open Door I had no idea of the interesting lovely people that I would meet. Yesterday I went to see what M wondered might be useful, and stayed for about 2 hours chatting with her and looking at photos that she had taken from 1956 when she went to teach in Tanzania. 

What a difference 55 years makes - in September I will be taking a direct flight to Lusaka but her flight to Tanzania was in 5 steps, leaving from a shed at Heathrow (in a Comet, I think) and stopping for a meal and general comfort break in (I hope I remember this correctly) Rome, Cairo, Nairobi and finally Dar Es Salaam. Then she took a train out to the shadow of Kilimanjaro where she lived for 2 years 6 months.

M taught at a school where about a third of the girls boarded, and many of the day girls had a 90 minute walk each way in the dry season, and a much longer one in the rainy season.

M has led a fascinating life and I can relate to so much of what she thinks and has done, although she actually achieved things that I simply dreamed of.  For example, she arranged an exchange between Romsey schoolchildren and those in industrial Smethwick - something that I tried to get set up between Sparkbrook and Winchester but it didn't get off the ground.

I'm so glad to have met M and really looking forward to hearing more about her travels and experiences next time I visit to collect some more items to take with me to Zambia.

Preserves Purchased

At today's coffee-after-the-service people bought

• 16 jars of jam / chutney (another 25 to go)
• 1 scarf from India (another 3 to go)
• 1 bag from Nepal
• 3 cards (rather a lot to go)

One lady (who taught in Tanzania 25 years ago, probably when she was around my age) has offered some bandages & triangles, as well as her knitting needles and sewing bits - I feel for the ladies giving craft bits because it's often given after having to accept that those days are over, and it makes me realise that it's going to happen to me one day too.
A couple of people also gave me a very generous donation.
So with the sales of the jam and the interest shown in the project, I no longer feel quite as if I'm in this alone.

(There would have been a bit of pondering in this post, but technology got the better of me, so you are spared it!)

Jamming and swishing

My allotment started to be productive early this year. So what has that got to do with Re-Wired, you might ask. Rhubarb makes lovely jam and chutney, and I also realised that I'd frozen more fruit last year than I've used, so I've been making jams and chutneys in order to create some space for this years harvest. So what has that got to do with Re-Wired? Well, tomorrow I'm taking jams & chutneys to Romsey Abbey to sell - mostly varieties that can't be bought in supermarkets. 

 

I''m also taking along some greetings cards that I've made from old (some very old) maps that had been thrown away.

Hopefully everything will go, otherwise people will be getting these cards and jars for their birthdays for a long, long time!

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I think a Swishing party in Romsey could be a good way to get a few coppers into the coffer as well as being fun and so am wondering who might like to help run one of these events. Not sure if this will happen before the project this year, but there are still a couple of months to go.

Kindness

In the July edition of Romsey Abbey's monthly magazine "Open Door" is an article about this project and asking for donations of various things that I can take with me for other projects that Mission Direct supports. So this week I've been enjoying meeting people who I'd not met before who had called me, kindly offering knitting needles, crochet hooks (it seems that I am not the only one with duplicates in both these), wool, childrens' books.

The knitting/crocheting things are for 2 projects giving girls marketable skills so they can bring in a wage for their families:  one trains girls to be maids and the other trains them in knitting and sewing. I am hoping to be able to spend some time with each of these projects while I am in Zambia, joining in with whatever they are doing.

The books will be much appreciated by the schools that I will be working with and by a childrens' home that the team will be visiting.

Slowly the heap of things I need to pack is growing, and the trip is feeling ever more real.

Cash in the Attic?

One part of being on a project like this one is the fundraising to cover the cost of equipment (estimated at £1,500 for the Re-Wired team that I am on with 2 others) or materials (there is a building team of 9 going out at the same time). People on the building team walked until there were blisters on their blisters (well done Emo!) or threw themselves out of an airplane (Natalie is braver than me!), and Martyn (leading the Re-Wired team) did the three peaks challenge (I admire his endurance!), but I couldn't see myself doing any of those. So my challenge is to find a way to to add to the funding, over and above personal costs (we each pay for our own flights and living expenses etc).

Decluttering is great! I ruthlessly went through the clutter in the roofspace (did I really think I'd use that circular saw or angle grinder again?!) and bookshelves and put some things onto Amazon (I can't get my head around Ebay). Friends were also very generous after I offered to take away the results of their own decluttering, and so I went to a few bootsales (it's amazing how much you can get into a little car although I still had to pay as much for a pitch as people with huge cars). The first couple of sales raised about £40 profit each, but after those it was so clear how the economic climate is hitting us all - people were there to browse but not to buy anything that they don't really need. I decided to find a different way of fundraising when I made £3 profit for 4 hours sitting around (but having had a really great natter with Jemma who kept me company).

So a rethink was needed.

Beware innocent phone calls

What a difference a phone call can make! Last winter I was enjoying a cozy evening in when I had a call from my friend David to see if I thought he'd make a good builder. He had spotted a project in Uganda with Mission Direct that he quite liked the look of, and wondered how it would compare with similar projects that I'd been on in Kenya and Guyana. And then I spotted the "Specialist Trips" and got curious, and things just rolled from there.

All my jabs are up to date, and it seemed a waste not to use them so I'm now joining the team lined up to install PCs in 5 schools in Zambia that Mission Direct has been building over the years. I wasn't too sure that I have the right skills (I'm not that tekkie), but apparently I do (oh dear - am I a geek?) and so it seems to me that this will be much better use of my skills than brick laying (I've done enough of that for the moment, thank you). And David is going on the project in Uganda (it seems that he'll be helping with holiday clubs, so nothing to worry about on the brickie front), so a double result for Mission Direct!