Marmalade.

The task is complete, the marmalade is jarred. Herself questioned me as to where I was going to find any jars as we assiduously recycle any jam jar that passes through our house-hold as soon as it is empty. She forgets my inheritance, a significant portion of which is the stock of Kilner preserving jars that both my mother and grandmother used. Let me make this clear, we are talking about two lots of jars not just one which has passed from one generation to the next. Both ladies were married to men with allotments and my father had a large garden as well. In the days before refrigerators, the fruit and vegetables were preserved. It is a practice that I would love to continue although, in this day and age, fresh produce is available all the year round, and obtaining large quantities of local produce is not as easy as it once was. As it is, I stew fruit on a regular basis to have with my morning muesli though, it has to be said that, with my current gastric problems, total volume of intake is a problem and the amount of cereal is severely reduced, at times to the extent of it being non-existent.
 
I would guess that some of these jars and rings, if not all of them, are older than I am. I tend to treat the rings with great care as they are steel while the modern replacements are aluminium - which is a problem with those jars set aside for pickled onions.
 
I did notice, last time I cycled to Craigie’s Farm Shop, that they appear to offer a pick-your-own service; I shall have to investigate next year and maybe re-start the tradition even though it will probably end with me. We had a phone call from Jnr yesterday to say he had just bought himself a slow-cooker, he wanted to know what to do with it.