Friendship -- Another Reason To Join A Club



Me (foreground) and Sheryl working
side by side makiig jam, i-photo taken
blind by my missing arm..

Gosh, golly, it's good to be home from the Hattiesburg trial where life is safe and easy, close friends and strong walls on a sturdy base surround me, with fenced yards the dogs can run around in, my own bed, and space and supplies aplenty.

The week before the trial I had picked 24 lbs of muscadine grapes and 50 cooking pears from a fellow clubmate's vinyard, and they were all in the fridge calling my name to make jellies and jams.  Sheryl (another clubmate who also picked the fruit) and I got together on Tuesday and Wednesday after the trial to process and make 74 jars of jam (thanks Georgie for providing the cooking pears and muscadines).   We scrounged up, washed and sterilized every jar we could find around our houses, bought all the Sure-Jell we could find from 3 different stores, and had a blast in my kitchen doing our sweet bubbly alchemy together, making 4 different recipes on 2 different days.

1. Muscadine Jelly 
2. Elderberry/Muscadine Jelly
3. Pear/Muscadine Preserves
4. Pear Sauce

We also re-boiled 6 jars of loquat jam that hadn't set from our Spring jelly making session.  One thing I love about making my own jams and jellies is I use a lot less sugar than the Sure-Jell recipes call for and less than store-bought brands, AND I only make up exotic recipes you can't really find in stores -- like the Loquat Jams we made last spring.  It's way too much trouble and too costly to make jelly and jams at home if you can buy the same thing at the store.  I've posted some jelly making tips below.

Sheryl and I both enjoy picking fruit and making jelly.  We like recycling jars rather than going out to buy new ones every time.  It makes us feel rich, plus we get to discuss other subjects besides dogs.  I sorely needed the side-by-side with a pleasant friend to get over my stormy Hattiesburg weekend, and it was a fulfilling way to celebrate Sheryl's birthday.

A recycled Smuckers Jelly jar,
Smuckers label removed.

For finishing touches, I used my PTouch 2700 desktop labeler (a gift last year from my husband) to make laminated water-proof labels for our jars . . . . . which added about 25 cents to the cost of each jar but made them look pretty and . . . . . our Christmas gifts are ready! Man, Brothers is making a killing on their label casettes! When I visited their website today I learned I can hook this unit up to my computer. I didn't know that, so it's one more thing I will have to try and learn.

This friendly experience made me remember a revelation about clubs I had years ago.  Growing up, my parents always seemed to be going to banquets, balls and parties, my mother was always sewing a new coctail dress for this or that event, their house a turnstile of visitors, secret friends, gift swapping, etc.  Perplexed that my adult social life hadn't unfolded so richly, I once asked my mother why I never got invited to balls and banquets and didn't have a bunch of friends.  She set me straight immediately with a simple question:

What clubs do you belong to?

"None", I replied.  "Well", she said, "Where do you think we meet people, and who do you think puts on these events?  They are mostly fundraisers for various causes, and you purchase tickets to them and/or work as a volunteer."  This blew me away.  It became obvious (once it was pointed out), that my parents friends and acquaintances, the ones who showed up at the door with casseroles, soup and pies when tragedy struck, were almost entirely from their neighborhood association, church, Optimist Club, Dad's WWII Bomb Group, the Kiwanees Club, their sailing club, Mom's craft club, bridge club, and so forth.  They had no more intimate friends than I did, just a richer social life.

So, in my later years I've joined a few clubs and gotten invites to a fair number of parties and events, and I've also found a few compadres with whom I have more in common than the club's purpose.  We help each other in lots of different ways, and it's enriched my life quite a bit.  Once you're out of school, turns out clubs are one of the best ways to meet people.

Upwards and onward!

 

JELLY MAKING TIPS:

• To use 25% less sugar, use 50% more Sure-Jell.
• Add a dash of salt per recipe.  "A little bit of salt makes sweet taste sweeter."
• Mixing two or more fruits together makes for more exotic tastes.
• Glass jars with rubber gaskets built into the lids can be re-sealed over and over.  Examples:  Jelly, Bean Dips, Grey Poupon Mustard, Pickles, Salsa, Classico Spaghetti Sauce.  Now that a 1 cup mason jar costs $1 and larger ones even more, and since you rarely ever again see the jars you give away, saving your glass jars can save you a lot of money.

Maiden Voyage of my new RV - Hattiesburg

New puppy, Pepper, lounges on the couch
of our dream RV, as we head to Hattiesburg.

Heading out to Hattiesburg (about 3 hours away) for our first trial since April, this was our first time on the road since bringing my new RV home from Florida last May.  I have spent the past 3 months working out every minute detail for comfort and utility for me and my dogs.  I knew I'd have a few more kinks to work out, but OMG nothing of TORNADO magnitude!  I filled the tank, and drove the whole trip at 65 mph, so next time I gas up I'll be able to calculate mileage at that speed, hoping it exceeds 8 mpg.  So far, my plan is unfolding.
 
Once there, I parked on a slanted slab so dreaded by my previous experience in Hattiesburg with my pop-up camper, but a different wheel base and my home-made leveling boards worked perfect to level the unit and keep her stable.  Still good.  I set up my 32' x-pen yard at the RV site, with my lattice skirt along the RV wall, and found that the lattice needs to be cut down 1/4" more to clear the door.  Humm, at my house it clears fine, but I'm not on concrete.  Maybe there's a dip in my yard. I marked the lattice and sawed the excess off when I got home.  I hit one pot-hole on the way home that made 2 drawers and the kitchen door fly open, but that just served to help me figure out how to bungie them shut in transit.  I timed complete set up in 2 hours on Wednesday afternoon, it was easy work, and every preparation was working great!

Lucky Lucy is comfortable on the bench,
while Maxie (who can't be seen) chose
to lounge in the open crate at right.

Until . . . . . Thursday afternoon, after my last run, with storm clouds gathering, I decided to pack my wagon and dogs and walk from the arena to the RV before it began to rain.  It was a long walk.  About half way, too late to go back, lightening split the sky and it started to drizzle, then rain.  I thought I could make it to the RV so kept going.  Lucky was in harness helping me pull the wagon.  We walked as fast as we could, getting wet, laughing, but with each crack of lightening Lucky's pulling became more eratic and the rains increased.  Eventually I unhitched her from the wagon.  Thank goodness, because within 20 seconds a tornado touched down, knocked me off my feet and flung the wagon 30 feet away.  I scrambled fast to marshall us all to the door of our motor home, but as I rounded the bend saw my x-pens had been knocked down, my table flipped over and there was lots of debris to get tangled in.  And then I realized the keys were still in my purse, in a wagon flung far away.  We were locked out -- in dousing rain and high winds, only barely protected by crouching against the wall of the motor home, which began rocking furiously back and forth.  There was no shelter anywhere else.  No choice, I had to try and reach my keys and get us inside.  I commanded the dogs to "STAY" against the side of the RV, which I figured provided them some protection from wind and pelting rain.  I headed toward the wagon as fast as I could.  Suddenly, it began hailing so hard, blowing almost horizontally, I was knocked to my knees. I had to crawl and keep my head down.  Afraid for my life, I abandoned the wagon idea and took refuge behind my neighbor's trailer -- a little trailer that could have blown off it's chocks and crushed me at any moment.  My prayer was that my RV wouldn't capsize and that my dogs were safer than I was and would stay put where I left them.  I couldn't even see them and dared not call. I was truly afraid for all our lives.  What seemed like 10 minutes later (probably 3) the hail subsided, and I see Lucky skulking my way in the downpour, dragging her leash, and she crawls up under the trailer and extends her paw to me then licks my face.  I grab her neck and melt into tears. Then I see Pepper wandering about, looking for Lucky in the blinding rain, and I call his name from my gut.  He makes his way under the trailer, totally drenched but otherwise unharmed.  Then I notice Maxie is still STAYING where I put him, I begin calling furiously, furiously.  And he makes his way to the trailer, me praying with all my might his leash doesn't get tangled in debris.  He made it.  I have never been so glad to have all my dogs near me.  I unhooked their leashes to prevent them further danger of getting tangled in debris in case we needed to run again.  There was no predicting what might happen next.   When the winds died down, but it was still raining hard, I ventured forth to fetch my keys.  They all followed me to the wagon and then to the RV.  They were all totally focused on my commands, no controversy, total trust but they didn't want to be separated from my side.  We were all drenched to the bone and dripping everywhere.  I no longer cared about keeping my carpets or upholstery clean. Who gives a shit about carpet compared to safety?????  They followed me in, I towel dried each dog as best I could, quickly changed out of my sopping clothes, then put on a poncho and went back out in the rain to fetch my purse, camera case, and dog duffle bag, which were all drenched.  At that point some nice lady walked by saying people and dogs had to head back to the arena immediately for safety, another even worse storm is coming within 5-10 minutes.  Without hesitation I leashed the dogs and we hurried back, and entered an air conditioned arena that was freezing cold to us wet people.  Maxie began shivering so violently I feared hypothermia, and I didn't even have a towel to wrap him in. 

NOTE:  Always carry a big towel in your gear.  Add a hair dryer to my equipment list.

I managed to borrow a towel, dried Maxie off as best I could, and held him in my arms for the next half hour.  Lucky and Pepper weren't so affected by the cold.  The trial stopped.  After an hour and no worse storm happened, the trial re-commenced and we walked back to the RV, where we stayed cozied up the rest of the night. I realized I need a big tub to put wet items in.  A few items in my cabinets were topsy turvy and I made notes for the future.  We learned later, one 5th wheel had been turned around 90 degrees, blown off it's jacks and suffered damage, the brand new little A-frame trailer to my left had collapsed, and other RV'ers suffered minor damage.  Part of the arena roof blew off.  Trees snapped off, and debris was flying all over the grounds.  No one was hurt. We were all extremely lucky.  I managed to salvage all my stuff along the fence line by the next day, and though wet, none of it was harmed. I dare not contemplate how I would have faired in my pop-up,

Next day, Friday, to my great amazement, we all felt fine.  Maxie Q'd one of 2 runs with only 1 problem caused by me to his NQ, and Lucky ran pretty well for her.  I was calm.  I didn't feel shaky until Saturday.

Saturday I wokd up with my shin muscles very sore.  I could barely rotate my ankles, was off emotionally, and it turned out to be a horrible day.  More on the trial-related horrible thing will be in my next post along with a summary of our runs.

Second horrible thing, I was packing up the RV to go home Saturday afternoon, dogs inside, me moving stuff in and out, when the f'ing door locked itself and I was locked out!  Keys were inside.  95 degree weather.  What??????   After recovering from jaw slapping shock, I found my iPhone in my pocket and used it to call 911. They offered to contact a locksmith, meanwhile I went back into the arena to see if anyone could help, but of course the trial secretary was busy recording scores, also told me campus security wasn't on site.  After an hour 911 couldn't rouse a locksmith, but eventually sent a sherrif out to pick my lock.  (They didn't send anyone at first because "we can't pick locks on motor homes, only on vehicles."  I thought fast, and assured them that my Class C motor home was built on a van chassis, so it was just a vehicle  So they agreed to try.)  But this took 2 hours, with the dogs inside and me out in the heat.  At least my dogs were air conditioning, but I wasn't.  I used my time wisely re-arranging the outside storage compartments (which I had planned to do anyway), staying in the little ribbon of shade beside the RV.  But towards the last half hour I was getting hot, parched and while still not frantic, considerably nervous.  Finally I remembered the broken window latch I had taped shut on the drive home from Florida, managed to force the window open and get inside by standing on the handle of my little step laddar, and just as I got my butt in, my feet dangling out the window, the sherrif arrives!  Lucy, I had some 'splainin' to do!

NOTE:  Hide a second set of keys in a magnetic box and put it outside somewhere.  I hear one can purchase a magnetic box with a combination on it.

Made it home without further incident, pacing myself, exhausted and not caring about our agility performance.  Haven't even watched the videos.  I'll assess this when I feel better rested.



Upwards and onward!