Canning With One Hand Tied Behind My Back

Well, almost.

I haven't blogged in a while, I know. I've been away. Really away. ("what about the hand?" - "that part comes later.") We took the kids and went to Europe for almost 3 weeks. Zurich. Paris. London. Reykjavik. It was a trip to remember! We toured Notre Dame, stood atop the Eiffel Tower in a rainstorm (brrr), walked amongst the stones at Stonehenge. Toured Westminster Abbey and attended Evensong at St. Paul's Cathedral. Swam in the Zurichsee. Stood on an island in the middle of a waterfall. Found my ancestors' home in Besselsleigh, England, and met about 30 of our cousins in Iceland. Rode Icelandic horses, soaked in the Blue Lagoon, and watched geysers erupt. And so much more! It was an amazing trip.

And then, on the very last night, I fell. Also a trip to remember.

I broke my pinky finger on my right hand. Not in an insignificant way, either. When I sat up, my first thought was, oh, it's just dislocated. I tried to put it back. I succeeded in at least getting it pointing in the correct direction and freaking out my family at the same time. It was at that point that we all decided that I needed to go to the hospital.

Now I am home, sporting a bulky fiberglass splint, and awaiting Tuesday, when it will have to be pinned. I am not sure how the recovery time frame is supposed to go and at which point I will have more use of the rest of my hand. I do know I can't work with patients until the pins come out and that is wreaking all sorts of havoc on the precariously balanced shift schedule.

But I also know that I am not one to just sit around. Therefore, I am canning. I went raspberry picking with the 5-year-old yesterday, which was a riot. Kindergarten starts on Monday, so this was our last midday outing for a while. What was especially amusing was discovering that every raspberry that the 5-y-o picked was gently mouthed to see if it was juicy enough before it went into the bucket. Thankfully there were only 32. A running count was kept. But it was a joy to be outside, in lovely weather, hearing the wee one, no longer so wee, sound so happy.

Today I am slowly making 2 batches of jam: seedless raspberry and peach melba. For the latter, I ran 3 peaches through the food mill with the raspberries since I couldn't cut them easily or peel them. I got about 1.5 cups of peach juice, can't really even call it puree, and I'm combining that with 2.5 c of crushed raspberries, including the seeds. I'm managing OK, with a glove on my right hand that at least keeps the splint dry. But, I think, I may have to keep those other canning projects in the freezer for a while, and maybe I won't be putting up peaches this year. I'll try to be OK with that.

Since this is also a day to be somber and thoughtful, I will be counting my blessings.