The Daily Yardman Thread

Boobala said:

Ain't it nice to be retired, no more Mondays just 7 Saturdays now !! ..:thumbsup: ..

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Roger B said:

I dunno Boo, I used to work twice as hard on Saturdays as I did all week and it seems that I've carried that attitude into retirement, now I work that hard seven days a week! (Not really true, some days I don't do a damn thing!)

To kinda blow yer skirt up a little more, it isn't just that you know where to find a manual or description for whatever it is you're working on, but that you actually understand it! I read some of that schitt twice and still say WTF??? (By the way, WTF means "Wheels That Fail", it's a TV show and I've seen it!)

Making black berry jelly this morning. I picked 8-1/2 pounds of berries yesterday! Finally had a decent day to pick. That makes about 12-13 pounds so far and lots of berries still coming.

Tomorrow is FREE Day for Vets at the Union Fair, we'll be heading up that way right after I get in from hauling traps... Hope ya'all have a fine Navy Day today..

Rog

PS. When is Bert supposed to be back from raiding Melbourne?

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Boobala said:

He said he was taking a WEEK off , how long is a week in Australia ?? ..:laughing: ..:laughing:

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Roger B said:

Knowing Aussies as little as I do, probably eight or nine days!! LOL...

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Roger B said:

here are some hints for anyone interested in making Black Berry jelly.

Of course the secret is separating the black berry juice from the black berries themselves! (You 'could' make black berry jam, and use the whole berry, but there are so many seeds no one will eat it.)

So the trick is to s-l-o-w-l-y simmer the berries in a large pot until they sort of fall apart, then pour the resulting mash into a cheesecloth bag and hang it over night allowing the juice to drip out into a container. Then using a typical berry jelly recipe, make jelly. (Recipe: 3-1/2 cups of juice, 1 - box of pectin, 5 - cups of sugar. Makes about three pints.)

Here are things that you MUST NOT DO!! No matter how much you want to increase the amount of juice you get. DO NOT mash the berries while they are simmering.. Also do not use an egg beater or even a steel spoon to help break them down. Just simmer them slowly, but no longer than is absolutely necessary.

When the mash is in the bag - DO NOT Squeeze the bag to obtain more juice!! Let it drip out on it's own..

Now, you may want to know WHY you should not do any of these things.. It's because the seeds will make the juice so bitter that again, no one will eat it!!

Yesterday I thought that gently operating a hand powered egg beater wouldn't hurt anything.. Well, I was wrong! I just wasted two quarts of black berry juice, not to mention over 3 hours of picking, five cups of sugar and the box of pectin that I used to make the first batch with.. Fortunately I have a buddy who makes blackberry wine and bitter juice doesn't hurt his wine at all, so he's the one who will benefit from all of yesterday's berry picking! Bugger!! I often wonder if I will ever learn to leave well enough alone!?!?! It's painful to still be a dumbass at this advanced age!!

Roger

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Boobala said:

OK all you guys, ROGER has definitely LOST IT !!! ...RECIPES !! We get lessons in Jelly-making..?? ..:laughing: ..:laughing:

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Boobala said:

Hey James, Roger is a Southern Rebel at heart, he still has a pile of Confederate money and a banner that reads "The South Will Rise Again" !!! ..:laughing: ..:laughing:

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