January Jam

A cold but sunny winter day means it's a perfect time to nestle in at home.

One of my favourite things to do is make jam.

I know, a funny time of year to be doing that!!  But in the summer it is just too nice to be in the house,

and in the cold of winter I am thinking of summer and the garden.

When you make jam, the whole house smells like berries. In this case it is blackcurrants from my sil and bil in a neighbouring town.

They have an organic berry farm and I  wanted to try the currants.

I'd love to say this is an old family recipe, but really it is just the one from the Certo!!!

Beautiful berries, sugar, pectin and jars. It doesn't take much time, and soon you have  40 jars of wonderful jam.

Red and white baker's twine and colourful lid covers.

You can customize a gift jar to suit any kitchen. For my sister this would mean pink!!  For me it would be white or aqua.

In other news, we finally finished the laundry room project. As is our usual custom, it took longer than we planned.

The countertops were installed just before Christmas, so other than painting my old table  I would consider it done.

I love the look of carrera marble, and I love solid surfacing but neither were in the budget.

We chose a honed finish laminate in a high def. marble. I really like it and more importantly it is family friendly for those messy

painting and craft projects we seem to do.

We have good storage for my fabric and a good work area too. Since this room opens directly into the lower level family room

we have turned the whole space into a hobby room.

There is room for the farmhouse table in the sewing area, the sewing desk, ironing board, and the old dropleaf table for craft projects.

For fun I painted the back of the upper cabinets in a pale robin's egg blue.

The tall cabinet stores fabric, quilt batting is behind the closed door. The tiny half door goes to "my" side of the crawl space where I

keep my paint. The grandkids think the door is perfect for them!!

An ogee edge and curvy taps.  I love the round sink, and it is well priced from Ikea.

The old dropleaf that still needs to be painted. It takes up little space when folded down but is great for projects.

I'm still deciding if I should go the standard white or maybe the aqua colour for fun.

Fabric storage, a few upper shelves and the beadboard ceiling. There isn't anything I would change, I am happy with the results.

The handy hubby did an excellent job on the cabinetry and counter installation.

Now if I can only keep it organized between projects!!

We are still busy painting furniture. Just before Christmas handy hubby surprised me with my birthday gift.......

I've had my eye on this buffet for a while, 2 years to be exact!!

It is true farmhouse style, lots of storage and solid square lines. I love the curvy legs and scalloped detail.

It was dark wood that I did in ASCP Old White. The finish is like satin, it is so smooth and distressed beautifully.

New hardware in old silver give it a bit of bling.

Inside I have extra serving dishes, linens, candles, napkin rings, and all the stuff you don't use daily but still need.

I'm finding the white helps to  lighten up the space.  It might be time to paint the living-dining area.

The current colours are still great but I find I am wanting clear happy colours. Nothing murky.

I am looking at whites and pale greys, but can't decide if I should or not!!

What do you think?