Jammin'

Wow, we have a lot of apricots.  Most of them fall on the ground before we can get to them but we picked a ton off the tree last week and washed them up with the idea of making apricot preserves.  We ended up with a pretty large bowlful and just hoped it would be enough to fill the 12 little jars we had purchased.  I got a recipe off the internet and we tested it tonight.  Guess what?  We only used about 1/4 of the bowlful of apricots.  Oh my gosh!  What are we going to do with the rest?  This doesn't even take into account the hundreds that are still on the tree.

The recipe we used called only for diced apricots, sugar and lemon juice.  Pretty simple for our first time.  I opted for a pectin-free recipe since many that I found did not use it.  Apparently, pectin is used to thicken the jam but maybe it isn't absolutely necessary for a fruit like apricots.  There is nothing wrong with pectin; it's a plant derivative that appears naturally in our diets.  I just liked the idea of fewer ingredients.  Also, it wasn't easily found at the neighborhood grocery.

I had the bright idea of jazzing up the recipe with a little cinnamon and nutmeg.  By the time I added it, the apricot mixture was already boiling on the stove.  There were at least 12 cups worth of stuff in the pot at that point so I sprinkled in some cinnamon.  It looked like a lot sitting on top of the gooey mixture but I stirred it in and it just kind of blended away.  I added only a touch of nutmeg.

The mixture continued to boil and it was supposed to thicken but, since I have never done this before, I wasn't sure how thick it should be before pouring it into the jars.  Matthew's mom said that it always thickens up as it cools.  I guess we'll just see what happens.

When it's ready, you pour the mixture into jars that have been boiled for 10 minutes so they are sterilized.  Then you pop the tops on and screw on the ring before dropping the whole thing back into the boiling water for another 10 minutes.  This will help to seal them so they can be stored.  They were so cute because each little jar "popped" after being pulled from the boiling bath.  Matt took one out and set it on the counter then, a few seconds later, we hear this little "POP".  Some of them popped right away and some took a little longer.  There was one holdout that didn't pop until we were halfway through dinner.

We are waiting now for 12-24 hours and then we'll check the seals to make sure all is well.  We did have one jar worth of extra "jam" but we hadn't sterilized enough jars so we just put the mixture in that one and stuck it in the fridge.  That will be our test subject.  Unfortunately, we tested it already and I'm not sure it's thick enough AND I need to lay off the cinnamon next time.  The stuff tastes like pie filling.  I think we might label this as "Apricot Dessert Topping" because it will be delicious on ice cream or pound cake or even pancakes...or you can just eat it straight out of the jar like I did.  It was yummy but it didn't taste much like apricots.

So, the plan is to try again on Wednesday.  Hopefully, we'll end up with some delicious apricot preserves.  After that...apricot pie!

Kayak Kid

Today, Matthew and I decided to take out one of the kayak's at the La Jolla house...FINALLY.  We have been meaning to do this for years and never seem to have the energy.  It is a little bit of work to get out to the beach but it's worth it.  We loaded the kayak on Matt's truck and then my dad dropped us off and went home.  That really helped because we didn't have to deal with parking and that was a big deal because the beach was absolutely packed today.

I got in the kayak when the water wasn't too deep and then Matt pushed it out further before jumping in.  Of course, that meant that I got to sit in the front of the kayak as we steered straight into the waves and they crashed right over me...and it was cold!  I got used to it after the 4th or 5th dousing.

Once we were past the waves, we headed towards the caves, along with 100 other kayakers.  I'm telling you it was crazy out there today.  Luckily, the ocean is pretty big so we were never crowded out except when we got right over by the caves.  Even then, it wasn't so bad.  There were sea lions over there sunning themselves on a rock and we all took turns getting close.  A few were in a little protected area of the water swimming around but the rest were laying out.  They were adorable!  We wanted to go in some caves but only saw one that looked like we could actually go somewhere.  It was an opening that led through to an opposite opening which opened to a little protected beach.  Unfortunately, there were a ton of snorkelers in there so we moved on and decided to come back later.

We tooled around the cove for a while and then headed back to that one cave.  We had to wait for some oblivious snorkelers to clear the area before we could go in.  When I say oblivious, I mean that there was a family of four swimming through and then they stopped right at the mouth of the cave.  Despite the fact that several kayaks were poised to go into the cave and were obviously waiting for them to clear the area, they sat there treading water and having a conversation about where to go next.  The mother, meanwhile, was floating right into our kayak.  Her husband was watching it happen but never said a word.  I finally had to yell, "Watch out", to which she turned and seemed perturbed at me.  Whatever. 

Of course, this meant that 2 other kayakers snuck into the cave before us but that was okay because there was a tour guide with them so it was nice to just follow.  Unfortunately, once we got in the cave, there were 2 other oblivious snorkelers inside.  Keep in mind that the cave isn't huge and there were 3 other kayaks in there with us by that time.  The other kayaks kind of made a u-turn to the right so they could go up another cave and exit back out to the cove instead of going through to the little inlet/beach area.  I soon realized that this was probably because it was rocky on the other side.  Already, I could see rocks jutting up from the bottom.  About the time we needed to u-turn, however, the mensa snorkelers decided to swim right into our kayak....literally.  I've been snorkelling before and I think I would notice a bright yellow thing sitting right in front of me.  Anyway, we kept trying to get out of their way and, in doing so, we ended up way to the left of the cave.  All of a sudden, I felt a huge wave just pick us up and hurl us forward.  We were heading straight for the rocks!  I just hung on for dear life, praying that we wouldn't tip because I knew then that the wave would just slam us into the rocks.  We skated over several rocks and then the waved petered out and the front of our kayak hit one of the rocks, stopping us.  We hadn't tipped.  Hurray!  Matt jumped out and steered us out of the cave to the little inlet and we kayaked out of there.  It was our mini-whitewater kayaking adventure...and I have to say it was kind of fun.  I might not be saying that if we had tipped but we didn't.

We kayaked around a little more before heading in.  I didn't really want to stop because it was really nice out there.  The weather was perfect and we didn't feel tired at all.  I thought my arms would get fatigued but they didn't.  Matt's back hurt a little bit but that was all.  We both had a really good time and we are definitely going out again next weekend if we can.  

Do you know that I still haven't done my last 3 ocean dives?  Our instructor is busy teaching a class now and she doesn't have time to take us out.  There is only one more weekend Matt can go so I really don't know what we're doing to do.  I'm going to have to get ghetto on Ocean Enterprises tomorrow because the instructor isn't even returning our calls!  We paid a lot of money for the private class so we could get it done in time for our trip and now the deadline is approaching and I'm still not certified.  Ugh...as if I don't have enough to do before the wedding!

Crazy Weekend

This is just a quick note about last weekend, starting with July 4th.  My whole family was in La Jolla for the weekend, as were Matt's parents.  We had 2 full houses.  It was nice to see Will, Donnie and Raquel but it was even nicer to see my little niece, Chloe.  She is just so cute!  I found it hard not to stare at her constantly.

So, July 4th, we just hung out at the house and had dinner, illegal fireworks and then watched legal fireworks over La Jolla Cove.

July 5th, I had a Bridal Shower which was pretty fun.  Thank you so much to Stephanie and Catherine for all of their hard work planning it and for the wonderful food and drink, games, favors, etc that they provided.

After the shower, the men showed up as well as other guests and we had an Engagement Party.  Thank you to my parents for this.  I know they spent a lot of money, time and energy on the party.  Actually, we thanked them last night by taking them out to dinner at the Marine Room.  Yummy!!!

I had a great time at both events.  It was really great to see all of my cousins.   I rarely get to see Robert so it was nice to spend a little time talking to him.  I also should mention that my cousin, Cathy, helped with some of the food for the Engagement Party and it was all delicious.

There were a lot of people at the party that I haven't seen in FOREVER, like my old babysitter, Cella.  She is crazy...in a fun way!  I think I was able to talk to everyone for at least a little bit.  It was good practice for my wedding day.  I actually think my wedding day will be easier because only 25 people will be there.  Only 33 days to go!!!

Success

I passed my final exam in the book portion of my dive class.  Then I had another pool session.  I was feeling a lot more confident because the pool seems so safe compared to the ocean.

I put my gear on and did the giant stride right in to the pool.  I was ready.  8 skills to go and I wanted to power through them.  Easier said than done.  Most of the skills you learn are never used.  They teach you what to do if you encounter problems, such as "my mask fell off" or "my respirator is just flowing air continuously".  I hate doing anything where I have to take off my mask because, inevitably, water goes up my nose and I start sputtering then the water really goes up my nose and it's just a bad situation.  I tried to flee to the surface but Deanna had a hold on me.  I finally got the thing on an cleared the water out of it then I was okay.

By far the hardest skill was removing your vest underwater and putting it back on.  Remember that wetsuits make you float in addition to the human body just naturally wanting to float.  The BCD vest is what holds all of the weights and the air tank.  It's the only thing keeping you underwater.  So, when I took off the vest, I had to keep a firm grip on it or I would just go up while it went down.  I did keep ahold of it but my body still wanted to go up.  It was ridiculous.  I'm holding onto this vest at the bottom of the pool and my legs are practically straight up in the air.  How am I supposed to get leverage to do anything in that position?  It was quite a strain and I needed a little help but I got it back on.  Thank heavens.  I didn't want to have to do it again.  I was so out of breath that I just sat on the bottom of the pool panting while Matthew did his.  It's a really strange and almost horrifying feeling to be so out of breath underwater.  I was just sucking in air from my respirator like there was no tomorrow and trying to calm myself and my breathing.  Eventually, it settled down but it was not fun.

The worst skill for me was called CESA.  That means Controlled Emergency Swimming Ascent.  You only do this if you run out of air underwater (which should never happen because you always check your gauges, right Matt).  Basically, you just take your last breath and then swim to the surface while exhaling.  Oh, you may not know this but air becomes denser and has a lower volume as you go deeper.  For instance, a balloon filled with air and sealed would be only half a big at 33 feet.  For this reason, you NEVER hold your breath while diving.  Air decreases in volume as you descend so, conversely, it increases in volume as you ascend.  If you were to take a full breath at the bottom and then hold your breath as you swam to the surface, the air in your lungs would expand and it would stretch your lungs which could be fatal.  Scary, huh? 

Anyway, in the pool, we practice CESA by swimming diagonally from the bottom of the pool to the surface.  You would normally do it at more than 20 feet and the pool is only 9 feet.  The problem for me is that I don't seem to have a high lung capacity.  I was never one to hold my breath very long.  In the case of CESA, you slowly breath out as you swim to the surface.  Technically, this would be easier in the ocean because, as you ascend from 20 feet, the previously compressed air in your lungs would now increase in volume thus giving you more air to exhale.  I know it's a little confusing.  

So, I did the pool CESA and I swam too long at a deeper level so, by the time I was almost out of breath, I wasn't even close to the surface.  I made a beeline straight up and didn't make it.  I instinctively inhaled.  Thank heavens you keep the regulator in your mouth or I would have been sucking in water!  Once at the top, you have to inflate your BCD manually so you aren't floating until you do...and it's hard to kick so you can get high enough out of the water to take a breath and then blow it into the vest.  Right about the time you are going to sink down again, you have no breath left.  It sucked but I did it.

That means that I have now completed all of my pool skills too.  I have done 1 ocean dive so I only have 3 ocean dives left and I'll be certified!

Anti-Hood Brigade

So, I mentioned in my other post that I had my first ocean dive.  The diving classes go off La Jolla so it really worked out for us because we were in La Jolla for the weekend anyway.  Most of the classes meet at 6:30am but I was barely getting up at that time.  Because we are doing a private class, we got to meet a little later.  By the time we got there and were prepared to go into the water, I think most people were going in for their second dive.

Anyway, we got all of our gear on and it was a lot heavier than normal.  Because you are more buoyant in salt water, we had to wear extra weights.  This is great when you are in the water but not so great when you have a trek down to the ocean.  It felt like we would never reach the water.  The tank and everything were so dang heavy that I thought my shoulders were just going to break away from my body. 

Then you get to the water and, joy, it's surf so you are battling against the waves which isn't that easy when you are so top-heavy.  We finally made it through the surf and then we had the simple task of swimming out the buoy.  It seemed so easy because your BCD is inflated and it makes you float.  All you have to do is lie on your back and kick...and kick...and kick.  I thought we would NEVER get to that frickin' buoy!  The whole time I was kicking out, I was looking at the shore and I swear it wasn't getting any further away.  By the time we reached that buoy, we were exhausted.  By "we", I mean Matthew and I.  Our instructor wasn't even breathing heavy.

I forgot to mention that we have to wear hoods in the ocean because it's a lot colder than the pool.  So, once we were at the buoy, we had to put the hoods on and then we were going to descend to the bottom which was about 20 feet.  I did NOT like that hood.  I think I had a mental block about it from the beginning.  It was tight around my neck and the chin piece came up too high so it ended up going over my bottom lip instead of under it.  It felt really constricting.  Matthew didn't like his either.  He felt like it was choking him.  But we put them on because we needed to stay warm underwater.

And down we went.  I had to hang onto a line that went from the buoy to the anchor.  I guess this was just to keep the current from taking me away.  I held onto that thing like it was my lifeline.  In fact, I was holding onto it so tightly that my instructor had to physically pull me down.  It was scary, though.  It wasn't like the pool at all.  Visibility was low so all I could see was green and Matthew.  I freaked and went right back up.  I think I had only gone down a few feet.

I tried again...and went right back up.  Actually, I got to about 8 feet that time.  I really felt like I couldn't do it with that stupid hood on my head.  I couldn't stand it.  Luckily, my instructor said that I didn't have to wear it and we would just stay a little shallower.  There is a point in the water, almost like a line across it, where the water is warmer above it than it is below it.  This is called a thermocline.  Since the thermocline was around 20 feet, she said we could just descend to the bottom and then swim into shore along the bottom.  That made me feel much better.   

The third time I went down without the hood.  It was a little cold at first but I didn't notice it after that.  This time I kept going down, down, down.  It felt like I was going down forever and when I looked down the line I was holding, I could see that it just went on into nothingness.  I was pretty much at the point when I didn't want to go any deeper and then, to see this line extending so far down, was disheartening.  I had to go back up.

Of course, once we got to the top, my instructor said I was only a few feet from the bottom.  Erg!  If I'd known, I think I could have made it!  So, I tried one more time...and this time it worked.  It was weird because as soon as I got to the bottom, I could see.  Well, I could see the stuff on the bottom but that's where everything is.  Oh, yeah.  While we were hanging out at the buoy on the surface, we could see dolphins swimming.  They hang out higher up, though, so we didn't see them while we were diving.  We didn't really see much of anything.  My instructor came upon a stingray and swished it away so all I saw was turbulent sand.  She also pointed out something that scurried away.  All I could see was a wavy line taking off.  Still, it was cool to be down there.

We stayed along the bottom until we got into about 4 feet of water.  Then the dive was over.  I was a little disappointed.  For all the drama it took to get me down there, I enjoyed being on the bottom of the ocean.  I wanted it to last longer but we had a plan and you always stick to the dive plan.  I want to mention that I was never cold and, it turns out, we went below the thermocline.  Matthew was cold, though, and we was wearing a hood.  Go figure.

So, we made our way back to shore and I swear that gear was heavier than when I went in the water.  I knew it wasn't but it was almost unbearable to walk now with all that weight on.  Matthew and Deanna (my instructor) each carried one of my weight pouches too.  I'm such a wimp.  It was all I could do to get back to the grassy area.  Actually, I didn't even make it that far.  I had to stop and sit on a post because I was really dizzy.  I don't know if that was from my exhaustion or if it had something to do with my left ear problems.  Either way, I decided I shouldn't do a second dive that day.  

So, I succeeded in doing an ocean dive but I failed to do 2 of them in one day.  I'll be doing 2 or 3 dives in a day in Australia but it will be easier because you can just flop off the boat into the water and you're there.  It's carrying the heavy stuff on your back for 10 minutes and then swimming out against the ocean current for 20 minutes that did me in.  I think it will be a lot easier in Australia and visibility will be better and the water will be warmer so we can have thinner wetsuits...and no hoods.  Hurray!