A Real Monday- Eyeroll Alert

Yesterday was the first "real Monday" I have had in a long time!  What I mean by that is that the way most people describe Monday with a snarl, is not how my Mondays usually go.  Fridays are my Mondays.  I could go without Friday all together, actually.  By that day of the week, I am spent!  Mondays are bright and cheery in this house. Then yesterday happened.
 (Insert eye roll HERE.)  

On a good note, two different sources gifted us with fresh rhubarb!  From my sister, and from a man who Adam pulled over after seeing him looking tired and took over mowing his lawn for him at random.  I had about 5 pounds of it, just enough for a rhubarb jelly recipe I had been looking at.  So I got busy yesterday in the morning.  Have you ever squeezed the juice out of rhubarb?  It's tough.  The recipe said to grind the rhubarb and let it drip juice until it measured 3 1/2 cups.  I'm impatient about these things.
I mashed the juice out myself. 

Look at the beautiful color!  

3 1/2 cups rhubarb juice (from about 5 lbs of rhubarb) 

7 cups sugar

2 pouches (3 oz. each) liquid fruit pectin

Bring to boil, stirring constantly.  Add pectin.  Return to full boil for 1 minute.  Remove from heat, pour into jars and seal. 

EASY.  Except that it was Monday and for some reason my jelly didn't set. 

(Insert another eye roll HERE.)

Of course I couldn't go to the store for more pectin because I do not have a vehicle during the day.  Steph was at band camp and I couldn't ask her to run down for me. We are lucky to live so close.  ANYWAY, it killed my OCD all day long to not be able to fix it. 

However, my canning book suggested to reboil it, 4 cups at a time, add 3/4 c sugar, 2 tbsp. lemon juice, and 2 tbsp. liquid pectin.  It worked, half way.  It looks like jelly and acts like jam, but it is delicious! 

Then I decided to fore-go my nap time reading and prime these shutters.  I was taking a sanity risk.

I did not enjoy this task.  It took about two hours, my hand was killing me and the sun was so hot I thought I was dieing but I had already set shop up right there and was too stubborn after the jelly fiasco to move them AGAIN.  Sorry, Stephen King, I will have to join the town UNDER THE DOME at a later time. 

(Great book, by the way.)  

The edges of each slat were the worst to get covered.  I am thankful that I work at home so I could work on this stuff.  I'm also thankful that Monday is over.  Tuesday is like Monday's do-over. 

 Remember the rain we had last week?  All of these flowers in the vase fell over because of it and they actually broke.  Even a mammoth sunflower couldn't take it, I had to tie it up with fishing line.  Pretty!

♥♥♥Happy Tuesday!♥♥♥