One way to get everyone cleaning the kitchen!

With the threat of frost this week, I thought it was definitely time to harvest the grapes.  I did not want to risk losing them and there won't be many more days of sitting out underneath them.  I have loved having the new arch for the vine to grow over, especially as there is a seat built in.  An ideal place to sit awhile, you can put your feet up and hide away amongst the foliage.

The grapes were smaller than the last few years but even so we picked nearly 20 pounds!  You can eat them as they are, but a high proportion of pips to grape makes it hard work.  We have made wine in the past but other things were planned for this year's crop.

There's always a little helper!

My dear husband very kindly stripped the stalks away and yesterday I set to, cooking them up and dripping them through the jelly bag to extract the juice which of course is not the quickest exercise.  All was going well and one lot was left dripping last night so this morning there was just the final lot to go.  I set the jelly bag back on it's high stand, carefully using a jug I started pouring... the bag got to half full and... well I bet anyone who has used one of these stands before is now starting to laugh.  Why?  Well... the top of the bag has elastic in and you stretch it over the stand,  but sometimes they slip... no warning... just a little bit of redecoration! 

Well in my case it was rather a lot of redecoration!  As I was filling the bag a lot of juice had already run through into the large jug under it. The bag fell down with a good bit of weight behind it and SPLASH!!!  Cupboard fronts had beautiful dark purple streaks, so did the cooker hood, the worktop had a lake which dripped down across the floor and under the island unit.  Clean ironing on the airer was splashed, the cookery book (left open)  got a good coating and so did yours truly!  It was in my hair and dripping down my face!  Good job my top was pink! I shouted for help and fortunately everyone came running, then I couldn't stop laughing, it was so funny, and actually you had to either laugh or cry.

Hubby still cannot believe that the bag falling from the stand could create enough force to splatter the ceiling!

Luckily it did wash off, and luckily for me everyone helped to clean the kitchen. 

Eventually I could carry on, we took the added precaution of 8 pegs to hold the bag in place. So far the grape pulp (left after straining the juice) has all been cooked into Grape Butter, and the first batch of Mulled Wine Jelly has been made.  There's still a lot of juice left to jelly though so I think I shall be busy this week.