SERENDIPITOUS Viburnum triloba

This has been an average week.  Mundane in most every respect....rain at some point nearly every day....cloud cover most of the day....freakin' cold at night...(I've had to bring my hanging fushia into the garage for safe keeping)...and just to rub me the wrong way my job has me down to my last nerve.

So the last thing I expected to cheer my crusty menopausal heart was the discovery of a highbush cranberry that has just magically appeared in my yard in all it's red berried glory.

How could I have missed an approximately 12 foot tall shrub/tree?  I dunno.

Ya see...first my dishwasher went on the fritz...so I'm at the kitchen sink doing dishes the old fashioned way (insert grumbling sound here).  While staring into the abyss (insert gazing out over the back yard here) I see an orange cat out by the garden shed.   "Hmmmm, that must be the cat daughter #2 was talking about."  But, this cat is limping quite badly.  I'd better go see if it's OK.  (At this point I grab a pack of kitty tenders, and still wearing hideous yellow rubber gloves, shove feet into crocs and head to the garden shed.)  My attempts to get near said cat fail miserably.  Probably for the best because kitty won't be the only one limping if hubby comes home from 3 wks away and we have another pet in the house.  (Happens every time he leaves town...I can't explain)

Anyway, kitty makes a quick escape into the bushes behind the shed.  (Doesn't seem to be limping now....I leave the kitty tenders beside the riding mower)  When I look up something red catches my eye....upon further investigation I discover the High Bush Cranberry that I swear wasn't there before!

In fact, I was going to buy a few last spring at the Ferguson Forestry Centre, because I've always fancied them and I didn't have one.

I make a note to myself to get a picture of this miracle shrub right after I finish up the dishes. 

Within the hour the sky clears briefly and I have a very short window of opportunity to get a picture...remember it has been raining non-stop most of the week.  

So that was my "serendipity" moment of the week.

High Bush Cranberry Jelly

2 cups berries

3 Cups water

2/3 cup sugar for each cup of juice

1.  Simmer berries and water for 10 minutes to start the juice extraction then let boil rapidly from 3 to 5 minutes.

2.  Strain through a jelly bag. (layers of cheesecloth)

3.  Measure strained juice.

4.  Add 2/3 cup sugar for each cup of juice.

5.  Bring juice and sugar toa boil, stirring constantly, then boil rapidly until liquid will sheet from the side of a spoon (not drip off in separate drops)

6.  Pour into sterilized jelly jars and seal.

This recipe is from Northern Cookbook, c1979.

I haven't tried it but I just may now that I know where to find some berries.

Take Time to Enjoy the Simple Things