More apricots, well lots actually

I have some very fond memories of myself and my sisters perched in an apricot tree with the cousins or the neighbors, devouring the juiciest, ripest apricots on a warm sunny day.  

I love living in the Lowveld and the abundance of mango and litchi in summer, but I do miss a fresh peach or apricot.  Nothing beats a sun-kissed summer fruit straight from a tree.  

Luckily, I found a huge pile of very fresh, just ripe apricots in our local fruit market the other day and I could not resist.  I started putting a few in a bag and then got carried away.  Well, really carried away and ended up buying eight kilograms of the blushing fruits.  

I had a plan though, that all started as another fond memory of a few family members, often my paternal grandmother and my mother and whomever got roped in, making jam.  We would all gather around a huge jam pot, chatting, peeling, discarding pips or stirring, tasting.  

My next stop after town was at my mom's house with a request for her to join me in my jam making quest.  Firstly, because I have never done such a vast quantity before and secondly, because making jam requires chirpy company.  It just does.  And yes, we did fill a 50kg pot with apricots and sugar and ended up with lots and lots of jars of golden goodness.