Hi River!
Welcome to the boards.
I'm fairly new, here, myself. I was previously on hemodialysis from May '07 until October '07, but had to switch to peritoneal dialysis because my veins are too small. (PD is great, by the way)
We're approx. the same age (I just turned 47) and our family has a labrador retriever.
Your jams sound so interesting. My grandmother used to grow ollalieberries on her ranch, and I have such fond memories of her ollalieberry jam (and pie, and the fresh berries, themselves!)
You'll find so much support here - this is a great place!