Day 40 - Very Blueberries

This morning we went to the Berry Patch Farm to pick blueberries!  Mmmm - blueberries!  Clark "helped."  This is to say he put berries in his own little bucket but they somehow "disappeared."  After a break away from the berries he came back and did help fill the buckets.  He sat on my lap I picked the ones on the lower branches and he got the ones up high.

Later when we were in town I asked if he had fun picking berries.  He said, "Yes, mommy - I had fun picking and eating berries!"  Pause.  "I was a naughty boy."  I told him that was good to apologize since mommy and daddy told him not to eat the berries but no, he wasn't a naughty boy (what he did was naughty).  Followed by: we should wait to pay for the berries before eating them.  Clark's response: "Oh, OK mommy, I'm sorry!"  I'm hoping they factor eating into the bottom line as we have seen numerous children with very juicy mouths there! (no, that doesn't justify my child).  Part of me can't blame him they were very good berries and it's hard to understand at 3 why you can gobble berries off the bushes at home but other places where we pick berries it's not OK.  We ended up picking 13 pounds which equaled 8 quarts.  Awesome - 6 quarts for pie filling and another two quarts for some blueberry syrup.  However, I would still like some more just to freeze.  Then come winter: blueberry syrup over pancakes with blueberries sprinkled on top.  Delicious!

This afternoon Alan started working on one of his entries - the chicken noodle soup.  First he roasts the chicken utilizing plenty of herbs from our backyard herb garden.  Once baked he saves the carcasses.  When he has 3-4 carcasses he works on making the chicken broth which will then be used for the soup.  It does make the house smell wonderful!

(Note the shirt - always trying to earn brownie points!)

This afternoon was spent working in the garden which is probably where I will be all day tomorrow.  Planted the peppers that I forgot about.  They still looked fine.  However, I realized I had bell peppers, Anaheim peppers and jalapeño peppers but no sweet Italian peppers (to make pickled peppers).  Ran to Holub's after supper and picked up a few more peppers.  Since everything was 1/2 off I also picked up a few herbs and some perennials.  The herbs will be great for some more ISF entries.  Amazingly last year I entered herbs for the first time and both sprigs earned ribbons.  Not sure what was so great about them and not sure how to replicate but worth taking some more sprigs this year.  Plus, with my dehydrator I would like to dry some herbs this year.

And for our child milestone -- this morning I noticed Clark's magna doodle sitting on the chair in his room with little stick figures drawn on it.  When I asked him if he drew them he smiled and said, "Yeah, mommy!"  So proud -- he told me he drew mommy, daddy and Clark (not sure where Grant was).  I just love that little stick figure family!