We were on the road for Father’s Day this year so Emily and the kids helped me celebrate Monday. I didn’t really expect much in the way of a gift so I figured the menu Abigail provided was just perfect. They asked me what my perfect meal was and they hit it pretty close. I … Continue reading Glad to be a Dad!
I caught a swarm of bees a few weeks ago. A swarm is usually a lot smaller in number than a full sized hive and they are often a little weaker and disoriented so I usually try to keep them separate from the bee yard for awhile until they get themselves together. By consulting the … Continue reading Gordon the girl turtle
Isaac got into a fight this weekend. His eye got all messed up but you should see his nemesis…dead. But let’s back up a second. Sunday was a beautiful day so we decided to head out to the country to work on some things. We planted several fruit trees and blueberry bushes over the last … Continue reading You should see the other guy!
I am a bit behind on posting…well, a lot behind, but there’s another story there that I will tell later. Anyhow, I think I have mentioned that I hate winter and all things cold (except cold Mt Dew and frozen Snickers bars, and air conditioning), but I do get a special joy when we get … Continue reading Die mosquito scum!
So…ahem…the blackberries are in full glory right now and we found a newish place to pick and this year’s berries are as big as I have ever seen (including those pretend ones you can get at the grocery store). We have picked several “messes” of berries and I have enjoyed 2 blackberry pies that my … Continue reading It’s purple…and huge!
We went to a you-pick strawberry place in Cottageville, WV on Sunday. It’s about 35 minutes away (though for the kids, it was a 2 year long trip) and was a nice Sunday drive. We got to Hartley Farms and found a huge field of the biggest and best strawberries I have ever seen (though … Continue reading Lots of strawberries…some on the floor
We have a secret spot where we go to pick blackberries. Of course, blackberries have thorns so our screams probably make our location a little less secret than it otherwise would have been. Still, we go blackberry picking every 2-3 days while they are in season. Last night was our first venture to the patch. … Continue reading Blackberries!
My mom scanned this picture of my Grandpa (back row, left, ca. 1935) and his family. I love old pictures like this where everyone looks so happy to be together. The funny thing is, my Grandpa is full of joy! He’s is all about hilarious… Every time he sees strawberries, he gets a smile on … Continue reading Back before color was invented
We seem to have come to the end of the blackberries. When we started picking at the end of June, we could easily pick until our baskets were full. I never weighed the berries we picked but we harvested a lot of berries. All together, we made 54 half pints of jam, 10 pints of syrup, … Continue reading The end of blackberries
The blackberries are aplenty right now. We picked 2 1/2 qrts on Sunday, 4 qrts on Tuesday, and 4 more qrts tonight. The kids’ excitement has completely worn off by now though. Isaac brought a book while Abigail brought her positive outlook ;). My Dad (and sometimes I) used to pick blackberries along the logging … Continue reading More blackberries