To Pick or Not To Pick

The last time we went out to pick blackberries was an adventure indeed.  Every morning we walk through the barn saying hello to all the horses.  From there we walk through the pasture and on to the gate.  Pushing the boards aside we bump through the gate into blackberry haven.  There are few trails.  The trails that are available to traverse are either very bumpy quad tracks or cow paths. 

 And in case y'all didn't know, cows don't make straight or smooth paths.  So along we bump, the kids, the wagon full of buckets, and I.  If you stand still you can probably hear us for miles with the wagon bumping like crazy over those trails.  Once we get back a ways, I park the wagon.  Out comes a bucket that gets to hang around my neck, and off I go.  Thankfully Peaches and Mr O know the routine now and stick close to mom with their pretend play.  They each have a piece of rope as well, and pretend to be cowboys, snakes, pets, and more.  It is so much fun to listen to them as they play!  They have really good imaginations, the sky is literally the limit with what those two come up with.  Well, this particular day when we were bumping our way out, the cows who inhabit the pasture decided to investigate.  They came running at this new sound.  As soon as they saw us humans, they stopped cold and just watched, curious as to what us crazy humans were up to.  Well, we parked the wagon just like normal and moved off the pick.  The bull wanted a closer look at the wagon and so went over to investigate (yes that is a cow in the picture, not the bull, I didn't get my cell phone out fast enough).  Snuffling and whuffing he finally concluded that there wasn't anything there to eat.  That didn't stop him though.  He thinks that since we didn't bring food, he'll provide his own.  All the cows then lay down and begin to peacefully chew their cud.  Between us and the wagon.  There were 10 cows in all.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not particularly afraid of them, but I do hold a healthy respect for them.  As they are quite a few pounds larger than myself and they do tend to get startled and upset about what seems like nothing.  So to get back to the wagon we had to meander through the cows.  There was no other way around.  With a pond on one side and bushes on the other, we were neatly penned in. 

As my bucket filled with berries, and it was evident that the cows were there to stay, the kids began to get restless.  They wanted to chase the cows off.  Thankfully they allowed me to discourage that plan.  Because of that I decided that it was time to move on.  So we carefully walked through the munching bovines to our wagon with them watching our every move.  I grabbed the handle of the wagon which obligingly let out a high pitched squeak and an ominous rattle as we started pulling it away.  The bovines continued to just observe, chewing contentedly away.  The only thing that was really really unfortunate about the whole thing is that I only had my cell phone on me.  I don't take my camera out berry picking.  That just screams juice, seeds, and possibly water getting spilled on it.  So, all I have to remember the cow incident are these horrible cell phone photos.  I'm sure you'll forgive me eventually.

Grumbles

Google hates me, I hate Google.  I'm thinking about moving my blog elsewhere.  Right now it is a huge pain in the backside to put pictures into a post with the "new and improved" blogger dashboard.  No, it is NOT new and improved.  It freakin sucks.  So, this is me, not posting what I want to post because Google hates me.  So....I did have this nice story about kids and cows and perhaps there was a little red wagon in there too, but you'll have to wait 'cause Google hates me and won't let me upload my pictures.

Just Like Any Other Day

So, today.  Today we go out to conquer.  The munchkins and I are going to conquer the back pasture.  You know, the one that has cows and tall grass and lots and lots of blackberries.  Lots and Lots and Lots of blackberries.  So we're going.  With our buckets and red wagon.  Rattling our way out to the pasture with curious cows to pick another 3 gallons of berries to make another 22 pints of jam.  Because that's just how we roll today.

Craziness

so here is a snapshot of the last week in my life (please forgive the crappy cell phone photo, I'll explain later):
1. Picked 3 gallons of berries and then canned 22 pints of blackberry jam.
2. Did 4 loads of laundry.
3. Did two loads of dishes and hand washed the rest.
4. Attempted to make edible food for dinner.
5. Slept way to fast.
6. Repeat steps 1-5.
7. Played with my rascals.
8. Found and helped Handsome fix the broken water main in our backyard.
9. Did more dishes and laundry.
10. Repeat steps 1-5 again with a dear friend in tow this time.
11. Discovered an empty dishsoap bottle, empty handsoap container, empty toothpaste container, and empty lemonaide container.
12. Explained to Mr O that he has no more chances and now he's trading rooms with my sewing room.
13. My sewing room was upstairs next to Handsome and my room.
14. Now my sewing room is downstairs.
15. Repeat steps 1-5, again.
16. I'm still not sure where I'm going to fit all the stuff that is supposed to fit in there.
17. Realized that I'm just going to be frustrated about it, and moving on.
18. Mr O's room is a winner, it's even clean (for a 1st grader).
19. Sewing room still a disaster zone.
20. Make call for a backhoe to come clean out that room.
21. I just want to sew!
22. Discover both munchkins outside with the bucket of animal crackers that were specifically stated to stay indoors.
23. Discover shovels of dirt in the nearly full container of crackers.
24. Walk away.
25. Thank Handsome for taking Mr O shopping to replace all emptied items out of his own money.
26. Find fleas on Four legs.
27. Find fleas in carpet.
28. Find fleas in beds.
29. Start the first of 5 loads of bedding to be washed.
30. spray the carpet, dog bed, and beds.
31. try to catch dog to spray and comb.
32. Give up on catching the dog.
33. Switch laundry.
34. Look at filthy kitchen.
35. Wish for a maid.
36. Clean the kitchen.
37. Wish for a day with no disasters.

Incredibly busy. Canning lots and lots of blackberry jam. Will update more when I have the time and energy.

Every Once and a While

After years of waking up early I have discovered that I really do enjoy sleeping in. Not every day. But every few days having that extra few minutes, or hours as the case may be, is really so very nice. I love being awake to hear the birds mumble their first sleepy peeps and chirps to the world. I totally enjoy watching the sun come up, bathing the world slowly with its beautiful light. I love the morning smells of dew and rain and damp earth. The freshness of the new day, the feeling that you can accomplish anything simply because it is a new day. That being said, I still like to be lazy every so often. Pull the extra pillow over my head and ignore the fact that the sun is up. Pretend that I can't hear the birds calling or smell those wonderful morning smells. Because every so often it's just nice to lay there and enjoy my bed.

Yet One More Little One

This summer, or what has passed of this summer, has been busy. So busy in fact that most of what ya'll have read has been scheduled posts. Ramblings that I jot down when the mood hits and schedule to post at a later date because I know I'm gonna be freakishly busy. Well, I'm gonna be freakishly busy again. But not for a week or so. Yay. I get to catch up on cleaning and laundry and cleaning...Joy. Kidding, totally kidding! One of the many little trips that we took was one down to a little town south of Salem, OR. Nice little town, not too big, not too small. In fact it is a town that I would love to move to. The schools were small, there were lots of parks, lots of farmland, and everyone smiled and greeted you as if they had known you for years. It was delightful. The event that we had traveled to this tiny town to witness was one that happened way after the kiddos expected bed time, and so my lovely sister-in-law agreed to keep the angels over night. She may even agree to visit us again sometime, if we find a baby sitter for while she is here. So once we dropped off the kids to terrorize, er, delight Aunty R, we made the leisurely trip to this little town. Checked into our hotel, and proceeded to eat at a restaurant that we haven't frequented alone since the night Handsome proposed to me. We've taken the kids, but this was the first time we had gone alone since that night eight years ago. Once our tummies were satisfied we continued on our leisurely way to our destination. A concert. To give you a little perspective I hadn't attended a concert that I wasn't participating in for over 14 years except the occasional symphony. Neither had Handsome. So this was a bit of a refresher for both of us. It's ok to clap to the music, sing to the music, and dance if the urge comes. Sitting in the grass we listened to lovely music for an hour and a half. One of my favorite country singers: Josh Turner. Yes, Handsome agreed to take me. There was next to no coercion from me. Really. All in all it was a delightful experience, one that I would love to repeat again and again as the opportunity, and Handsome, allows.