In the summertime...

I don’t like to think that summer is nearing an end once again! Our bedroom is feeling rather cool these mornings and I’m staying under the blankets again. Yesterday just felt like one of those end-of-summer days. It was sunny & warm, but with that fall feel in the air. Emme & Spencer came to visit, so we did a few end-of-summer things.

They always love to poke around in my garden boxes and see if there’s anything exciting for them to pick or eat. They pick bouquets of yummy smelling things from the herb garden,

They pull a few carrots to eat and check to see if there are any strawberries on my ever-bearing plants. Yesterday they helped me pull out all the beets, which were crowding out the carrots.

Then we went on a blackberry picking excursion-definitely an end-of-summer thing to do. We thought it would be such fun to go blackberry picking in our rental pasture near the mountain…where the bears are known to frequent! So we each took a bucket and Elmer drove us out there in the big red one-ton truck. For some reason there are lots of bushes…but where were the berries? Elmer’s phone rang so we left him talking on the phone and walked on looking for a good place to pick. That’s when our adventure came to an end. No, we never met a bear! I saw some berries inside the bushes, and as I took one step forward I plunged into a ditch (we had no idea there was a ditch under those branches!) The girls didn’t know whether to laugh or not, but it was really quite funny! I really had no idea how to get out of there, because every movement sent those thorns deeper into my legs! Elmer was no help since he was still talking on the phone. I finally pulled myself back onto solid ground and decided we would settle for the few blackberries we had already picked, miss out on seeing the bear, and go home and lick the wounds…well, put some polysporin on them anyhow! I think I’ll be scarred for a while. So ended our blackberry picking adventure for the day (Elmer may not get his blackberry jelly this year).

Emme and Spencer helped me make pizza & we enjoyed a pizza lunch on the back patio. Would they like some apricot platz for dessert? I don’t think so. They opted for ice-cream sandwiches on the back lawn while we ate our platz. After lunch they invented a new game…it mostly involved chasing grammy around the yard with dirty wet wipes. I tried to interest them in a real game (like bolo golf), but they thought this was way more fun! It is sad to think these idyllic summer days are almost over & next week the girls will start grade one.

Last night I made beet pickles with the beets we pulled out. They are a reminder of the ‘good ole days’…both mom and Elmer’s mom always made them. I pulled out the old Mennonite recipe book and gave it a try! I think I’ve made them before, since the recipe had a tick beside it, but that must have been in a different life. I’m sure my kids would never have eaten them. However, I rather like them so we’ll see if they are worth the effort! I used Classico spagetti sauce jars (that’s called recycling) & they sealed nicely. So come for dinner sometime next winter & we’ll have some beet pickles with the roast beef!

The sun is shining & the yard needs some work, so let’s get to it.