Blueberry season has begun, and we hit our local pick-your-own farm this morning for a first stab at it. HF invented a very clever contraption (pictured here) out of half-gallon raw milk containers to assist in efficient picking efforts. [We're part of a raw milk co-op in town and, now that we're back to making homemade raw milk-based formula for our newest addition, we weekly plow through several of these.] They worked beautifully, freeing up both hands for the job, and we picked twice as much as our best effort last year. Considering that we only picked for 90 minutes, 20 of which I was feeding the baby... and further considering that our youngest three family members are dead weight when it comes to picking... we were pretty enthusiastic about the 8.8 lbs we netted.
The goose played the part of little Sal in Blueberries for Sal, eating all that she picked (and more), and the mouse attempted to doze in the stroller - ignoring a pesky fly that continued to land on her face. It was hot but enjoyable work, and we were pleased to discover that this year the monkey contributed significantly to our yield.
We had our annual Memorial Day block party and BBQ at the end of the cul-de-sac this afternoon, complete with a jolly jumper which was a big hit among the neighborhood preschool crowd. It's nice to have a ready-made activity for holiday weekends when we're around. The Scherrei girls from next-door - ages 5, 8, and 10 - accompanied us to the party while their mom stayed home with poor John (age 7) whose tonsils came out last week and then was hit by a serious case of pneumonia over the weekend. Poor kid!
