Getting back into the swing!

Getting back to the swing of things. There is something of great comfort to me about the change in season and rhythm of life. It does my mind and spirit good!

Today was a great day! My friend D. and kids came over and we went on our annual blueberry pickin' trek. We picked in the morning, came home and made lunch for the kids, then got busy!

We canned 16 jars of blueberry preserves with some left over to snack on. We are pretty proud of ourselves and let me tell you the blueberry preserves are something to die for. And to think the berries were free at our local blueberry park, that makes it even sweeter!

I have always enjoyed the organic process of picking fresh food and then preserving it for later for my family to enjoy. It seems like a lot of work but I sure do enjoy the satisfaction that I get from it. D. and I enjoyed the afternoon, chatting and laughing the day away. I can't think of a better way to get back into the swing of things!

Blueberry Pickin'

This weekend we spent the afternoon at a wonderful park in our city...a public blueberry park can you believe it? Well it is true! I find this particularly exciting because I love blueberries and so does my family. It is a tradition for us every August on a clear evening to go pick blueberries by the handfuls off the bush. Its incredible, and then we have enough blueberries for the year. We wash them well, drain them, and then spread them out on cookie sheets and freeze them. Once frozen they are much easier to pack into zip locks. Then we just use what is needed for blueberry pancakes or scones. Delicious!

As you can tell I love blueberries, I even painted my bottom cupboards in my kitchen the color of blueberries!

This park is many acres within the city that at one time was a blueberry farm. There are tons of bushes and 15 varieties of blueberries...I didn't even know that there were that many varieties. Some of the plants produce berries with the most beautiful, big, bursting with purplish- blueberry goodness! You can't find these in the stores and the best thing about this park, is that its a public park! You can come and pick till your hearts desire, because it is FREE!

They have a volunteer group that keeps the bushes pruned and the pathways clear and clean, I even hear that they serve coffee and donuts to those that help out, that's a nice deal! This year they have made some great improvements to the park. They put in picnic benches and paved some pathways there is even a portable outhouse there now.