What can I say? It looks like I'm about to blog about my garden but... nope!! No sensical, orderly blogging will come to me (and, trust me, I've been trying); so, I will blog where my thoughts seem to want to go. And, what I really want to say is that, although amazing and wonderful things have been happening around here, life is just not perfect!!
Do you ever feel like you're trying to do the old circus act of keeping a bunch of plates spinning at the top of thin poles all at once? Well, I'm pretty talented at getting a bunch of them going but, eventually - crash!! Er, the crash would be my house. My garden. My exercising. My prayer time. (whooops!!) And my blogging. Things are not quite right with the world but, happily, I've made it through all the excitement and life is turning back into the wonderful humdrum that I love! I mean, can I hear an 'Amen!' from the choir, here?! Anyone know what I'm talking about or do you all have it perfectly together at all times? ;)
So, life not being perfect, these are pics from last year's garden because, sadly, none of my delphiniums made it through the winter. I've got some new pots of them but haven't had a chance to put them in the ground, yet. And, oh - the lilacs, this year WERE perfect and the roses INCREDIBLE!
But this post is about strawberry picking.... strawberry picking, last year!!
(last year's flowers!)
(Last year's strawberries!)
When I first moved to Vermont, our church used to put on a spectacular 'strawberry supper' for about 200 people. A group of us would go out early the morning before and pick and pick and pick and pick and pick and eat quite a bit, too - that might be why it took so long to fill all those flats!
Well, we don't do the suppers anymore and this was the first time that the boys had ever gone picking. We picked one flat with the intention of making our own strawberry jam!
Keep pickiiiinnnngggg....
Well, three of us picked while Toby sampled and supervised!
And there was the most horrific and gruesome accident while we were there!! =O
(Those of you with sensitive sensibilities may want to look away for a moment!)
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(Yup! I'm the mother of three boys!!)
(um, a grasshopper from last year!)
Well, we made jam but saved some strawberries out for strawberry shortcake. I made homemade biscuits for the first time and discovered that they're ridiculously easy to make!
As for the jam, after two attempts at boiling, adding pectin and lots more sugar, we have lovely, runny ice cream topping!! (They make wonderfully sticky and oozing PB&Js, too!!!) And, actually, I think that the reason my psyche insisted that I write this post is because it is trying to tell me something.
It is trying to tell me that those jars of strawberry goop from last year would work just as well on shortcake this year, too!!
Perfect!!! =)
xo
