Day Eighty-Five, Eighty-Six, Eighty-Seven: Berries Galore
Monday (Eighty-Five):
It was overcast most of the day, but that didn't deter us from heading to the pool midday like we have been doing since it opened a few days ago. We went after lunch (but brought a few snacks, because you never know). Taiya and I did aqua-dancing, William and I did a water train, Jeremy impressed the kids with cannonballs and jackknives. It feels so good to play in the water. It feels so good to play. Back when I had a long commute and could listen to audiobooks and podcasts, I listened to a Brene Brown audiobook, The Gift of Imperfect Parenting, which I highly recommend. In it, she talks about how important play is. And she doesn't define this as playing with your kids in a way that thrills them but bores you to death. She means you should find things to do where you all are having a blast, lose track of time, laugh, feel energized. Playing in the pool is that for us these days.
Tuesday (Eighty-Six):
Thunderstorms in the morning. I walked up and down our road during a morning phone meeting once it stopped raining. The sunshine flowers (tickseed) are on the wane and Black-Eyed Susans are taking their place. After that meeting I had another where I had to hear all about my insurance options. What is it about insurance that is so depressing? The rep was cheerfully describing what your payout would be if you are hospitalized or maimed and I was thinking, I don't want to earn money by being terribly sick or hurt... I don't want to go bankrupt from it, but I don't want to get thousands of dollars as a reward for being sick or injured. That's just twisted.
We went on an errand to sign some papers at Farm Credit (not for anything exciting, just normal paperwork). We went to Braum's and treated the kids to milkshakes first, signed our papers outside of the building. Since we were in that part of the county, we went to a local farm store and got strawberries and blueberries (with only me going in, wearing a mask), then went took a scenic route home. We went down roads I'd never been on and saw some interesting back road Arkansas architecture. My favorite was a house built out of different pre-built tool sheds all attached quite creatively. It was honestly, not joking, pretty cool looking. It was a hilly route home and the kids were thrilled. "It's like a roller coaster!!" they screamed, laughing. It's clear we haven't gotten out much lately.
It was overcast most of the day, but that didn't deter us from heading to the pool midday like we have been doing since it opened a few days ago. We went after lunch (but brought a few snacks, because you never know). Taiya and I did aqua-dancing, William and I did a water train, Jeremy impressed the kids with cannonballs and jackknives. It feels so good to play in the water. It feels so good to play. Back when I had a long commute and could listen to audiobooks and podcasts, I listened to a Brene Brown audiobook, The Gift of Imperfect Parenting, which I highly recommend. In it, she talks about how important play is. And she doesn't define this as playing with your kids in a way that thrills them but bores you to death. She means you should find things to do where you all are having a blast, lose track of time, laugh, feel energized. Playing in the pool is that for us these days.
Tuesday (Eighty-Six):
Thunderstorms in the morning. I walked up and down our road during a morning phone meeting once it stopped raining. The sunshine flowers (tickseed) are on the wane and Black-Eyed Susans are taking their place. After that meeting I had another where I had to hear all about my insurance options. What is it about insurance that is so depressing? The rep was cheerfully describing what your payout would be if you are hospitalized or maimed and I was thinking, I don't want to earn money by being terribly sick or hurt... I don't want to go bankrupt from it, but I don't want to get thousands of dollars as a reward for being sick or injured. That's just twisted.
We went on an errand to sign some papers at Farm Credit (not for anything exciting, just normal paperwork). We went to Braum's and treated the kids to milkshakes first, signed our papers outside of the building. Since we were in that part of the county, we went to a local farm store and got strawberries and blueberries (with only me going in, wearing a mask), then went took a scenic route home. We went down roads I'd never been on and saw some interesting back road Arkansas architecture. My favorite was a house built out of different pre-built tool sheds all attached quite creatively. It was honestly, not joking, pretty cool looking. It was a hilly route home and the kids were thrilled. "It's like a roller coaster!!" they screamed, laughing. It's clear we haven't gotten out much lately.
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| The fate of the blueberries. |
Wednesday (Eighty-Seven):
In the morning the kids and I went to Taiya's school's garden to do some weeding and harvesting of chard, lettuce, and chives. It was actually cool and cloudy, which felt great. Taiya and William had fun running around in a different place than usual. They both learned how to harvest lettuce leaves and chard leaves, they picked some bachelor's buttons, did some cartwheels, and enjoyed the open space.
In the morning the kids and I went to Taiya's school's garden to do some weeding and harvesting of chard, lettuce, and chives. It was actually cool and cloudy, which felt great. Taiya and William had fun running around in a different place than usual. They both learned how to harvest lettuce leaves and chard leaves, they picked some bachelor's buttons, did some cartwheels, and enjoyed the open space.
When we got home I decided to take advantage of the cool weather and make jam from the strawberries and blueberries I bought the day before. I used low-sugar pectin and made ten jars total. I love making jam, transforming beautiful, fresh berries into rich, sweet jam. I'm looking forward to blackberry season this year - normally we don't have time to harvest them, but this year we'll have plenty of time to harvest and transform them into delicious jam. I have to find some good local peaches this year too, I have been wanting to make peach jam for a long time and just never found the time.
When I was almost done the whole water bath process, I got a text from my supervisor saying "Are you going to join us for the meeting?" It was quarter after one, fifteen minutes after the meeting had started. I wrote back a quick, "OH SHOOT, YES, SORRY!" and luckily Jeremy got home right then and was able to finish the jam (just turn off the stove at a certain time) so I could join my colleagues. When I got on the call I apologized for being late, and they asked what was up, and so I admitted, "I was making jam...." which got a good laugh from everyone. Thankfully all my coworkers are farmers and/or gardeners and so understand these food preservation pursuits. We had a good call and it made me miss my awesome coworkers so much. And something tells me I'm going to hear about this jam incident again. We never pass up the opportunity to joke with each other about our foibles.
For dinner we had a delicious salad with lettuce from the school garden, homemade strawberry vinaigrette, roasted broccoli and cauliflower, shredded cheddar, scrambled eggs on top, and bread on the side. It's a good thing we had a light dinner. It left plenty of room for blueberry cobbler I made for dessert.
When I was almost done the whole water bath process, I got a text from my supervisor saying "Are you going to join us for the meeting?" It was quarter after one, fifteen minutes after the meeting had started. I wrote back a quick, "OH SHOOT, YES, SORRY!" and luckily Jeremy got home right then and was able to finish the jam (just turn off the stove at a certain time) so I could join my colleagues. When I got on the call I apologized for being late, and they asked what was up, and so I admitted, "I was making jam...." which got a good laugh from everyone. Thankfully all my coworkers are farmers and/or gardeners and so understand these food preservation pursuits. We had a good call and it made me miss my awesome coworkers so much. And something tells me I'm going to hear about this jam incident again. We never pass up the opportunity to joke with each other about our foibles.
For dinner we had a delicious salad with lettuce from the school garden, homemade strawberry vinaigrette, roasted broccoli and cauliflower, shredded cheddar, scrambled eggs on top, and bread on the side. It's a good thing we had a light dinner. It left plenty of room for blueberry cobbler I made for dessert.
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| William chose this picture of Daisy to add to this blog post. He's helping me. |
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