Word of the Day

D'no - Don't know. Dunno.

Time to pick the raspberries. I went out and picked my wild raspberries today. I left the house at 8 AM and returned at around 12 noon with a gallon bucket of berries. I was hot. I was sweaty. I dumped the berries onto a couple of sheet pans to let the bugs escape while I headed for a cool shower. Cleaning raspberries can be a bit of a task. You have to look at each and every berry to make sure you don't add protein to your diet. You can't just rinse them off under running water like strawberries. You'd end up with raspberry and bug mush. I like to give the bugs a first chance to escape by spreading the berries out in a shallow pan for an hour or so.

I've picked over and cleaned one pan of berries. Time for a break. It looks like I'll have enough berries to make one batch of jam with enough "perfect and beautiful" berries left over for dessert tonight. I was going to make rhubarb pie but when the berries are ripe it's best to take advantage of it. We've got ice cream so it'll be raspberry sundaes for dessert tonight.

I'm going to wait a day or so before going out and picking again. Recovery time for both me and the bushes. Raspberry picking is hot and sweaty work. The deerfly were doing their best to break my resolve. They failed. I trust in my old straw berry-picking hat. That and a sturdy pair of blue jeans and a long-sleeved shirt kept the deerfly at bay. My bug spray kept the mosquitoes away. At last count, I only got one woodtick...so far...today. Until the blackberries start ripening, I'll be out picking raspberries every other day, weather permitting. I want enough berries to make my favorite jam. Wild Raspberry Jam. Nothing can beat the flavor of homemade wild raspberry jam. Note to self, buy pretzels. I have a favorite frozen dessert that's made with wild raspberries. It uses a crust made of pretzels.

Murphyism of the Day

Esther's Law

The fussiest person will be the one to get the chipped coffee cup, the glass with lipstick or the hair in the food.