animal kingdom

ponies and pickin’

Things are slowly shaping up around here. Dan’s got a loaner car from work, a fuel card from his boss, and the potential for a company truck. My wagon’s days are numbered and hopefully I’ll soon be driving something a little more reliable.  My sewing machine is in the shop, a brush against emma’s ear no longer causes a recoil in pain, and the rest of the family is back in town after various excursions around the globe. (Big congratulations are in order to my father who is back from rowing in London with two gold medals from the races at Henley on the Thames.)

We had a good weekend of work and play–mowing and weeding for my grandmother, making sure the spring-fed pool was just the right amount of coldness(you can only tell by getting in, of course), and Sunday dinner on the patio. This was followed by the older girls giving Emma and Mary rides around the paddock. Emma started her first riding lessons this summer, but sometimes I wonder if Mary won’t end up being bigger horse-lover of the two.
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This morning the girls and I went to my uncle’s house to pick my most favorite summer treat in the whole world–raspberries! I could probably overdose on them if it were possible. When I little I used to get scolded for sitting in the back of the volkswagon bus and finishing off the whole pint before we even got them home. I think I’ve passed this on to my children. I probably heard, "just ONE more, mommy" every five seconds on the thirty second trip home from picking.
I don’t know what the berries will become. I’m thinking they’ll just be scattered over vanilla ice cream after dinner tonight. And the rest will be eaten right out of the basket. yum.Img_4631

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We also stopped to pick some queen anne’s lace on the way home. We are anxiously waiting for their little white flowers to soak up the purple dye–a trick I used to love when I was little. Emma is checking in with them every few minutes, I’m trying to encourage her that these things take time and that the flowers need to drink up the colored water before we’ll see any changes. Thankfully, I got her off for a nap despite the impending color show.

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Things are slowly shaping up around here. Dan’s got a loaner car from work, a fuel card from his boss, and the potential for a company truck. My wagon’s days are numbered and hopefully I’ll soon be driving something a little more reliable.  My sewing machine is in the shop, a brush against emma’s ear no longer causes a recoil in pain, and the rest of the family is back in town after various excursions around the globe. (Big congratulations are in order to my father who is back from rowing in London with two gold medals from the races at Henley on the Thames.)

We had a good weekend of work and play–mowing and weeding for my grandmother, making sure the spring-fed pool was just the right amount of coldness(you can only tell by getting in, of course), and Sunday dinner on the patio. This was followed by the older girls giving Emma and Mary rides around the paddock. Emma started her first riding lessons this summer, but sometimes I wonder if Mary won’t end up being bigger horse-lover of the two.
Img_4605_1

This morning the girls and I went to my uncle’s house to pick my most favorite summer treat in the whole world–raspberries! I could probably overdose on them if it were possible. When I little I used to get scolded for sitting in the back of the volkswagon bus and finishing off the whole pint before we even got them home. I think I’ve passed this on to my children. I probably heard, "just ONE more, mommy" every five seconds on the thirty second trip home from picking.
I don’t know what the berries will become. I’m thinking they’ll just be scattered over vanilla ice cream after dinner tonight. And the rest will be eaten right out of the basket. yum.Img_4631

Img_4639_1

We also stopped to pick some queen anne’s lace on the way home. We are anxiously waiting for their little white flowers to soak up the purple dye–a trick I used to love when I was little. Emma is checking in with them every few minutes, I’m trying to encourage her that these things take time and that the flowers need to drink up the colored water before we’ll see any changes. Thankfully, I got her off for a nap despite the impending color show.

Img_4647

15 comments on “ponies and pickin’”

  1. Yummi yummi ! I eat a delicious pie : pte feuillete (pastry), you put in a bowl 4 eggs, 1 little bottle of cream, some pudding and 2 spoon of sugar. You mix then you put on the pie pastry and las you add raspberries and put in the oven !! yummi yummi !!! I hope you’re fine my dear 🙂 I didn’t get your first parcel yet 🙁 Hugs

  2. This all sounds like such a perfect weekend, sounds like you deserved it and much more. I love the purple dye and queen anne’s lace, show us the finished product when its done. raspberries are the best, aren’t they. I had a friend that one day described in detail how fresh raspberries were almost a sexual experience for her. I wish she hadn’t told me, cause now I can’t even think of them without her coming to mind, geez!

  3. Mary looks so at ease on the horse. I love raspberries, too. My friend told me recently that she doesn’t care for raspberries…I couldn’t even say anything in response, I was so dumbfounded. Oh, and the Queen Anne’s lace dye trick is SO neat. Thanks for sharing!

  4. Sweet raspberries!!!We have tons of wild blackberries that grow on our property, which I like too. Best in cobblers and such but I do wish we had raspberries, which are good eaten straight from the bucket.

  5. sounds like a wonderful weekend 🙂 I’m glad things are really coming together, how wonderful! 🙂

  6. Sooo glad the car situation is working out! What you just described sounds like heaven to me! And I so wish we had a place nearby to pick berries! We used to roll up the bottom of our shirts to make a carrier and trek into the woods by my house picking blackberries as kids…what great memories! I tried to plant a few blackberry bushes last year but no luck yet. I guess I could go out and harvest the “nuts” from the 2 billion bean pods scattered in the front yard from the Ebony trees…they’re supposed to be edible…. 😛

  7. What a lovely day.

    I can remember going to a neighbor’s and picking wild blackberrys off the bramble. I’d have more scratches than blackberries, but they were the best treat.

  8. look at that girl on that horse! she is making all of my childhood dreams come true! oh raspberries are my favorite, especially over some chocolate ice cream, come on molly, vanilla???

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