Summer Favorite

Blackberry Crisp is a summer favorite of mine...
..made with berries I pick myself....

Thursday morning I went out early, with an

overcast sky...and a gentle breeze...my camera,
two plastic pails, and long sleeves...
to pick the blackberries near the field.

~

You need to move slowly, look over, above,
under, behind, around, beneath, between,
and still...you may miss berries...
and get snagged!!!

I managed to pick 2 quarts in an hour
with just a few minor confrontations
with the briers...

They ranged in size...but most were of
this nature.



I washed them twice and put them aside.




Again this morning I went out very early,
right after reading Bernie's Blog.
Blackberries will ripen overnight...
Dylan says they ripen as soon as you pick
and leave an area...he may be right!

Herhusband told me to watch out for snakes...
as I went out the door.
Guess what I found...

~
No...
not a snake...


just a Walking Stick bug...



He had fallen into the pail first thing...



then guess what hissed at me...

after I stepped on it....


~
No...
not a snake...


just a turtle buried under a tangle of vines.



I finished after an hour and went back to
the house...
and while Herhusband was washing the van...




I washed some blackberries again...




I ended up with 2 1/2 more quarts today...




which I used 4 cups of...for the crisp...
placing them in a deep pie pan....
sprinkled them with 1/2 cup of sugar
and 2 teas. of cornstarch...



then made a topping by cutting a stick of butter
into 3/4 cups of flour, 3/4 cups rolled oats,
1/2 cup br. sugar, 1/2 teas. cinnamon, and about
3 Tb. of chopped almond pieces...

then baked it at 400 * for about 30 minutes.

Left it to cool on the counter....

while I ate a salad for lunch....

and then afterwards...dished it up for dessert!

I took mine with me to finish reading the blogs

of all my friends and discovered an award from

Jientje and an award from Eileen.

Thank you both!

I will accept, show and pass them on later...

but now I am going to have my first taste

of the season of my "summer favorite"...

and it was delicious...

right down to the last bite!

Wish I could share it...with all of you!

Quietly Busy

It's been a quiet day...not much going on

outside this window...except for...

~

a Downy woodpecker that keeps drinking at

the hummingbird feeder.

~

-click photos to enlarge-
~

and this Dove quietly sitting out back...
trying to figure out just
what happened to his fountain with the rocks...




that he and his friend use to sit on.



Besides changing the water fountain

which isn't quite finished...

I've just been picking some basil..

and deadheading the flowers when I can...

...between the alternating days of rain

and sunshine...some days I find the

coneflowers very wet.....

and some days dry...like this one with it's

straight level petals...

this one with it's droopy swirl of petals...

or this one with it's in between petals.

This morning as I went out for my walk...

I headed toward the field...

where my grandson Grant had camped out

the night before...Knowing he wasn't up yet

...I quietly took a photo and moved on...

A few days ago I found the field again to be...

quietly swarming with bees of all kinds.

There are over 10 bees in this photo alone.

Some made me think "Beeware"

while others were just beautiful and "Beebusy"

Today I found the field to be very wet

with a heavy early morning dew...

that even the blackberries could not escape.

At the other end of the field...down by the barn...

the hibiscus was wet and blooming...

with many buds yet to open...

I walked on to check a very old pear tree in

the woods at the beginning of the drive...

it's branches were loaded down with fruit.

Then I noticed a young robin

quietly sitting in the wet grass...just

sitting there...waiting...

not wanting to fly just yet.

Then ending my walk and heading back home...

guess who I saw...the two friendly fawns...

playing in my flower garden again...

but I also noticed someone

quietly watching over them...
The Mom...

so I cautiously turned into the field...

~

I've learned that these two friendly fawns are

actually 2 of 3 fawns I see sometimes...

the third fawn stays closer to the mom than

these two that roam on their own sometimes.

Anyway, since I was in the field...

I picked a handful of blackberries...

~

before going home back across the field...

but I did stop to take a photo of

this Balloon flower...

this soon to open Blackberry Lily and...

a video of...

Mom and her three fawns...

and I then...went quietly inside.

IN...AT...ON

In this room I get distracted...when trying to read...

there are books on the daybed...as you can see...

but it's what goes on outside this window...

that constantly...bothers me...

.

first it might just be birds at the feeder...
.


or new baby woodpeckers...together on the tree...






or 3 feisty squirrels...playing at their game of tag.




This morning a deer came in for a snack...




Last year they ate on my Stella de Oro Lilies...
seen here this morning in the rain.



and these are the Asiatic Lilies from my last post...
but...heavier here in bloom.




This gazing ball is in the middle of a....





long flower bed that leads to the gazebo....





...in which I like to sit.....and read...

I discovered someone else enjoys it there too....



which leaves me wondering what to do...

found it in the gazebo...on the half barrel table...

it's too large to bother...

once described by a "Scribe" (click to see)

as the size of a German Shepherd!!!



-enlarges-



What would you do?

Scream and leave it alone...

maybe...find it a new home???

Here's one last look!
~


After that you deserve something sweeter...
so here's a baby fox...

and a not quite sweet peach still on the tree.

Here's tomato blossoms hanging on the vine...

and little mushroom umbrellas growing in the garden.

We do have baby Bluebirds...here's one on the bench.

This is a leaf twisted in on itself...caught in a bind!

-photos enlarge-

Ripening raspberries on a bush....

a Butterfly on a Daisy...

and unripe Mulberries up in a tree.

A sunflower seed...dropped by the birds...

sprouting on a rock in the birdbath...

A just found heart-shaped rock...in a blue dish...

note the moss and the facial features on it.

Several heart-shaped rocks in a wooden box...

and here we have Brownies on a plate...

which inspired Alivia to get us some iced tea!

Here we have a younger Alivia...

sitting on Aunt Cindy's knee...

Cindy is Katie, Andrew, and Dylan's Mom...

my son Steve's wife!

~

...and June 4th is her ?? Birthday.

~

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY CINDY LEE"
~

Your son Andrew "only sat"....on this Cindy....

...his older Cousin Dustin's motorcycle...

sitting in the drive.

All are welcome down the drive anytime!