Without a trace

It’s blueberry season down here in the South, so blueberry picking we’ve gone.

We made a wonderful family outing of it; picking and eating, and picking and eating. Thankfully, they only weigh the bucket before and after it’s been filled… and not the children (or the parents!!!) before and after they have (eaten) their fill.

Because we love blueberries. And we ate a lot.

(Yes, that is a Play-Doh bucket. It was all I could find that was Noah-size)

And then we came home from blueberry picking and ate a lot. Because we’d picked a lot.

On top of eating fresh blueberries by the handful, we had blueberry pancakes made my wonderful breakfast Chef husband. Then we had blueberry coffee cake. It didn’t last long. We concocted homemade blueberry smoothies (basically yogurt blended with frozen blueberries and strawberries) that would have done Jamba Juice proud. The following week, we made blueberry syrup to top plain made-from-scratch-pancakes.

And when we had the new First Sergeant over for dinner, I made the most amazing blueberry pie ever using my friend Rita’s recipe.

Best Ever Blueberry Pie

2 pints blueberries (4 cups), 1 unbaked pie crust, 1/4 cup butter, 1 cup sugar, 1 egg beaten, 3/4 cup flour, 1 tsp. vanilla. Wash blueberries and place in pie crust. Cream butter & sugar in bowl. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Spread over blueberries (or use cookie scoop to dollop). Bake at 350 for about 50 minutes or until done. *I topped it with vanilla icecream and it was melt in your mouth, oh so perfect, blueberry pie. I’ve never tasted one this good.*

 

We also added fresh blueberries to every bowl of cut fruit; put them in salads and in our breakfast cereal. We brought them to church potluck in the form of blueberry cobbler. And munched on frozen blueberries as an afternoon snack.

Then my husband called while I was typing this blog post and said he’d like to bring his soldiers breakfast tomorrow. So I immediately responded, “6 dozen blueberry muffins, coming right up, Dear!!” (which means we’re both working late tonight. Haha! Such is life for a Commander and his Wife!)

So the huge bucket of blueberries we picked a few weeks ago?? It’s gone. It’s gone without a trace.

 

 

Well… almost without a trace.

There are few tell tale signs here and there.

 

 

We love our blueberries, can you tell?

Shades of Green

I love my garden.

Sure it’s not very big, and there are a few stray weeds climbing through the dirt…

And the peas are falling over in the back because the trellis I bought was really not tall enough. My oregano is all in one clump because the rain washed the seeds into a pile and my chives are still not thriving.

But to me, it’s the best garden ever.



Tomatoes


My hubby kindly donated the start-up fees (wood, compost, manure, seeds), and my boys helped me dig it one sunny spring day, but really, I’m the sole gardener. I’ve tended. I’ve cared. I’ve planted.

And I’ve loved.

Peas

I don’t know how it happened, but it happened still. These plants, each one, I love them. I love to smell the mint and basil, to find green beans and peas hiding among the leaves. I love my strawberries even though I haven’t tasted a single one. (Darn old squirrels!!)

Mint

Whenever I work in the garden, I feel peaceful too. And my mind almost always wanders to thoughts of our great God, who I’m sure loves gardens as much as I.

After all, didn’t He make all the lovely herbs and vegetables at the beginning of time? By the word of His power? And didn’t he make each plant ready to yield fruit in its season? Create humidity and rain, fertile soil and sun? Yes, I’m certain that God loves gardens too.

Strawberry

I’m also pretty sure God hates weeds, but loves weeding… just like I do.

Parsely

I always think about uprooting sin in my life when I’m weeding. The analogy is just to strong for me to ignore.

I love getting down on my hands and knees, sorting between plants, and carefully working my hands through the soil to pull up the bad guys while protecting the life of the good guys.

Man. One could go crazy with the life analogy’s (both Biblical and not) hidden in gardening.

Basil

I think it’s another reason why I love my garden and gardening.  I pull weeds and feel like I am vanquishing the enemy. I water the herbs and imagine the Holy Spirit reviving me with refreshing rain.

Oregano

I watch my plants grow… and think of how God nurtures and cares for His people; providing for our every need, saving us, and teaching us to bear good fruit.

Cucumbers

Thank you, Lord, for tending me… and my garden too

First bites

I wait until my children are 6 months old before I feed them solid foods. You know... so that they are really ready:

Yep, there's no force feeding here. Priceless pictures, huh? I love it!

Actually, I breastfeed exclusively for the first 6 months of age because it's the best thing for baby. It seems to be a little known fact (given how many young (and old!!) mothers look at me in shock), but really exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months is the recommendation across the board for feeding infants (and I'm not talking about Le Leche League here either). Maybe people are just shocked that my little moose child got so bulky on mama's milk alone... afterall it looks like he's been sneaking a few Twinkies on the side. 

But seriously though, this little guy would probably be content to just nurse for a while-- he is such a snuggle bug, and obviously he's thriving on breastmilk (weighing in at 23+ lbs at 6 months!!). But his ability to grab things mingled with the baby phase of putting-everything-in-my-mouth has made it impossible to hide.

So on we go to a new phase of life... feeding 3 little boys at the dinner table!! Don't even ask what the floor looks like after a meal. Ahhh!! :)

One hungry kid

I was busy setting the table, putting out dinner, and quickly washing the dishes in the sink before we sat down to eat dinner one night (back in June). I turned around from the sink and saw my 1 year old, on the table, helping himself to a nice pre-dinner snack. For one I didn't know he could climb so quickly, and for two I didn't realize he was so hungry. Maybe he was just curious, I don't know. But before he got his scolding I had to hide a smile and dash for my camera. Ahh! So cute!!