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?

Fail

 

For some months now, we’ve been hanging out our laundry.

Not our dirty laundry, (we still try to keep that to ourselves), but our wet, just washed, laundry. The sun has been out and hot since February, making it perfect weather for clothes drying.

And it’s been great. Not only does our dryer get a break, but our utility bill is actually pleasant to look at.

So, it being a bright sun shiny day today, and me, being a mom of outdoorsmen (meaning I always have laundry to do), I hung out a load of laundry before we headed out the door. I love when I remember to do that. Somehow I feel like I’m multi-tasking if I have laundry drying, while also running errands and eating lunch. You know what I mean? It’s like a double whammy, with twice as much happening in the same amount of time. SCORE!!

Or… UN-SCORE!!!

Because… if you’re me, you don’t watch television and you don’t check the weather, so OF COURSE, it starts to rain while you are out. And so, you come home to find that the clothes had had just enough time to dry in order to help sop up the torrential downpour that came their way.

Fail.

Oh well, at least the clothes were multi-tasking this morning. Wet. Dry. Wet. Dry. And the weather too for that matter. Nice job, guys.

Things I love today

Today has been a wonderful productive busy day.

While I feel myself heaving a giant sigh of joy (and relief) now that I am at the end of it, I can’t help but feel amazingly blessed and contented at the blessings of the Lord.

To name a few…

Backyard swings and evidences of brotherly love. Oh boy, do these boys love each other… and the swings. Thank you, Father, for my boys.

 

Next, I would have to mention sunny warm days and cold sweet tea. Such sweet spring days and cool wet refreshment are gifts from God alone.

*As a random side note, I’ve discovered a few delicious sweet tea variations with a little fiddling around. Peach iced tea with a splash of peach juice (tastes like Snapple), raspberry iced tea with a shot of raspberry syrup and/or fresh raspberries, and, of course, peppermint iced tea with peppermint leaves (and/or peppermint schnapps!) So good.

 

Then comes the discounts and the flower beds. A bargain hunter like me would be remiss not to mention how joyful I was to see the 50% off sign on these perfectly good petunias. Perfectly good petunias. Nice. Can’t wait to get these puppies planted in pots around the deck.

And speaking of the deck…

 

I’m so thankful for Navajo Red Paint. Isn’t it gorgeous? It’s the accent color for the exterior of our home. I loved our house the very moment I first saw it… and loved it even more for the red door, red garages, and red shutters bursting with color. So pretty. The backyard deck is red too. And, as of this afternoon, it is all decked out (no pun intended) with a fresh coat of this deep dark paint.

If I’m honest, I’ll also mention that my hands, feet, and legs… as well as my boys extremities were covered with the paint earlier today too. What can I say? A girl can’t paint around here without some help from the boys. Apparently.

 

I also can’t help but say how thankful I am for a God who hears prayer and cares about even my little garden in the back yard. I seeded these amazing green beans (along with peas, cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes and a whole slew of herbs) 2 weeks ago. The weather has been warm for quite some time, and it was the perfect planting day. However… three days after I planted, we had a torrential rain storm. Inches of rain in just a few hours… and I found myself praying fervently that my garden would still grow. And would you believe it? It did. Every single plant that should have germinated by now, has. Wow! God is good.

 

Last, but certainly not least, I’m thankful for freckles. It appears that at least one of my little boys will take after his mother and don these adorable sun-kisses.

I know there were days in my childhood that I despised my freckles, but mostly, I just loved them. I loved how they’d start with a few here and there, and then slowly multiply, adding dimension and variety to my face. I did.  do. I love freckles. And I loved spotting them on Isaiah’s nose this afternoon.

 

Thank you, Lord, for your mercies that are new every morning. Thank you for giving me such joy in the little things. Great is Thy faithfulness.

Completely Covered

 

It seemed to descend on us in just a few hours… though in reality it took at least 12. We went to bed unassuming, but then woke up the next morning to find ourselves completely covered. I opened the back door and saw yellow yellow everywhere.

The house.

The deck.

The swing set.

All completely covered in pollen.

 

After seeing the the fairy dust everywhere, I am so thankful that we sail through the allergy season without Kleenex or Claritin.

So far the only casualty has been the seat of my pants.  Let me tell you, there's a reason why no ones sells jeans in a hazy shade of yellow. Arg! When will I learn to look before I sit, swing, or slide? So unattractive.