Cherries

Got a pretty good crop of sour cherries this morning, with the help of The Man's sister, and Paul. Used the bucket on the skid loader to get up into the higher branches, which was Paul's task mainly, particularly in the tighter areas. He even helped by maneuvering it into a new position. My half of the "loot" yielded about 8 cups of pitted cherries. I'm going to make cherry jam and cherry/strawberry jam; his sister intends to dry them.

As I was finishing up today's dinner - a pork loin that cooked while we were picking the cherries, mashed potatos, a salad with lettuce from a cousin's garden, I suddenly rememberd that one of my favorite games as a kid was to play "pioneer woman." Now, since most of the neighbors were boys, it was pretty much a solitary game and to my recollection, it mainly consisted of wearing long dresses and trying to look noble and hard-working :) Not that this is exactly a pioneer life, what with running into town in an air-conditioned car, but it still appeals to me.

Gardens

I keep forgetting to mention how thankful I am to the various relatives locally here who have given us produce from gardens - everything from beets (I love pickled beets) to lettuce, to cabbage and onions; and an uncle who gives us eggs. Is this an awesome place, or what?