A little bit out there...that was refreshing!

Yesterday was one of those gorgeous days that make you want...no, make that need ... to get outside. Sunny sky, a breeze, temperatures that aren't like a blast furnace, and the vegetation at the very brink of toppling into fall made it an incredible adventure.

A few days earlier, Maryanne found herself at our bayberry source and picked about a quart. We figured we could go pick some more because we use it in the holiday bayberry soap that we only make at this time of year. In the same general direction is a park where I'll be setting up for a book signing next Saturday afternoon, and had offered to include a weedwalk. Always good to check that stuff out first ;-) . And I'm glad we did, because we may need to revise the plan a bit since it is more of a landscaped area than I thought - and WAY too much poison ivy back on the paths to be going off the path.

As we headed out the driveway, I looked at my sister and it struck me that it had been at least a year since we'd done anything together that we didn't *need* to do for some reason or another. Yesterday was just a fun ramble. Sure, both of our destinations were necessary, but not like our usual (lately) somewhat driven pace. Taking care of a desperately ill person is hard all the way around, but now he's quite a bit better. So we had a day.

As we left the park we noticed a stand of small trees that the birds were just fluttering around. They were having such a ball that the trees seemed almost to be in motion themselves. We pulled over to check it out and found 2 varieties of Silkie Dogwood with the most beautifully shaded blue berries.

Almost at the end of the drive we found these Winterberries. It took my sister and her husband quite a while to identify with field guides and computer because these just aren't that commonly used around here in landscaping - and don't occur too much as natives.

Next we went to the bayberry "secret site". Heh heh. Ours aren't quite producing yet, so for now our source is a secret location. We each filled a quart freezer bag. We boiled off a lot of the wax last night and will probably do the rest today. It will most likely result in less than a pound. Not a lot, but so worth it. I'll add a pic of the wax later.


As we sat looking through the fieldguides, I found a picture of hazelnut pods and exclaimed how cool they were. Yeah, yeah... I hear you asking, "what the heck was she doing in the nut tree section of the field guide when she was supposed to be looking at berries?" and I'll just say that this is all supposed to be FUN!
So it was pretty funny when Bob said, "I have 50 of those trees - just babies - out in the little nursery outside and today I SAW those things today. Come on, I'll show you."

Life here can be so good.

Almost September! Harvest! Quick!!!

This morning I feel determined to write *something*. One of my best friends (since Jr. High!) wrote last night and wondered if everything was alright since the there was nothing new on the blog for so long. Way to kick my butt, Patty :-).
This time of year gets so hectic. Besides all the things that go on inside the house, like getting the kid off for her first day as a senior today - sob! - the things going on outside are driving me to distraction. Suddenly I realize that if it isn't gathered and preserved now, it will be gone until sometime next year. Things like plantain and jewelweed are used for products that are needed before they are big enough to use next spring. The elderberries are are turning just about dark enough to pick --- when the birds eat them. We have a constant battle going on. If I pick them just at dusk, they will have had a whole day to deepen, and it seems that the birds feed in the morning.
All of the sudden, everything is ripe or just about to go to seed or drop seeds.
The garden is pathetic, but occasionally I go out and kick a clod of dirt and mutter to myself.

Right now I'm looking out the window at the roving band of banty chickens on the hillside. It is a good 100 - 150 yards away, but there is a optical illusion caused by the way the hills and valleys make things appear. The chickens are on the next rise over, so they appear closer. Anyhow, there are several generations of these cute little fowl. My sister calls them the kids, the teenagers, and the grown up. There is also a gang of babies, but they don't go up on the hill yet.
They wander among the rows of trees, and it is a funny sight. First thing this morning Molly and I were standing at the window watching and laughing. The funniest part is that the guineas have decided that they want to be chickens too. The pale guinea doesn't want to hang around the gray one anymore. They were 2 peas in a pod for years. But the pale one thinks she's a chicken and the poor gray one stands in my yard plaintively calling for her friend who pretends to be deaf to her call.

Below is a picture I took a couple of weeks ago of some of the tobacco in a farm field in the other end of the county. Tobacco seems to be coming back as a crop here. Locally, the tobacco grown is for cigar wrappers. As kids we tried it a time or two (I believe we used notebook paper - gag) and believe me, it is different. But the farmers "top" it when the blossoms begin to appear.
After seeing the price that tobacco absolute is going for, perhaps I should talk to one of these guys and ask them to save the flowers for me. Wouldn't THAT be fun to distill!?!