Strawberries!

I had a lot of things to do around the farm this morning as well as some writing work. It was Ella's day off from school (she's home every other day) and like most "working" days lately, I was resigned to juggling chores and work while trying to fit in some time together.

But lurking in the back of my mind I knew that time was ticking on strawberry season. I mean, its June 22nd already! Last year, as we were still reeling from the trauma/drama of our first year on the farm, the season came and went without any berry picking.

So in the spirit of trying to reclaim some spontaneity while spending some quality time together -- no work, no chores -- I decided to make this a strawberry day. I even asked if Jack wanted to go into school late so he could come picking with us. I figured it would be like our own mini field trip. He hummed and hawed and decided that he wanted to go to school but he'd coming picking with us next week when he's done school for the year. Fair enough, though it's times like this that I really envy the flexibility of a homeschool schedule.

Even though the sky was starting to grey a bit and some grumpy looking clouds were rolling in, we hopped in the truck and drove 30 minutes to the next village, home our local u-pick place.

The owners said there was another week of picking left, but I'm not so sure. Jack may be playing hookie after all!

We decided that picking berries was kind of like looking for buried treasure.

Look, our first red jewel!

The original plan was to stop after we'd picked a flat of berries -- enough to make a big batch (or two) of freezer jam and have some for munching.

Ella's turn to take a snap of me: "Say, 'cheese' mama!"


After we'd paid (only $8.45 for the flat!), Ella asked if she could finally taste one.


The verdict?

"Mama, can we go pick some more please?"
Absolutely.