Scattered Bits of This and That

I just love this picture!
She played such lovely tunes as she sat looking so big and sweet there on the piano bench. I have video too, but video's seem to bog down the computer. They'll have to be posted one day when we visit civilization.

Here's Olivia picking Huckleberries. We hear that it's another bumper crop this year, and so with two seasons in a row we'll be disappointed to find out what's normal!

















I loaded Carolina onto my back a couple times in the last few days so I could take the children berry picking, and we really had a lot of fun! The only thing was, that I had to find bushes at waist level since bending or squatting wasn't working well for me;-)

Yesterday when we went, the boys accidentally stirred up a bee's nest and poor Olie took the brunt of it with a total of three stings - two on the face and one on her arm.
I am continually impressed with the wonders of Plantain. I chewed some up and applied it to each sting with a band aid, and by evening I couldn't even tell where the stings were! No welts, no redness, nothing.

Our wild Strawberries are ripening too, and while they'd hardly be worth gathering in any quantity, they sure are tasty and the children love to search for them on the ground under the leaves. Little red jewels, like finding treasure!
















Zack is a first-rate picker. For that matter, ALL the children are great berry pickers, just that some days we feel more like eating than picking, and on other days we have some special goal in mind like making syrup, or tarts in which case hardly a berry escapes from the collectors cup!

All right, last but not least - the cream of the crop:
This is berry picking at it's best!



























Zachary delivered unpicked branches to his two sisters so they could pick (and eat) berries from the comfort of their own home. Who ever would have thought of it?!
Thanks my boy!