Blueberries galore!

Yep.... still picking blueberries!

It truly is a bumper crop this year. So far there have been 104 quarts of berries picked by us and various family members, plus more berries that were not counted picked by neighbors and such. Of those 104 counted, I've picked around 53 quarts myself. Yes, I now have my degree in Blueberryology. I also have bluish tinted fingernails, quite a few scratches (the best blueberries are at the top of the bush and on the inside... so I stretch and crawl to get those prize berries), and one wasp sting to date. I consider myself fortunate.... only one sting in a season is good!

The berries ripened differently this year. We had lots of rain in the Spring (which came at the right time for the bushes and gave us the bumper crop), but instead of ripening gradually - over a five to six week period - as they usually do, most of them ripened within a two to three week period. We've picked the majority of berries now (it usually takes until the last of July or early August to get to this point) so I hope to set berrying aside and get back to art and blogging.

And..... good news..... I signed up for extended reach internet! It's still not high speed, but it's as good as it's going to get around here until Embarq comes through with true high speed sometime in the next year or so. I was going to hold out for the real high speed, but decided I can't wait another year. The extended reach is about 13 times faster than dial up so that will make my life - and blogging - a little easier. It takes forever to do things on the net when the pages load oh-so-slowly!

Have a great weekend .... I have a few more berries to pick and then I'm going to donate any remaining berries to the birds!

Still here...up to my neck in blueberries!

No, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. Yet!

We have a bumper crop of blueberries this year. Now, I love blueberries, but this is a major task!

We have over a dozen mature bushes, most of them 10-12 feet high and generously wide. Translation: Many hours in the hot sun picking berries while fending off the wasps that love them as much as we do. Then, for each picking session, several more hours sorting and freezing the berries. We usually start picking the first week in July and continue through the first week of August. By then we've seen enough of the yummy sweet berries.

I'll try to get back to blogging as soon as I can. In the meantime, I'll be on a ladder, bucket in hand, reaching for the biggest berries!