Blackberries galore!!

I've been noticing that there are bushes blooming with little white flowers all along the roadways and in people's yards and just seemingly everywhere right now. We even have them in our yard down in what we call the trailer park. It's where we park the motorcycle trailer, the car/hay trailer and the horse trailer. They are just blooming like crazy and from what I hear there will be blackberries on them before mid-June. There are a couple bushes over by where we feed the horses and some down the driveway.

Guess what I'll be making?????? That's right, blackberry preserves. I'm in search of a tried and true recipe if anyone has one. There are many on the internet but they all vary in some small way. I would really like one that you know works best every time. It seems we'll have an abundance so some will get put up in freezer bags for when winter sets in and we feel like having something juicy and spring-timey tasting. I would like to make blackberry syrup too...We have heard that Sav-A-Lot has a vanilla ice cream that is "no sugar added." This doesn't mean entirely sugar-free but in small doses, a little bit won't hurt. Ice cream with blackberry syrup doesn't sound bad at all.

Anyway, please let me know if you have a good recipe for either the preserves or the syrup. Otherwise, I guess it will be trial and error...

We never made it to Pee Wee's last night. Instead we stayed home and had meatloaf sandwiches, which were the ultimate in yumminess! Wally had already finished off the biscuits so I'll have to make more if I want those again. The meatloaf was a good idea though. It was kind of warm outside and I didn't want to heat up the house by cooking a big meal. I think Wally said it was 84 or 85 degrees? We may have to turn on the air for the first time this year as today is supposed to be 89 degrees. Whew, that's hot.

After my sandwich I took the dirty clothes out to the laundry room and saw that Wally had moved a metal shelf out there for me. I started my laundry and then I ended up unpacking 4 boxes of the "too large to store in the kitchen" stuff and cleared a big space in the living room in doing so. It is so nice to have all my stuff put up and out of the way. It all fit too and with room to spare. This doesn't mean I need anything more for the kitchen, believe me, I have enough. However, it was nice to see my cast iron skillets (thank you Mike) and my Pampered Chef Stoneware.

By the time everything was unpacked and thoroughly organized on the shelving, it was time to hang the clothes on the line. I know you've heard me say it before but they just look so awesome blowing in the wind and they smell so incredibly fresh and clean when they come in. Sitting at work, every so often I'll catch a really pleasant scent and remember that it's my clothes! It may sound hokey to you, but it's life on the farm for me :)

We had a very relaxing night. Wally had given the dogs a much needed bath so they were tied up on the back porch where I hang out the clothes. They were all wiggly and wagging their nubby used-to-be tails. I had to take time out to pet them. Smith isn't doing so well, although I don't believe he's in any pain as he makes no noise whatsoever, I do believe he's losing the ability to control his hind legs. He wobbles and leans into us and sometimes just plops down in a way that doesn't appear to be of his own accord. We give him the baby aspirin every day and I'm going to start giving him some of the chicken broth I wrote about in an earlier posting. Maybe it will help him since it effectively helps us.

While hanging the clothes I saw a hornet up near the roof of the porch. Talk about a huge critter - this thing was close to the size of the clothespins he was buzzing around. I called Wally to come kill him but by the time he got there, the darn thing was gone. Wally said he had killed one earlier and that was the second one. The one I saw makes three so there must be a nest somewhere in the vicinity. This is not a good thing at all. They are incredibly dangerous and very mean. Indeed, we are now on a mission to destroy before anymore come around. It wouldn't be such a big deal but we still leave the windows and doors open all day and the potential exists for them to come inside. Not gonna have it...nope!

Wally had tied up the horses so when I got home the gate was open. Unfortunately, I didn't even think to close it so after dinner and after hanging out the clothes, we got on the 4-wheeler and rode down to close it. Since we were out, we went ahead and checked the mail where I found an envelope for me inside. It was from Marcia and inside were pictures of Mikey, a note from her and a note from Ricky. Everyone's notes are so sweet and you can't imagine how thrilling it is to see mail in an era when people  prefer to write through email or via text messaging.

Wally showed me where the Hollyhocks were just coming up at the mailbox. James (Hushpuppy) Tidwell had planted them many years ago from seed. I have no idea what color they will be and it won't be anytime soon that I find out. The plants have only two sets of leaves and stand about 6 inches tall. From what I've seen they will grow to about 5 feet tall before putting out a bloom. Another flower to look forward to and drive you crazy with anticipation about. LOL

No my mystery plant's buds have still not opened up. I'm beginning to think they never will. Maybe I really did get onions instead of flowers...wouldn't that be a kicker? A whole driveway lined with lovely, big, fat, onions!! Ha ha that joke would be on me. I forgot about getting pictures last night. I'll try to remember tonight as we take our stroll around.

Rebel was funny when I went to unpack those boxes... I had a handful of paper that things had been wrapped in and I was taking it to the burn pile. He just came walking right up as if it were food in my hands. I got to pet him but he was surely disappointed when it turned out I had no snack for him. And here I thought he only came to me because of the carrots... lol   Smokey let us know the water bucket was empty by standing by it and whinnying repeatedly until we finally realized what he wanted. I went out to check it and sure enough it was bone dry.

Wally had to give me instructions on how to get the water to come out as the faucet is not your average faucet. Of course. Once I got the proper instructions, the water sprayed out into that 50 gallon bucket and filled it in no time. I could have waited for Smokey to come up to get some water and then try to pet him but it may have taken days and I knew he was thirsty so I walked away and let him have it. He tried to run off Rebel but Rebel was thirsty too so he wasn't having any of that. He waited until Smokey was done though before dipping his head to partake in that nice, cool, refreshing spring water. It's pretty cool that they aren't shying away from me as much as they used to. They won't come to me unless they think I have food but at least they don't take off whenever I get near them.

If anyone is going to the club, please tell mama Joyce I said "Happy Birthday." Rebecca sent me an email saying it was today. If it's not, just be sure to harrass Rebecca on FB for me...thanks!

I thought this was cute and ever so true...

"The odds of going to the store for a loaf of bread and coming out with only a loaf of bread are three billion to one." ~Erma Bombeck

Enjoy your Thursday!!