Escape.

We really needed it.

Sometimes the ocean just calls to you, and you have to answer.

Sometimes you need to feel small and vulnerable.

Exhilarated.

Salty.

Sometimes you need a little reassurance.

And then the calm washes over you. The sea air penetrates every pore of your skin and you know that there was no better way you could have spent an afternoon.

It was there we cleansed our berry-stained fingers, searched for mussel shells and marveled at the dessicated shark in the sand. Oh, yes, our first stop was the organic berry farm…

We picked.

And we picked.

He said, “I’ll put one in the box for every one I put in my mouth.”

14 pounds later, we have 10 jars of blackberry jam, a 1/2 gallon jar of blackberry-apple fruit leather, a couple quarts of blackberry vinegar and a tray of blackberry-kefir popsicles in the freezer.

It feels really good to put something up. The garden has not yielded enough of anything to warrant preserving and so I was getting a little antsy to can something, anything. Soon, though, I will have the neighbor’s giant quinces to distract me. I see membrillo in my future.

The oxhearts are ready, btw. I rather like them as a bouquet, but they’re even better as a snack.

Next time: adventures in wool washing…14 pounds so far this week.

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