Blueberries and Brussel Sprouts

Last week, the Boyle family headed up to Blueberry Hill, just above town and found a bush plentiful with big, dark blueberries. We had found this bush with my sister Anna, last fall, and we were happy that it was still there for the pickin' this year. We had a great time. The fall colors of the hills were spectacular, coupled with the dusting on the nearby peaks. It was a beautiful setting for a beautiful harvest. I wish there were more berry bushes in the world, people might be happier. Kuplink, Kuplank, Kuplunk. Lucy and Sue enjoyed emptying out their ziploc bags before we could get them to the freezer. :) It was amazing to see the difference it made on my spirit that day. This is our third year berry picking and each year it is enriched. The first was more recon than anything productive but still amazing, the second it developed into something approaching addiction and this year has been just sweet. My sister Anna is visiting again this week with two of her five children and I think we might just be jamming (we might just turn on some Bob Marley to enhance the experience. :) )

On the first day of Lucy's Preschool, I took a picture of her out in front of our home. A few hours later, Susanna and I were sitting on the front porch enjoying some fleeting sunny rays and working on "homework" (She loves it so far, and so do I! Let's hope we can keep it that way!) All of the sudden we noticed something different about our Brussel Sprout plant...it had been attacked! I checked the picture of Lucy in front of it and verified that it had been alive and well at 8:50am. All of the leaves had been eaten and there was a big moose hoof print in the dark soil near the base of our anticipated tower of tastiness. The sprouts were just starting to take off! We had a mixture of emotions. Last night, I dreamt I had six moose in our yard...