More Surprises

I dragged Ross through the raspberry patches yesterday and we came upon lots of critters. We saw a bunch of tiny frogs, dragonflies, a box turtle, a deer, long legged spiders, iridescent spiders, butterflies, fish, and birds. I was much more selective about my berry picking and came home with a bag of very ripe raspberries. I used some of Wednesday's berries to make flax muffins. I think I'll use the rest of the raspberries to make smoothies and ice cream. The blackberry bush had some nice ripe berries and a snake. Yep, a snake, high up in the bush! I reached for a berry and something moved. I noticed a small striped rope hanging by my hand. I called Ross over and he got to see it too. Half way through the hike Ross was sick of the humidity and was done picking berries. At the end we were both really, really worn out.

Glittering Fields

The marvels of nature never cease to move me. We went to the dairy on Friday night specifically so that I could watch the glittering fields and try to catch it on video. As the skies darkened the fields began to light up with hundreds of lightening bugs. The bugs would glow and drift upward like embers. Amazing. Delightful. Magical.

There were hundreds of tiny lights drifting up from the bean fields. The video really doesn't do it justice. The audio adds nothing. In fact, I think it detracts, so you might want to mute it.

Surprise!

I didn't think there would be anything to report today, but there were lots of surprises on my hike. The hike went much slower than usual, but not entirely because I haven't had a real hike in about a month. Before I could even get on the trail I was attracted to something bright red on the side of the road. Berries. I always want to eat berries when I find them, but I'm not sure what most of them are so I resist. Not today. They were raspberries! I was picking and eating them, but then I decided to take my sandwich out of its ziplock bag and use the bag to collect berries. I got an entire bag full! So, since I kept stopping all along the trail, the hike that normally would take me less than two hours took me two and a half. I had so much fun. Free, organic raspberries! When I got to the end of the first trail I found another surprise--Blackberries. There was one large blackberry bush, but not many of them were ripe. I found one huge, black blackberry and it was so juicy and sweet. I managed not to get too scratched up--I remember climbing around in the berry patch behind my great grandma's house and getting pretty torn up. I used my long arms to reach as many berries as I could.
These really ripe ones were just out of reach! My bag was full about three-quarters of the way through the hike, so after that all I could do was pick and eat--so that's what I did.
Critter spotting: Today was also a great day for critter spotting. My hearing seemed especially sensitive today (maybe because I didn't have headphones in and I was paying attention) and I caught sight of 5 deer! This particular deer was walking right towards me. I kind of wish I'd waited just a bit longer to take the photo. When he finally saw me he freaked and took off. I also saw a few squirrels, birds, bees, wasps, spiders, and lots of zebra striped butterflies. I finally saw one of the woodpeckers too. I picked a few bugs along with the berries and had to pull a praying mantis nymph and a couple of stink bugs out of the bag.
I don't know what kind of flower this is, but it smelled good, like a tuberose, but not nearly as strong. The bugs seemed especially attracted to it. There are at least four insects in the photo, and I'm pretty sure there is a butterfly on the backside. I sure am glad I forced myself to get out and go hiking today.

Bailey and the Goldfinch

When Bailey sees the hummingbirds she does this funny thing that cats do. She cries/chirps and her jaw quivers. Lately a goldfinch has been perching on the railing of the balcony. This upsets Bailey more than the hummingbirds, probably because the goldfinch sticks around for a while. Yesterday Bailey cried and chirped (a lot)--doing that funny thing with her jaw. I managed to catch a little of it on video.

Falls Branch

Today we headed to the Falls Branch area of Rocks State Park. I really wanted to go for a swim, and it was a pretty cool swimming hole. The problem was the temperature. The water was frigid, and it wasn't that hot outside. It will be a great place to go when it is really hot outside. And it will probably be less crowded during the week.

The water was really cold.

Picnic on the Rocks

Yesterday we headed back to Rocks State Park for a picnic. It was kind of crowded. There were a few groups of rock climbers. I decided that I wanted to climb the rocks too so I climbed up the rock face and Ross took this photo.

Blueberry Pie Ice Cream

Blueberries were a really good price so I bought two pints. I thought I'd make gelato or ice cream. I finally got off my butt and made some ice cream today. I added the spices that I usually add to blueberry pie, so it tastes like blueberry pie. The texture isn't quite right--it reminds me of canned pears. I used my gelato recipe as a base, but changed it up a bit.

Blueberry Pie Ice Cream

1 c sugar

1 c heavy cream

vanilla

nutmeg

cardamom

1 pound blueberries (about 2 2/3 dry pints)

1. Stir together sugar and cream in a heavy pot over medium heat.

2. Add spices to taste.

3. Continue to stir cream until sugar is completely dissolved.

4. Dump blueberries into blender and pour cream mixture over them.

5. Puree berries until smooth.

6. Put mixture in refrigerator until completely chilled.

7. Pour puree into ice cream maker and churn for 25-10 minutes

8. Scrape ice cream into container and put into the freezer--ice cream will be firm and ready in 3-4 hours.