Do berry bushes like Latin music?

Yesterday we picked blackberries and what a fun experience that was! It was a hoot. This berry orchard is a small little place just outside of Sequim and the owner is a very cool artist who specializes in oil painting and does the orchard on the side. (or is it the other way around?!) His hands were covered with red/black stains and we wondered if it was from the berry juice or his painting. He has speakers mounted on poles all through the orchard that plays piped-in music of various kinds: Jazz, Classical, Latin, and some Israeli/Arab/Indian sounding stuff. It was so cool to be out picking berries in the bright sunshine and warm weather listening to this beautiful music. We could have stayed there all day, but 4 buckets later, we decided we better quit. I'm telling you, once you start, you just keep going like you're on auto-pilot or something. And what were we going to do with all these berries anyway? Well, a 1/2 of a bag disappeared on the way back to the RV park, we froze one bag, and another 1/2 bag is gone this morning - so I think we'll have no trouble getting rid of them! They are delicious!

One thing that is not fun is waking up at 5am to the blood-curdling sound of a gas alarm. Here we were, sleeping so soundly and the alarm goes off - and it's one of those really high-pitched 9000 decible sounds that pierce your eardrums and makes you want to run away. The kind that just rattles your brain. Thankfully, we had an extra alarm, because when we first bought the old trailer, this same thing happened and we put in a new one cause we thought the old one didn't work and that's why it just kept going off. But it did work, just a little too well. I don't like gas anyway, and to have the alarm go off, makes me think we're going to get blown to smitherines. But, these alarms are so sensitive, they can go off from the fumes of hair spray or cleaning chemicals and various other stuff. So, Gary checked things out, and re-tested the new alarm, (which was actually the old alarm from the old trailer) and everything's fine. I think. I hope. (did you follow all that?!)

We drove down south a ways a couple days ago to look at this co-operative farm a guy is starting. You drive for about 3 miles into the mountains on these very narrow curvy roads that were originally logging roads in amongst the tall timbers and hills. Then all of a sudden, you come out into this clearing that is just beautiful. Hills on all sides, covered with huge evergreens, 2 rivers flowing through with pristine-looking water, 4 swimming holes, millions of wild berry bushes growing all over, and a man with very big ideas for it all. It was an amazing piece of property, all tucked back in there in the quiet. Lovely. The boys, of course, had all kinds of plans for it - like, building a raft and taking it downstream, building tree forts with different levels with lots of ladders and bridges connecting them, fishing, swimming and who knows what else. It's like something out of a story book. It is a really, really great place. Now if we only could find this exact kind of place on the EASTERN side of the Cascades and where we could buy the whole place ourselves -not as part of a commune, and that didn't cost an arm and a leg and part of the other arm . . . yeah, well, we're still looking. :)

The weather finally turned from being rainy and dreary and depressing - and the last couple days it's been magnificent. Sunny, not too hot, not too cool - almost perfect. No bugs, no wind, the air is so pure and clean and the view of the mountains with the wispy clouds hovering around is just splendid. Now I remember why we loved it here so much the last time we came. Peaceful, calming and breath-taking. Aaaah!

Better run - it's laundry time. Fun, fun. Later today we're going to another u-pick farm, so who knows what we'll find when we get there! It's going to be vegetables or - more blackberries. Tis the season, you know. I'm thinking blackberry pancakes, blackberry smoothies, blackberry tarts . . . MMM.

Have a great weekend, everyone!
Blessings,
jill and all