strawberry fields forever

Hooray, summer is officially here! We celebrated this past weekend with some late strawberry picking at Emma Lea Farms. I had my little helper Cedar with me, filling (and sometimes un-filling) the buckets. Now comes the task of deciding what to make with all our berries (although they are pretty darn good plain)… ideas?

true blue

Got back to some childhood roots this weekend and went blueberry picking. Although I must admit, as a child my harvesting wasn't very efficient (there was more eating going on than actual picking). Now that I have to crouch down to get to the berries, believe me, the harvesting went by a whole lot faster. Now I just have to figure out what to make with all these blue goodies... ideas?

berry delicious

Phew... I have been trying to upload this darn photo forever.. and it has finally worked! Sometimes, Blogger just hates me. Anyways, I just wanted to remind everyone that strawberry season is here! We went strawberry picking on the weekend and picked about 10 lbs worth. Seriously, you have never seen someone pick as fast as yours truly wearing the baby in the harness... after what felt like 1000 squat lunges, I filled my bucket in 20 minutes. Anyways, it was well worth it... check out our bounty!

country time

Now that summer is officially here, one of our favourite things to do is to venture to the local farms to buy fresh produce. We picked up some organic strawberries and spinach at the the Westham Island Herb Farm in Ladner over the weekend.... um, and yes, the strawberries have already all been devoured... yum! (I knew we should have bought the flat instead of the basket!) I think we'll have to head back soon to get some more! Check out this cute farm if you happen to be in the area... they have tons of fresh veggies, fruit, flowers and herbs. Oh yes, and speaking of herbs... I will post soon on my teeny tiny balcony garden... off to take some pics!

frosty days

Oh when will these cold days come to and end... I woke up freezing this morning, so had to turn on the gas fireplace (once again) and make a hot cup of tea. Roger took this lovely photo yesterday on his way to work... so I thought I would share. Hopefully the upcoming days will start to warm up.... brrrrrrrrr. Hope everyone has a happy weekend!

ps. Also wanted thank Janell for including one of my rainy day collages on her blog MooneysMusings!

too early to start decorating?

So I am tempted to start decorating our place for the holidays, but part of me thinks it's still a wee bit early. One of the things I want to get soon are those branches with the little red berries one them (the inedible poisonous ones... I think they call them sparkle berries??)... I keep passing them by when I walk by the florist, and they look too good to pass up. Hmmmm.. maybe I can phase in the decorating slowly over the month... keep the tree at bay for a few more weeks. Anyone start decorating yet?

ps. don't forget to come and visit me at the Toque Art + Craft Fair tonight and Saturday! See details here.

autumn berry trees

I love the falling leaves of autumn... and lately I have been noticing more and more trees that have beautiful bright autumn berries... so pretty! On a nature walk over the weekend, we managed to snap pics of three different berry-types in varying shades of red, orange and pink. I really want some to have in the house, but am trying to resist the urge of clamoring up a tree with a small saw... so I think I may have to visit the local florist today to see if they have any pre-cut ones.