Saturday, Part 2

Oh. My. GODS. what a day. I woke up at 5AM; H woke up before 6, and F shortly after. We all got dressed, had muffins, and waited on mom to call RE strawberry picking. By waiting, I mean I chased kids, cleaned the kitchen, and did some laundry. By the time she called at 8:40AM, H was already filthy and wet from playing outside, so I had to redress her down to her shoes. TBH, I was pretty grubby too, but I figured HEY, we're just going to pick berries, it'll be fine. So, off we went.

Even chasing the girls all over the fields, we picked 36-1/2 pounds of berries in less than an hour. It didn't LOOK like 36+ lbs. Really! I'm pretty excited about putting them up tomorrow. Mom said she was going to look up recipes this evening. Mmmm, strawberry preserves. :D

So, I looked GORGEOUS after that, and the girls and I were hungry. Make that STARVING. Since mom picked up the tab for the berries, I told her lunch was my treat. We went to a Chinese buffet (not the "good" one, honey), where the girls were completely fascinated with the piped-in music, and let everybody in the place know. Loudly. So, about 3/4 of the stuff they had on their buffet had some kind of seafood in it, so I wasn't thrilled. They did have egg foo young (I have no idea how to spell that), so mom was THRILLED. I found a little something to eat, and was minding my own business, when manager of the plant where I work showed up with his wife and one of our coworkers. Just the folks I wanted to run into looking like a dirty farmhand. Oh well ...

So, we made it home and I fell asleep with the girls whilst trying to get them to take naps. Oops. But I sooo needed it, and felt GREAT when I got up. :D Alright, so now it's, what 3:30? I got the girls settled in watching a movie, then sat down with some grid paper and drew out the 2 herb beds, including the plants already in them. Then I went through my seeds to see what I could add. I was just about to go out and do some planting when hubby got home from the range [yes, ladies & gentlemen ... I'm married to a cowboy ;)]. He convinced me that we needed to get the sunflowers, pumpkin & watermelon planted in the "long plot," but it was 5PM before we actually got out there with the kids. I got the sunflowers planted while hubby planted the pumpkin seeds (tomorrow, we're gonna set out the pumpkin transplants mom gave us).

Dinner was hamburgers, brats and grilled veggies. By the time everybody had eaten and settled down, it was 8:30PM. No time for baths for the kids ... straight to bed, wearing the clothes they'd had on all day. I know, I suck. :P And yes, I fell asleep with them. Again.

So much for a quiet, relaxing day.

Here's my IDC update for Saturday:
1. Plant something: Sunflowers & pumpkins.
2. Harvest something: Strawberries.
3. Preserve something: tomorrow ....
4. Reduce waste: n/a
5. Preparation/storage: See #2/3.
6. Community food system: See #2/3/5 (mom & I will be sharing the preserved strawberries with my bro/sil and our neighbors).
7. Eat the food: Muffins for breakfast; burgers and brats from the freezer.

Gotta go whip up some breakfast and get ready for another relaxing day.