Morning with cherries on top.

I don’t think I can be categorized as a morning person since I do not leap out of bed singing and tap dancing, I do not explode with exuberance and chattiness. But I do have a tendency to wake up early. Today, a Sunday, started at 5:00 just because I rolled over and my eyes opened… and once my eyes open… there’s nothing else I can do but get up. So I did.

I washed, dried, and put away the rest of last night’s dishes, fed the chickens, cat, dogs. Checked on the bees and checked on our rain barrels and the new goldfish we added to eat the mosquito larvae. I checked on the garden, pulling weeds as the sun inched upwards. My beans are doing well. My peppers are beginning to fruit.  I hope my pumpkins hang in there.
 
I made coffee. I drink only decaff, but it’s still comforting to have a warm cup in the morning. I sat on the porch and watched the gold finches eat my zinnias. I sat on the couch and watched the dogs chew on rawhide. I folded laundry. I finished pitting the 20 lbs of cherries we picked yesterday and set 10 lbs to boil in sugar for jam. I did an inventory of my empty mason jars, set the chosen ones aside to sanitize, and then I did an inventory of the rest of our canned goods.

We picked too many cherries and we’ll have too much jam, but this is perfect. We’ll give some away, barter some of it, and have it on hand for a few years. We have a tendency to cycle through fruits. Three years ago we did strawberries and we’re just finishing them up. Last year it was blueberries. And although we’ve not made apple butter in almost 4 years… we still seem to always find a jar. This is our year for cherries.

Now I wait quietly for others in the house to stir. 

I forgot to tell you that we  finished the basement just in time (almost) for a housemate to move in. We’re all getting along very well. It’s nice to share our space. And, best of all, he loves the chickens and the bees and he likes to help me in the garden.

My days have been so very busy with my new job and other adventures and I am sad I have not found the time to share. There have been many good stories– from trips to the emergency room to rescuing wild honeybees from someone’s living room wall, as well as visits to local and rural homesteads, swims in ponds, and a variety of excellent cooking experiments.  I hope to be able to share more very soon. Meanwhile, I hope your spring/summer has been off to a great start, too!

Yours truly,

Huck