Me Oh My, We Love Pie!

58 pounds to go!

So I sat down on Wednesday evening to get my new post out and a huge storm blew through and immediately knocked out the cable. A couple of hours later the power went out. Luckily it was only out for a few hours, coming back on around 2 a.m. We had 2 1/2 inches of rain!

Back to blueberries. We have 60 pounds of the beauties. Yes, 60. No typo. We used to go out each July to pick our own. Not difficult, the bushes are generally around 5', but in hot and humid July always a sweaty endevor. Once the kids came along, we were very limited in the amount of time we could convice them to do this. Kids are not much into delayed gratification, though they could actually eat the fruit that was picked. Needless to say, we haven't picked our own for years.
D was talking to a coworker who said he bought blueberries yearly from a lady who picked for him. The first year we ordered 20 pounds. It seemed like a lot; but we went through them like wildfire. Next year, 40 pounds, thinking surely this will last all year (blueberries freeze like a charm). Nope, we ate every last one and were reduced to buying frozen wild blueberries. So this year, 60 pounds. WOW it is a lot. We have two small freezers and they are packed full. Now I need to start baking to use up what didn't fit in the freezer. A la bubba gump: Blueberry pie, Blueberry crisp, Blueberry cobbler, Blueberry sauce, Blueberry bars . . . . .

A lot went on this past week. We got new carpet in the downstairs, we went to the Ironbirds baseball game (the local AAA team), (Dave's) sister decided that she and her family are coming to visit next week, and we spent the weekend at Pat and Neil's cottage near Gettysburg PA.
The carpet is GREAT (see picture)!


Nice and soft under your feet and no stains on it yet! Cathy has made the downstairs a barefoot only zone and no eating or drinking (at least for the kids).
The Ironbirds game was a lot of fun. We had box seat tickets from BD and they were front row behind home plate. We had an excellent view of the field (better than the umpire on a couple of plays that were called very poorly).
JoAnn, Greg and the boys are coming on Thursday and staying until Tuesday. They have not been here for a couple of years so it will be good to see them.
We went to Pat and Neil's cottage for the weekend, always a good time (see picture).



Becky was there with her newest motorcycle (see picture).

After lunch on Saturday we went to the local quarry to swim. We had a good time in the water and watching all the interesting local people (be glad there are no pictures). Sunday morning I (Dave) biked a little over 50 miles while the others hung out a the cottage and had pancakes. When I got back Cathy made me plate of them and then we hung out until after lunch. On the way out we stopped at a local fruit stand and bought sweet cherries, plums, peaches, and apricots. The plums are too ripe, they tingle on your tongue when you eat them.

Sunshine and Summertime

I had Friday off, giving me a long weekend, which is a rarity in the summer months. We had nice, hot, sunny days which were perfect for lazing around by the pool.


Our friends came over Friday and Saturday with their new puppy, Goldie, who is a 10 week old yellow labrador retriever. He is very cute and looking at his ears and paws you can see how big he is going to get. Apparently, having a puppy is much like having a baby. He is up a lot at night, needs tons of attention, and chews on everything. I am so not going there.


After hanging out around the pool all day I fired up the grill and cooked some delicious chicken/basil/mozzerella sausages, and we had our first corn on the cob of the year. We capped things off with a succulently sweet watermelon; which the kids wore about as much as they ate. They also had a seed spitting contest (but not many seeds in a seedless watermelon). Alex went on an overnight with his friend and slept out in the backyard in a tent.


Sunday was spent doing the enevitable yard work; which is rewarding but back breaking. The pool beckoned this afternoon, and with the kids elsewhere, mom and dad had a peaceful hour floating around with a cold drink and chatting happily.

Saturday July 12; triathlon

I participated in a triathlon today (1 mile swim, 27 mile bike, 5 mile run). The race went very well . I was hoping to finish in about 2.5 hours and it took me 2:32:50, so I was right on! The swim was too warm for a wet suit (84F). I finished in about 30 minutes and that is my average time for a 1 mile swim. The bike course was pretty technical (hilly) with a 1 mile 7.5% grade clime around mile 21! I averaged 19.3 MPH on the bike which is good for me. The run went well, hot, but good. I only got passed by two people on the run and I held a good pace. Overall I was 74th out of about 450 people, so I am very happy with that.
All and al l a good race.

Wednesday, July 9

We had a lot of rain here on Sunday, so after Sarah’s horse show we went out to lunch and saw the movie WALL-E. It was a cute movie with a good message, don’t trash the planet and don’t be a lazy slug (although I am not sure the kids ever get the message in movies). The weather has been hot and humid, typical July weather for Maryland but it is suppose to cool off and be less humid later in the week. We will see if that happens!

Alex's week

Alex returned from boy scout camp in Pennsylvania where he earned merit badges in pottery,rifle, geology and fishing. He also earned the awards "Range Rat" and for participating in daily polar bear swim. Nothing like a week away with no bathing or teeth brushing.

1st post

To keep up with everyone else in the family we decided to create a blog. I will try to update often, as I enjoy checking everyone's blogs daily.

Busy week here in Maryland. Sarah participated in her first horse show with the pony she's been riding for lessons-MJ (her 1st show as well). Both did well despite 1st time jitters. They were awarded 5th place in one lead line class and 1st place, blue ribbon in lead line horsemanship. We were glad our classes were early, as the sky opened up and we were deluged with cold rain. We quickly loaded up the horses and came home, soggy but happy and proud.