Pick 'n Edom!

Last Monday we made our annual trip to Edom, Texas to pick blueberries. Edom is about 19 miles southeast of Canton and is a great destination for a day trip! This was Michael's fourth year to pick blueberries and even though he had to get up quite early, he was really excited!

We arrived at Blueberry Hill Farms about 9:00 a.m. and picked until about 10:30. This year the blueberries were plentiful and very sweet. If you've never picked blueberries, it's a lesson in patience. Unless you find several berries in a cluster, they have to be picked one at a time and you only have one hand to pick with because the other one is holding your basket. Our first year, we were a little overly enthusiastic and took the biggest baskets into the field to pick. After about 30 minutes we brought them back to the barn and traded them for the smaller size! It's a lot more fun to finish with a small basket that's loaded rather than a big basket partially full. I know that's purely psychological, but it works when the temperature is close to 100 degrees and you're pondering whether Edom is big enough to even have an ambulance service or if they would just let you die in the field if you were overcome with heat exhaustion.

After picking, we enjoyed one of the heavenly blueberry muffins baked by the owner's daughters. Blueberry Hill Farms is a family owned business and the whole family chips in. The farmer, his wife and three daughters run a little store on site that sells muffins, ice cream, pies and lemonade all made with their delicious berries.

After cooling down and changing to dry clothes, we headed on down the road to the Edom Bakery, where Mendy and I enjoyed a great lunch of quiche and salad, while Michael feasted on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and entertained us with songs about picking blueberries.

Wow, it's awesome to view excitement from a four-year-olds perspective!

Then, it was back home to wash, dry and fill baggies for the freezer. FYI: We've found that

if you put blueberries away dry, they won't clump together and it's easy to remove just the right amount needed for a recipe.

Here's our favorite Blueberry Smooothie recipe. It makes enough for two.

Blueberry Smoothie

Ingredients:

one banana

one-half cup of blueberries

one-half cup of fat-free vanilla yogurt

one cup of skim milk

one packet of Equal

one cup of crushed ice

Directions: Combine all ingredients in blender and mix until blended. Pour into two glasses and enjoy! This is a great lowfat treat for breakfast or an afternoon snack.

Happy Father's Day to all dads everywhere!

Happy Birthday, Austin!

Austin and his parents, Vince and Jera, are members of our church family here in Dallas. Vince and Jera are a wonderful young couple who prayed for many years to have a child. When the opportunity to adopt in Russia was presented , they worked and saved for several years so they could travel to an orphanage thousands of miles away and bring little Austin back.

We,at our congregation , eagerly watched from home as Jera blogged from Russian for three weeks and showed us pictures of the little blonde haired toddler who had quickly stolen their hearts.

That was over three years ago and it has been such a pleasure to watch little Austin as he begins to grow " in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man". May you have many more happy birthdays, Austin!
(Austin is on the left in the picture above with Michael, my grandson)

What's a Googoo?

When my daughter was expecting her first child I spent many hours contemplating what this first grandchild should call me. I just couldn't see myself as a granny, mimi, mammaw, nanna, etc. so I decided on a nice, dignified "grandmother". When I told my daughter the name I'd chosen, she immediately vetoed it as "too stuffy and formal" so... it was back to the drawing board. My next choice, "Gramma" was deemed acceptable by all and I began imagining myself as Gramma. I could see a polite, well-dressed little girl or boy taking me by the hand and saying, "Gramma, let's take a walk in the garden and pick some flowers." (Actually, I don't even have a garden.)

So, when our little bundle of joy was born, it was "Gramma" this and "Gramma" that until he reached the age where he actually started to express himself and what came out of that cute little mouth? You guessed it! "Googoo"! Yep! Just like those gooey, chocolate covered, peanut clusters!

And now, four years later, when I hear a little dark headed,brown-eyed boy with a big grin on his face yell "Googoo!" across a crowded mall, I beam with pride as he bounds over and wraps those sweet little arms around my legs. Who cares if bystanders are all saying "What's a Googoo?"