Pies and Ties

My family teases me that I hoard my blueberries

So I had to prove them wrong, by making a blueberry pie :)

Nothing like a blueberry pie with fresh picked berries :)

I spent a lot of time at Ashley's house, making a big project for the wedding.

I had to go out, but when I came back to Ashley's I couldn't find Oscar, her dog.

Turned out Oscar was sleeping under the bed against the wall.

Isn't he a cutie….he is tuckered out here after playing outside :)

I wanted either Wayne's shirt or tie to match my dress.

He wanted the shirt to match, but they didn't have one in his size.

So we had to settle for a tie and pocket hankie.

He liked the tie, until I told him that I like the little flowers pattern.

After seeing that they were flowers he didn't want it anymore, lol.

So I told him that we need to go to the mall to look for a plain one.

For some reason, he changed his mind on the tie, lol.

MEN.

More wedding projects for me to work on tomorrow :)

I hope you all had a very creative Day :)

Tracy :)

Berry Picking Time

I love blueberries…but I think I love picking them even more.

I don't like to eat them on their own.

I need them in a pie, jam, jelly or a blueberry cheesecake.

I think that is one of the reasons that make me a great berry picker…I don't eat as I pick ;)

Wayne and I found a great patch today.

Here is our pickin's :)

Not that it is a competition or anything….but my bucket is more full than his, teehee.

Now look at all of this yumminess all packaged up.

24 cups we picked :)

I like to bag them in 4 cup increments as that is what most recipes call for.

I also enjoy a couple of nice long quad rides.

Also got in a nice walk today.

As I was walking I noticed that when I walked by this one tree, only one leaf would flutter on the stem.

There wasn't a breeze, so this caught my attention.

I kept thinking it was waving at me…I went around my walking trail 4 times and each time I would go around, this same leaf would "wave" at me.

I know…there is probably a scientific reason why this happened….but I am happy thinking it was waving at me, so don't burst my happy bubble, teehee.

I hope you all have a very Creative Day :)

Here are a few other blueberry posts I have done.

The Art of Picking

Blueberry Screen

Tracy :)

Still celebrating

Fun filled weekend. 

I have this chalkboard at our cottage that I write messages on.

Messages such as "Enjoy today" or "Welcome" or even "Love You All" 

Well last weekend I wrote this as I knew Ashley and Tyler were coming up this weekend.

Everyone was up this weekend including Heather, Kristy and her boyfriend Blake. 

When we got here Kristy wanted to make Ashley and Tyler something a little special. 

If you are a regular reader of my blog,  then you know Kristy likes to bake and decorate cakes. So she decided to bake them a cake :)

Funny thing was, she didn't get to put on the icing before they showed up. So we had to make them come in the living room so they couldn't see what Kristy was doing. 

Ashley was oblivious to what was going on and thought Kristy was tired of hearing about wedding plans, but Tyler knew differently. 

They were pretty touched by Kristys sweet gesture. 

Today was a full day. 

We played a few games, one being "Things in a box". 

The girls were nominated for the ALS ice bucket challege. So they did that. 

Wayne and I picked blueberries. 

Ended the evening with a warm outdoor fire with the family. Wayne's dad and wife came by and enjoyed it with us :)

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and squeezed in some creative time ;)

Tracy 

Cleaning you Blueberries and something to make it easier

Remember yesterday's blueberry post...well, I'm not done with it yet, teehee.
Now that you have picked all those juicy, tasty, sweet berries, what are you going to do with them.
I know make pies, jellies, jams, muffins...and my favourite blueberry cheesecake ;)
But you still have a bit of work to do until we get to that stage.

Plus like I mentioned yesterday, I am a berry hoarder, so I need to freeze some of mine.















The first thing I do when we get back from berry picking is to clean my berries.
Step one of cleaning them is to just go through your bucket...or buckets and remove the leaves, stems, twigs and bugs...yes bugs love these berries as well.
I also like to wash my berries.
I just fill the sink with cold water and dump them in.
Any leaves will float to the top and you can remove them from the water.
I swish them a bit also to get the sand out. The sand sinks to the bottom.















Now comes the drying part.
If you are going to freeze your berries they need to be dry. That way if you only want to take out a cup or a few tbsps for your oatmeal in the morning, it is easy as they won't be frozen together.
This part was always time consuming for me.
I would lay out paper towels on baking sheets and then pour some berries on the paper towel, then put it up to a window for the breeze to dry it.
This worked, but it was a waste of paper towel, even though I would save it when it dried for the next weekend.
So I devised a clever way to help me with this part of the process.

I am sure this is nothing new, but it is new to me :)
I figured the berries would dry so much faster if they had air flow to both the top and bottom of the tray.
So Wayne and I went shopping.
First stop was the dollar store.
I needed a frame that was a bit thick so the berries wouldn't roll off of the edge.
So I grabbed 2 canvas's for $3.00 each.
Some screen and we had the heavy duty stapler.

I only needed the outer frame for this project, so I cut off the canvas. 

Bonus is, I get to use the canvas on another project :)

I then stapled the screen to the back of the canvas frame.
Easy, peasy :)

Two blueberry screens done in no time flat :)

Now lets see how these suckers work.
I placed it on the left hand side of the sink, while the berries were being washed in the right hand side.

I take them out with a strainer and then place them on the screen.
So far it has held up to the weight of the berries...thats a good sign ;)

I wanted to clean, wash and dry the whole 18 cups of berries, so I took the trays outside.
I stayed out there the whole time. I didn't want our mutant squirrels to eat my hard earned berries.
As you can see it was a success :)
I am so psyched about my new screens and can't wait to put them to work again, real soon :)

This past weekend Wayne and I picked over 32 cups of blueberries.
I freeze my berries in these Ziploc plastic bags.
I put 4 cups in each bag as most recipes call for 3-4 cups of blueberries.
I also keep an odd bag for just berries I like to put on my oatmeal.

Now off to make a pie :)
I hope you all had a creative Monday, and I should be creating the evening away with my friend Debbie at our creative getaway we do each year.

Tracy :)

Blueberry 101 The art of Picking

I love to pick blueberries.
To me, it is calming. I can let my mind wander, chat, sing or just enjoy cleaning off each bush.
I know some think it is a tedious job, but there is something about taking each berry off and hearing the thud as the berry hits the empty container, turn into a soft thud as your bucket fills up. Plus it may be an OCD thing to have picked the bush clean ;)

I thought I would share some of the tips I have learnt in my over 25 yrs of picking blue berries :
1. Never pick alone. You aren't the only one who enjoys blueberries, so do the bears.
2. Get out there early. You don't want to be picking berries in the hot sun.
3. Bring some water. Even though you aren't exerting yourself, you still need to stay hydrated...especially if you miss the early picking ;)
4. Bring more containers then you think you will need. If the picking is good, you won't want to leave. I have used some unusual things to store my berries in.
4. If the bush has more red or white berries then blue ones, pass it by. They will be so much better to pick in a week or two. Let them mature and ripen.
5. Once you picked the bush clean, lift up the bush. There is surely a lot more under the leaves.
6. What I do is hold the bush with one hand and pick the bush clean with the other...or I double pick when its really good. I use both hands at the same time. My FIL calls this two handed picking ;)
























Shared Secrets:
Wayne and I have a few places we love to pick at.
It is down and old bush road.
At least I think it was an old bush road at one time. But you would never see me driving my jeep down it.
We drive our quads to our berry patch.
Others know of this place, but not many go there anymore. I think it is because of the road.
But just in case someone comes checking it out. Wayne and I have a few tricks.
If you are an avid blue berry picker then you know we like to keep the best berry patches a secret ;)
One of our tricks is to pick on the roads edge. This way if someone comes along to check it out, they think the picking isn't that good and moves along, lol.
But if they were to look further in the bush...blue, blue, blue ;)

I have been known to pick berries where others never would.
A couple of years ago the picking was really good. But some of the biggest berries were in between two large wasp hives. The hives were so big, they were built under an over-rooted tree.
I have to say that, that didn't stop me. I just couldn't let them go.
My FIL's wife was later telling Wayne that she had seen a good picking spot, but there were nests on either side of it.
She couldn't believe that I went and picked there...not only that I picked it clean ;)
I am not foolish though. If there is a bear in the area, I make sure there is a look out (Wayne), so I can skiddadle before he gets to near. Because there is no way I am giving my hard earned berries to a bear, lol.

Wayne loves his blueberry pies.
I kind of hoard my berries, like I hoard my craft supplies, lol.
So when we got home tonight I made a blueberry pie.
I didn't have any dough (like I keep it on hand, lol). So Wayne and Kristy ran to Safeway to pick up some frozen dough.
I know it doesn't look all that great ;)

But it tasted delicious :)

I am not done with this blueberry talk just yet.
Come back tomorrow and I will show you something I made today to make my berry cleaning so much easier :)

I hope you all enjoyed your weekend and had a very creative Sunday :)
I am packing up for my yearly creative getaway with my friend Debbie.
So excited :)

Tracy :)