Weekending

IT IS BERRY SEASON IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST! (And I'm pretty excited about it)

We had a busy last few days with berry picking, dessert and jam making, and celebrating what a great dad my husband is. Marionberry crisp/cobbler/pie is one of my all time favorites, especially when served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream; a pure summer delight, and now the kids agree with me.

On Saturday my husband built a 45' long retaining wall in our backyard during intermittent rain storms (he is the most determined person I've ever met) so we wanted to give him extra appreciation on Sunday's Father's Day. Our tradition has been to run out for donuts while he sleeps in, so he wakes up to a donut tower. Right now we are still working to figure out what Dean's food issues are so we aren't able to run out and pick up donuts this year. Luckily I found a surprisingly good recipe that fit our needs and made everyone happy (I omitted the chia seeds). A sunny lunch out with the spiciest jalapeño burger I've ever had led to more backyard work and a trial run with his new Father's Day insulated growler. Also, keeping glasses in the freezer for beer is the best idea. I don't know why we didn't start doing that years ago! My relationship with my dad was difficult and I love that my husband has given me a reason to celebrate on Father's Day. I am so glad my kids have an awesome dad.

Last week was no school and both kids at home, this week has one at camp 9-5 and the other at preschool 9-1 all week. I have a list of things I hope to accomplish this week; gardening, sorting, knitting, enjoying the quiet... This morning after dropping them off I headed back out to the berry farm and picked 10 more pounds of marionberries. It's amazing how quickly I can pick when it's just me listening to an audiobook, not taking kids on multiple trips to the bathroom and chasing them down when they've wandered too many rows away! I may have to return to the farm for another solo picking trip before this week has ended.