Cherry Picking

The cherries are thick on grandpa's tree.  We ate our fill last night from the lower branches, but got the ladder out today to get all that precious fruit from the highest branches before the birds claim them.  Grandma JoJo was in her element.  She picked the fastest and the most.  Apparently she was hired by her grandma to pick cherries every summer growing up.  She earned a penny a cherry, but they had to have the stems on them.  I didn't know this about her until today and I'm so glad we got to hear some of her memories while we made some new ones of our own.

We got almost a full bushel and there's still more up there, but it will require "the rickety ladder" as Grandpa Dave calls it.  It will probably just be me going back for more, but I've been told I have to go back if we want cherries for a pie because all the pickers agreed the ones they picked today WILL get eaten. 

We've checked blueberries and cherries off our impromptu summer fruit list.  Peaches are high on the list and I know we'll have those waiting for us in Alabama at the end of the summer.  Do you have a favorite summer fruit?

Grandma Flossie's Piecrust

We had been picking berries all week and with Father's Day approaching I thought, "Why not try something special for dessert?"  I dug out my Grandma's pie crust recipe.  The one I'm ashamed to admit I'd never made before.  It has intimidating words like "scant" and "sifted" and "ice water" in it.

Right after Dean and I were married we visited her and she happened to be making a pie.  Thinking I would soon be making lots of pies, ( I don't know why I thought being married would automatically make me a baker) I asked her for the recipe.  She handed me a piece of paper and while she made her crust she dictated to me the steps...

2 C flour sifted with a tsp of salt,
remove 1/3 C of the flour salt mixture and mix it with 1/4 C ice water to make a paste, place in fridge,
cut in 1 scant C shortening to remaining flour,
mix refrigerated paste and flour/shortening together,
place on a floured board and knead well,
divide dough in half and roll out,
makes 1 large double crust pie
bake 375 until done

Simple and daunting at the same time. "bake until done?" How thin should I roll it?  What exactly is a scant cup of shortening?  I remembered watching her make her perfect crust, the crust I'd eaten every other Thanksgiving since I can remember.  I watched her measure the salt in her hand and eye her shortening on the end of her wooden spoon.  No measuring cups needed for her.

All these years later I finally got around to making Grandma Flossie's crust.  It really is a perfect crust.  In fact, the kids all picked out the blueberries and asked for seconds of crust only.  This post is for posterity, to show that I really did make a pie, all by myself, at least once.  I felt a little bit like the Little Red Hen.  Short of growing the wheat and grinding the flour, this pie really is from scratch.  We picked the berries and made the crust from raw supplies in the pantry and that's close enough for me.

Thank you Grandma, for teaching us that perfection takes a little bit extra time, love, and thought. It was delicious.

Dad's Day

A few weeks ago our home teacher asked Dean and I what the hardest part about being parents was.  Without even batting an eye Dean sighed and said, "no free time".  I had to laugh.  It wasn't the answer I had in mind, but as I reflected on this Father's Day,  I realized Dean really doesn't get a lot of time to himself.  

I remember growing up and my mom shooing us out of the house or downstairs around 5:15 so my dad could come home and have some alone time with the swamp cooler attached to their bedroom window.  I'm sure I waited just as anxiously at the top of the stairs, as my three do, to be able to talk to dad.  They ask about him constantly.  And because of his awesome schedule, we've been spoiled the past year with a lot more "dad time", which we love, but even large quantities never seem to satisfy their craving for him. 

When I asked Ben and Alan what they wanted to get Dad for Father's Day Ben said, "Legos, because he never really gets time to build with us and I KNOW that's just what he would want." I knew the top three items on Dean's Father's Day request list were, a nap, a miter saw, and steak for dinner.  I admit I giggled when Dean read Ben's card out loud and got to the part about "remembering the happy times we had building Lego's".

  I'm afraid the nap got x'd from the list when Dean spent the afternoon "happily building Lego's" and grilling his own steak dinner.  Although we do have a new miter saw in the garage and there was homemade blueberry pie for desert.  Plus, we're leaving him to his own devices Tuesday as we wing our way westward.  Two whole weeks of alone time before he's with us again.  I hope he makes the most of it.  He's already assured me he will be spending one entire Saturday in bed.  

Happy Father's Day!!

Some Father's Day highlights...

Happily building Lego's

It's hard to eat corn on the cob with two missing front teeth.

He does hair too

It really was as good as it looks.

Dean's hijacked nap time

10 Points for Gryffindor

 It's what conversation naturally turns to at every church and school function from March to May. The dreaded Summer Schedule.  The internet is filled with "Summer Chore Charts for Kids!" and tips on how to be an "organized and fun" mother in the summer.  Organization and fun.  I have never been able to master both at the same time.

We've never had a chore chart.  I would ask my children to do something and expect it to be done with minimal whining.  It's worked for eight years.  The inevitable problem isn't with the children.  Ironically, it's me.  I become increasingly lazy and forgetful as the summer wears on and their 20 minutes of mandatory reading turns into shouting out business logos as we drive through town.

Two dear friends of mine have functional chore charts.  One assigns each chore a minimal monetary amount like, "take out garbage - .10".  It works well for them and her children earn a little spending money.  The other friend breaks her house into sections and days.  Each person has a responsibility in each section on each day like, "Monday - dust living room - mom".  I really like both of these ideas and I think I will try implementing them in our own way soon, but because we'll be living with extended family for most of the summer we needed something that was self motivating and portable.

Introducing the Marturello Task Checklist... We saw an idea online that said something like, "Congratulations, you've been grounded!" and then went on to list chores that had been assigned points and once the child earned 100 points they could be ungrounded.  "So, what if we they start out 'grounded' every morning?" Dean said.  "And then they work their way up to 100 if they want to do anything?"  We presented the idea in a family meeting.  There were milkshakes involved and I'm sure that had a lot to do with their willingness to try it out.

It's been going for a week and it's working so far.  They want points.  There are 6 mandatory things they have to do like make bed, practice piano, read 20 min, homework, take dirty laundry and put away clean laundry... etc.  All of which can be done at someone else's house.  Then there are the electives.  My personal favorites include, "baseboards, bathroom, vacuum, and complete a favor without whining".  The first day I shouted out, "Ten points for Gryffindor!", after Alan finished his dishes and they latched onto the idea. Now, when they "X" out their chores they holler out how many points they scored for Gryffindor.

Our family board now includes a chore chart.  I'm sure someday the points will no longer be a motivation.  For now it's working and it's fostering sibling cooperation and some great lessons on cause and effect.  I passed this quiet conversation at the bottom of the stairs just this morning..

Ben - "Alan, do you see your handprints on the wall, right here?  I just washed this wall yesterday and earned 5 points for Gryffindor and now you ruined all my hard work."

Alan - "Sorry, Ben.  I can wash the wall again for you."

I did a happy dance all the way to the kitchen!!

Impressions

The music, and the moonlight, were beautiful.




Joining Mamabyrd in her weekly Impressions post.  Feel free to add your own either here or there.

Garden Sitting

Our neighbors went out of town for a few days and left us in charge of their garden.  It's a beautiful space and purely functional.  They only grow what they don't already have in their pantry.  Last year they focused on beans and tomatoes and canned/froze everything they grew.  This year it's squash and cucumbers with only a few tomato plants to satisfy the craving for a fresh summer tomato.  It's a way of gardening that is foreign to me.  I like a little bit of everything in my garden and the excess is usually given away.  My Pioneer ancestors would cringe at my waste and lack of food preservation.  I do enjoy canning tomatoes, but the thought of growing all the produce first is overwhelming.  I miss living close to my farmer relatives who had cheap overripe tomatoes I could harvest myself, and my mom close by with advice and a pressure cooker.

We had a good time harvesting, even if it wasn't our garden, and it gave me hope for our own produce in September and October.  All children love finding hidden squash and cucumbers, even if they don't enjoy eating them. I'll use the next few days as our trial run.  The boys were up early to help me search for veggies.

The best part about garden sitting?...

... a blueberry patch.  Our kind neighbor informed me her freezer is bursting with berries from last year and we could help ourselves all summer.  We can hardly wait.  I'd never eaten a blueberry straight from the bush. A. MA. ZING!!

We felt like little Sal in Robert McCloskey's book, eating more than we actually put in our buckets. We talked about dew and plants, dirt and bugs, and of course, where to plant our own blueberry patch.

New Skills

I noticed him walking around with my shoes on two days ago.  When I asked him what he was doing he said, "practicing".  I watched over the next few hours as the tying progressed. I asked him why he was using my shoes and he informed me that the laces where longer than the ones on his shoes.  Finally, after spending literally the whole day working on it he could tie his shoes.

Around the tree...

Through the loop...

And pull tight.

 I am constantly surprised by his sheer determination and willingness to master a new skill when it's something that interests him. I wish I could harness it and use it for some of the things he struggles with, but, like Dean reminds me, tying your shoes is so much more useful than rhyming...and listening. Especially when you're only five.