Thursday, June 20, 2019

Thinking About Blueberries



Picking blueberries with Aunt Fanny was an adventure I never wanted to miss. Toward the end of May or the first of June, I could expect to get a phone call letting me know local blueberries at a certain farm were ripe and abundant, and would I want to be picked up around 8 tomorrow morning? Absolutely!

Aunt Fanny usually had a couple of other ladies with her, but she always kept the front passenger seat reserved for me. Containers were stowed in her car trunk as well as ropes or belts to loop through the handles of the farm’s supplied buckets, and then they were tied or buckled around our waists, leaving our hands free for picking. Once we arrived at our destination the owner directed us to the next in line picking spot, always in the hot sun and getting hotter by the minute.

Fanny was a fast picker, outpacing me two to one, but I didn’t pay much attention, just enjoyed the company and munched a few berries as I picked, making sure they were good and sweet, which they always were. Like the others I started picking at chest level, but if I didn’t want to be admonished, I eventually had to bend and reach for the berries, picking the bush clean of ripe berries before advancing on to the next bush up the row. Sometimes the bushes might be next to a pine forest and depending on the sun, some shade might come my way, but this was unusual, and within a short period of time, I and the others were hot and sweaty. We dare not take a break because the sun was advancing in the sky, and soon, remaining in the field would be unbearable. At some point, upon agreement, we’d have to be satisfied with what we had picked, grab up our filled buckets, and return to weigh and pay.


I never picked blueberries with a group that Aunt Fanny was not part of. After she passed away, I always bought bags of berries already picked. Of course, they had been cooled and I never got that warm juicy flavor of the ones fresh from the bush. Not picking with others was just a sentimental thing. Aunt Fanny was a good friend and had a special place in my heart. I always think of her when the blueberries are ripe.


Monday, June 10, 2019

The ChaperoneThe Chaperone by Laura Moriarty
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I thoroughly enjoyed this well-written book set in the early 1900s and focusing on social topics of the times, topics we continue to relate to today. I checked it out because later this week I will be watching the movie (of the same title) at the Hipp Cinema in Gainesville, Florida. I hope the movie is as good as the book!

View all my reviews

Friday, June 7, 2019

More than enough...

We have more of them than we use, but when we need one, it’s always someplace else. So we buy another rather than feel guilty. And some of us could be considered hoarders of them. I’m talking about tote bags, those reusable bags that replace the hated plastic bag and that so many times we forget to carry into stores when we go shopping.

Did you know the original tote bag began life as an ice carrier, then, it was re-invented in 1944 and continues to be sold today as L.L. Bean’s Boat Bag? Now it’s called a Boat and Tote and comes in different colors, sizes, and prices.

Some of my tote bags were free, many were gifts or carried gifts, and most of them could stand a good wash since I have my favorites that I tend to use all the time. Some are heavy duty and some are pretty shoddy, but instead of throwing those away, I always think I may need them sometime and stash them on the ever-growing piles in the remote area of a closet or in the storage area in my truck or whatever area might be handy when it’s served its purpose. Some have handles that are too long, and I tell myself, “Oh, I can easily shorten that.” But do I ever get around to it? No. Yet it stays in the pile. Why would I get rid of something so worthwhile? Something that makes me appear to be socially aware.


The top of the pile.

If I don’t have a tote with me when I need one, I buy a tote so none of my totes are extra nice or pretty…except for that lovely library tote my grand daughter gave me one Christmas, the one with handles so long it drags the ground when I carry it filled with books. Yes, yes, I’m going to shorten those handles, honestly.

And some totes can be the ugliest totes imaginable, but would I throw one away? Never! It seems blasphemous somehow, and how good does a tote have to be if I paid nothing for it? I think of all the sea life that might die of plastic bags if I throw away a tote that one day I might need to use. I can’t bring myself to do it.

I have even made totes, as in sewing on my sewing machine, an item in my home with which I’m not terribly familiar. But when I select the YouTube app on my laptop and type in “easy tote bags to make”, there are so many videos to watch, one always sucks me in. After all, I’m saving a dollar, right? They’re not that easy for a non-sewer like me to make, and mine always seem to turn out twisted and warped. But I keep those, too, and feel somewhat proud of myself, contributing as I am to the saving of the environment.

And there are ways to use totes that send them on their way to bigger and better purposes. I have loaded a few with clothing for Goodwill and left them, bag and all. And pretty ones, think T.J. Maxx, or cute ones like Trader Joe’s, make great gift bags. Of course, ones I give away, I wash if possible, throwing into the washer a few of the ones I keep, too. Some of them I learned the hard way not to dry in the dryer, but even air-drying, they never look quite as good as they did before. And canvas ones really need ironing, and I’m going to do that, someday. At least they’re clean.


Best of all, I’ve discovered how to never be without a tote bag. Yes, I bought another one. While browsing in Book Gallery West next to the Millhopper Publix, I found this full size tote bag rolled up into a tiny ball and fastened with a snap tie. It takes up hardly any room at all in my purse so now I am never toteless. My only problem is that maybe I should have bought two.

Monday, June 3, 2019

Sunday, June 2, 2019

What to do with that one old banana?

I made some darn delicious banana muffins this afternoon! I had this poor little, almost black banana lying in the fridge, I'm sure you know the kind, so I posed the question to Google, who answered with the following easy one banana muffin recipe:

 Ingredients for 9-10 banana muffins (preheat oven at 350 degrees)

1/4 cup melted butter
1 mashed banana
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1 tablespoon milk (mine was almond)
1 beaten egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour

I melted the butter in a bowl in the microwave and let it cool some, then added the mashed banana, the two sugars, the milk, and the egg, and stirred them all together. Into that mixture, I dumped the rest of the ingredients and stirred it well. I dropped 2 heaping tablespoons into each of 10 paper cupcake holders, and baked them for 23 minutes.

Let them cool completely (if you can) before you try to take off the paper or you will lose a lot of your cupcake.

 I went back to Google and added up all the calories for each ingredient ending with a total of 1500, which divided by 10 cupcakes gave each one a caloric total of 150...not too bad considering how good they are.

I'm really looking forward to having (another) one with a cup of green tea later on this evening. Lots of other things could be added in but I had nothing else handy...walnuts, chocolate chips, craisins. And they are so good as is!