Blueberries are the best berries

I slept on Em's couch last night and got up early (5:17am...) to go pick blueberries.  It turns out that this was the last day for picking at the particular patch we went to, so the berry quality wasn't great, but blueberries are my favorite so any blueberries are good berries in my book.



We got to the patch at 6 and were picking before the sun came up.



By the time the sun was rising I had picked all this bounty.

Someone else woke up when the sun came up.

Since I had already picked most of what looked good we decided to jump on a photo op.  Check out our hair!  Gimme a break...I was up at 5:17...

Feisty.

When we got done picking at about 7:30 we decided to grab breakfast.  We'd never been to this place before, but the sign outside was advertising "customers wanted" so we thought we'd oblige.

How totally cute is the front!

The waitress was by far the most eccentric/awkward waitress I have ever had the pleasure of giving orders to.  She stared at the sleeping baby for probably 45 seconds before asking, "How old is your baby?"  When we told her she stared some more, and after another full minute of total silence said, "That's a big baby.  He's going to be a big boy."  Then she walked away.

The food was reasonably priced and the atmosphere was quaint.  I thoroughly enjoyed the awkward service.  I would definitely go back.  And I'll take my friends since they're looking for customers.

Say 'Gouda'!

Take two.  Much better.  Jim even got over his fear of salmonella for this one!

"Hey! Take a photo of this!"  Okay...what are you doing?

So that's what happened this morning, you know, before I got mistaken for Gabe's grandma by some lady at a garage sale.

"Are you the neighbor or the grandma?"

"Oh, I'm his aunt."

"Well, sometimes I just can't tell.  People who look so young are grandparents raising their grandkids, you know, because so many of the parents are in jail."

"Yeah, that's a pretty tough situation...  Thanks for the doilies!"

I mean, come on.  I didn't exactly look great (see the above photo from 7am), but I didn't look old enough to be a grandmother.  And if I did please lie to me.

RIP Velma - The Best First Car Ever

The last two weeks have been a trip, which I will go into more detail on later, but right now I'd like to memorialize Velma, my 1994 Buick Century, who today officially passed out of my life and on to that big car lot in the sky.

Velma's last ride

Velma and I met in July 2002, when she was a mere 8 years old.  I had just gotten back from Europe and she was waiting for me in the driveway.  I'll be the first to admit that as a 17 year old I'd had something more grand in mind for my first car, but not one to complain (much) and since it was too late to do anything about it anyway I went with it and, I hesitate to say this, my dad was right -- Velma was exactly right for me.  She took me to school, to work, to practices, and then back home again every day without fail.  And her little old lady exterior perfectly matched my little old lady interior.

Velma and I coexisted peacefully for several more years before I even named her, then one day I met a little old lady at the church I was attending at the time, and suddenly Velma had a name.  And a new sassy personality.  Yes, she was an old lady car, but she had spunk and was a hardy survivor.  Sure, she had to have new tires and breaks occasionally, and I never could get the anti-lock breaks to work for more than a month or two at a time, but all things considered she never gave me any trouble. 

She was a rolling suitcase, and more often than not, a rolling pit of transient, disposable items one might find in any college age person's possession -- wrappers, CDs, water bottles, Lord of the Rings Monopoly, half a broken crock pot, mismatched shoes, a bowling ball, WD-40, and, most importantly, the Les Brown and His Band of Renown tape that came with her (yes, it was a matched set). 

Sadly, the Les Brown tape has since gone missing, but I did manage to recover the after market dashboard mounted compass, which I will happily ensconce in my next vehicle. 

No other car will ever be Velma, and quite frankly, I wouldn't want any other car to try.  She can't be replaced.  Through thick and thin she had my back.  She was, and will always be, the best first car ever.

Maybe we should have been paying attention in English class instead of writing notes: Giggling Gems #2

If you missed the previous installment of Giggling Gems, here it is.

4-26-00
Maggie,
Wow, sounds like you guys are having fun in P.E. Haha. (Fun was very likely the last thing going on.) That is dumb that I ended up w/ weird Allison as a roommate.  She like got her paper form thing today & looked at it, then she was like "you know you are in the same room as me" I was like "Yes," thinking in my head "unfortunately, duh."  I'm too nice to say things like that out loud.  Sometimes I want to kick myself for it too.  (New paragraph?) Miss Cooker always gives me these weird looks.  It frightens me very greatly.  AAAHHH!!!  (New paragraph?) I really do wish they would have given us more time on the math section yesterday.  I could've gotten it done, but NOOOOO! Oh well.  At least I wasn't like some people like Mirabel who just marked circles.  I actually wanted to do good.  (When are we going to start a new paragraph?!?) I have a buttload of crap (very descriptive) to do during the summer. I will have to do summer school for PE, babysit Stephen, work on the car (which isn't that bad, but, hey.), maybe work at the pool, (Pamela said she talked to the lady who looks at the applications, and she said she hasn't looked at anybody's yet. That is kinda upsetting cuz we need to make our plans for the summer), & --> (Yes, I needed the arrow to tell me to turn the page.  How else would I have known there was MORE ON THE OTHER SIDE!) I think that is about it, but it is a lot over a pretty long time period.  Well, I think that is about it.  Write me a novel back!

C-ya l8er,
Samantha

Gabe Attends: The Diamond Jubilee

Some of you may have seen that Queen Elizabeth II has recently celebrated her 60th anniversary on the throne.  What you may not know is that my nephew was able to be there and has sent back photos documenting his trip.  Enjoy!

"I had great seats," Gabe writes, "I was so close I could hear Bill sing 'God Save the Queen' off-key."

"My seat included a backstage meet and greet where I got to hobnob with some of the acts.  Elton even smelled pink."

"Since I'm only 4 months old my attention span is pretty short.  I got distracted while waiting to meet the queen and accidentally crawled inside her purse.  You'll never guess what she keeps in there."

"I must have made pretty decent arm candy because Cheryl Cole decided to add some sparkle to her ensemble by carrying me onstage during her performance."

"Being on stage was so much fun I decided to go back onstage.  During my second performance I rocked the keyboards for JessieJ and Will.I.Am."

"For my final performance I actually was Kylie Minogue.  I must say, he wardrobe choice was not something I'd normally sport, but it was oddly empowering."

 Well, I hope you all have enjoyed Gabe's visit to London and his recount of the Diamond Jubilee concert.  I'm sure Gabe will travel to new destinations in the coming months, after all, I am his favorite aunt.

A Mr. Roger's-ey kind of day

Just some photos I took today on the farm.  It's hay mowing time!  I believe I've mentioned this previously, but just in case I haven't...I LOVE HAY MAKING TIME!!  It's probably because I don't have to actually do the work.

Big bottom, left.

Big bottom, left middle.

Big bottom, right middle.

Big bottom, right.

Hey!  Some grass!  Er, hay...er...something...

Spindley weed flowers.



Some more of that stuff with a neat effect that makes it look all artsy-like.



Panoramic grass!  I saw them tour in '08.  Blew my mind.

Hey -- sniff this.  Doesn't it smell just like that place over there?  Hey, is that your poop?

Margaret Thatcher and Winston Churchill.  When in doubt, naming your dogs after important foreign historical figures is always a good idea.

You have food, right?

Anyway, it was a beautiful day in the neighborhood.  I'm sure it was even a beautiful day for a neighbor, but I don't have any.  Would you be mine?  ...could you be mine?  I have always wanted to have a neighbor just like you.