Fresh Raspberries

One of the cabins we've been lucky to visit this summer has a great raspberry patch. Every morning, the kids' first chore was to help Grandpa pick berries. A wet summer and recent sunny days made for a seriously over-productive berry patch.

Of course, being children, the berries didn't always make the trip from the garden to the house. They still reaped at least two gallons of berries a morning. I made two pies at the cabin, and one more after we came home.

It's a great way to start your day!

  Have a wonderful weekend!

 May the sun shine through your windows, and warm your heart with joy!

May your soul be filled by good memories and strong thoughts!

At the cabin

I wish I had more photos, or I wish I could get them off my camera... so more pics to come.

We're at the Cabin, on Serpent Lake in Minnesota. Like 10,000 other lakes, there is water, and fish, and sun. There are 5 cousins, ages 4-10 who are having a blast swimming all day! Two grandparents, now four parents, and two dogs. It's a beautiful time.

The raspberries are coming in, and while the kids are a GREAT help, they don't have the staying power that knowing the price of 1/2 pint of the dry red berries in a store. We picked two gallons today, and made two pies. Jam tomorrow!

The lake water is just the right temperature, and the days have been warm and sunny.

How is your summer?

Summer Fun!

One gift of Summer Vacation in the land of 10,000 lakes is the ritual summer cabin weekend. We are blessed to have lovely family who share their forest-backed, lake-front homes with us. It is so easy to relax and unwind when one steps out of the van to the green-ness of the Wisconsin woods. But, relax does not last long with kids and a lake around.

On your mark

Get set

GO!

Splashdown!

Yes, he's a lab

The Admiral's mobility assist dog, Guido, is a great Yellow Lab, who is a little cautious about going outside in the rain. The silly dog does not like wet grass. And Labs are supposed to like to swim! We took him on a trip to Big Elbow Lake, and discovered that he can swim!

He'd chase that silly dummy in the water for hours if someone would throw it for him.

He did have one little Quirk, if the dummy got dirty, he wanted some human to pick it up for him!