Today We’re Talking Blackberries and Chickens!

 

Yesterday the boys and I went Blackberry picking.  It was such a gorgeous day! The temperature was lower and a steady breeze helped keep us a bit cooler.  Out prime picking spot was out in one of my dad’s fields that is in CRP (conservation reserve program). In this field tall grasses grow and patches of Blackberries.  At one place we were up on a hill and the view was so beautiful! To make the day even better, the picking was phenomenal! In an hour we picked two large ice cream buckets full! Sadly, next year due to the field being in CRP, all those lovely Blackberry bushes will have to mowed down. But, for this year we are enjoying and mostly likely over indulging on these gorgeous, juicy, jems!

 

I happily put 7 quart bags of these beauties in the freezer, we snacked on some, and I saved out just enough for a pie.

 

 

A scrumptious, amazing Blackberry Pie!

 

adapted from Michelle Verdiere’s recipe on Allrecipes

• 5 1/2 cups fresh blackberries
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons butter sliced
• 1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 Tablespoons milk
• Extra sugar

1. Combine 4 cups berries with the sugar and flour. Place bottom pie crust in pie plate and brush with beaten egg. Spoon berry mixture into pan. Spread the remaining 1 1/2 cups of berries on top of the sweetened berries, and cover with the top crust. Seal and crimp the edges. Brush the top crust with milk, and sprinkle with the extra sugar.
2. Bake at 425 degree F (220 degrees C) for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature of the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C), and bake for an additional 20 to 25 minutes.

 

When I wasn’t absorbed in Blackberry heaven, I was laughing at these guys!

 

Oh YES! Chickens have come to our Juniper Hills! 

A guy that is on the fire department with Mr. Hollywood wanted to get rid of these beauties.  His wife had bought them as chicks. She wanted laying hens.  She got roosters.  And we got the best part of the deal…free chickens! 

Meet, Daniel Boone, Mingo, Yadkins, and Jericho.  The boys really like the old Daniel Boone T.V. series and thus our chickens received these macho frontiersmen names!  Little sis was fit to be tied that she didn’t get to name any of the chickens. She thought Blueberry was a much more suitable name!

Now I have always talked myself into not wanting free range chickens because I’m a barefoot kind of girl.  I don’t want any surprises gushing up between my toes, if you know what I mean!  But these lovely creatures have been free range since late spring.  So, free range they must!

I must tell you, I had so much fun with these feathered beauties.  When I wasn’t busy with Blackberries and other household duties, I could be found out in the yard checking on the chickens! 

There were a few mishaps when we first let them out of the cage in the morning.  They got scattered first by the dog, who just walked calmly up to see who the new arrivals were, then by the cat who thought he would try to catch a feast.  I seriously thought one was lost for good in the tall weeds that surround our yard, but they eventually all came back together.  They spent the day scratching around the yard and when the sun got too hot they took to the weeds and trees beyond our yard.

 

We opened up my potting shed (that is still waiting to become a potting shed) to these bachelors, so that they would have a safe haven for the night.  Getting them in to the shed….that’s a long story, but finally we just waited till dark!  They settled down to sleep on our lower deck and then while they were in their night time stupor we easily walked up to them, picked them up and carried them to the shed.

Even though these guys are here only till they are fattened up enough for the table, I am really enjoying watching them! And I’m loving their morning shout outs!  It’s like they are saying, “LOOK, this is such a GLORIOUS morning, don’t you just want to REJOICE!”

And this morning while I was sitting out on the deck watching them, I did just that!  I lifted my voice in praise and thanksgiving to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!