Strawberry Bounty!

We got a hot tip that the strawberries would be ready to pick this weekend and sure enough, Friday morning I saw the sign! We had a wedding to go to this afternoon in Damarascotta but the strawberry field opens at 7, so we were out there by 8 am, rain and all. I actually wasn't too upset by the rain because there's nothing worse than strawberry picking when it's hot and sunny (in my opinion). The fields were WONDERFUL and full of beautiful, delicious, ripe, big berries! In one hour we picked 25 quarts! The total price: $56.

We froze 16 quarts in 8 big ziplocks, green tops on and all. Now that we have the Vitamix, we can make smoothies with the berries with the tops on. It pulverizes them so you can't taste the tops and they have lots of Vitamin C in them. We saved 4 quarts for me to make strawberry jam with in the morning and then we'll hull the rest and freeze some and eat some fresh. More than likely we'll go back and get more. Last winter we were out of frozen berries by December due to all the smoothie eating. Then we had to buy them the rest of the winter and that sucked.

Here's a few of our bounty.

A few weekends ago, I rode in the Kennebunks Tour de Cure - a bike ride that raises money for diabetes. I raised $85 thanks to generous family and friends (mostly family). I wanted to get one "race" in before my triathlon just to get used to riding with other bikers around. I did the 25K ride, which is about 15 miles. It was kind of a cold rainy day (we've had a lot of them lately), but it was a nice ride through the pretty (tourist-ridden) town of Kennebunk. There were parts that were low-traffic, and then they sent us right through the middle of town, which was a mess. I had to get off my bike and walk since the traffic was so bad. Then the route took us right by the beach and the ocean and that was really pretty. It was very well organized and there were 3 rest breaks. I took advantage of them and had some snacks and drinks. I was good until about mile 10. Then I really just wanted a nap. But I kept going. Then I fell. Then my brakes started squeaking. Then my brakes kind of got stuck in the "on" position. Then I finished. I survived. But I was tired.

That's me in pink in the middle.

I also swam in the ocean for the first time to train for the swim part of the triathlon. I really liked it! Me and two of my coworkers went to East End beach in Portland with our websuits. It was frigid on my hands and feet but they did eventually adjust. I just got used to the water...didn't do too much swimming. I have less than 2 months to go and I'm getting a little freaked out. I need to step up my training program, for sure.

Other than that, it's the same old stuff...making jewelry, trying to sell my jewelry, tutoring, working, watching Jon study, gardening, beekeeping. Well it's a busy life, but it's a good one. Having a good summer despite the crappy weather.