A whole lot a shakin' goin on

You can absolutely not doubt the bounty of the universe when you
look at the cherry tree in our backyard. There are probably enough
cherries in that one tree for everyone on our block, and the next
one to be able to get the four cups needed for one delicious pie.
I don't eat pie. I try not to eat sweets -- but I make one -- no two
exceptions -- my husband Steven's cherry pie, made from my
mother's recipe, and my husband Steven's pumpkin pie, made
from the directions on the pumpkin can.

But when the cherries ripen, it is true
cause for celebration. First of all the
tree is beautiful - brilliant red fruit
against glorious green leaves -- a
Christmas present way ahead of time.
I pitted four cups tonight -- so tomorrow there will be pie, then I climbed up on the garage roof (the tree leans against and has branches
sitting on the garage.) Yes I used a step ladder to get up there,
but I sure was missing Larry Knox's amazing step ladder. (Larry's with
Flora in Nova Scotia).
Steven joined me, and we pulled branches toward us and in a few minutes had the colander almost full.
I had to pit some of that batch to reach my four cup quota, but whew I made it, and I can probably pick another pie's
worth without much struggle tomorrow.

We are also planting our little garden, slowly and at night. I am not a sun person, so we always plant when the
sun's off the garden, but this year we're doing it bit by bit in the real evening.

That's a baby apple from our apple tree on the table -- I'm crossing my fingers
that we get enough apples for apple
sauce this year. We're organic gardeners and the bugs sometimes insist on being
garden alphas.

I'll include a picture of Steven night planting our Cleomes.

Got to get back to the painting now.

Have a ripe-for-the-picking-day.