Strawberry Picking

This past Sunday D. and I decided that we wanted to get out and do something fun, so we headed over to Linvilla Orchards to go strawberry picking. I had only ever gone berry picking once before.

Yep, I'm the one being carried by my sister. We were going blueberry picking. It looks like I was just going along for the ride.

Anyway, back to Linvilla... D. and I had such a grand time here, they do fruit picking from late spring to early fall and I can't wait to go back for peach picking, yummy!

The farmer's market sold food, as you can see some very poor choices were made. What you cannot see is the bag containing half a dozen apple cider doughnuts. Man, those were good.

We took a "hayride" to get to the fields. It was really a pickup truck with some hay on the bed, but I liked it.

Before.

After.

They may be tiny, but they are oh so delicious. There is just something quite unnatural about the behemoth strawberries that you buy at the grocery store. Strawberries should not be the size of apples, very unnatural indeed.

D. proved to be an excellent picker (that is after I told him he should not be picking berries that were half white).

So long Linvilla, we'll see you in peach season!

We made steamed lemon pudding with our fresh picked strawberries. What a delight!

The Magic of Organic Apple Cider Vinegar

Whoo, hoo, "school's out for the summer..." Quick name that tune! Okay, well school is only out for me until Tuesday, I decided to take a summer class after all. But I am thoroughly enjoying this extra time I've had between finals and summer classes, mostly doing nothing but that is fine with me. I was perusing a new-to-me blog today (the velvet bird) and I came across the most interesting post about clearing up problematic skin with apple cider vinegar. Although I had pretty much perfect skin in my teens, it decided to act up in my 20s, much to my chagrin, so I am going to give this apple cider toner a try.

(buy me here)

Anyway, the post sparked an interest in apple cider vinegar and I began googling the benefits of this acidic stuff and let me tell you, it seems to be the cure for what ails ya'. Well not every ailment, I mean this isn't snake oil, but I do love finding out about natural remedies. It is important for the cider to be organic and raw (it contains the nutrients and bacteria not found in the clear apple cider vinegar that has been processed) and has been known to help with high blood pressure, cholesterol, problematic skin, diabetes, allergies, and arthritis.  Of course there isn't the necessary research for doctors to prescribe this as a treatment (and why would there be because then pharmaceutical companies wouldn't have anything to gain...) but I think it's worth a shot. Just be sure to dilute the ACV (through my googling I learned that is how all the in-the-know peeps refer to apple cider vinegar) with water, it is vinegar after all and highly acidic. ACV is inexpensive and can be found at most supermarkets and health food stores, go on google it for yourself I know you probably are just a teeny bit interested in this wonder vinegar.

Gag. Yuck, yuck!

I'm supposed to be writing out a lesson plan and rationale for my ed. psych class, but I needed to take a little break. I can't help but think of how pointless this assignment is since I changed out of my education major in the middle of my semester. Now I am forced to plod along in all of my education classes until finals, which thankfully are next week. Since I never plan on teaching I feel very unmotivated to create a lesson plan. Sigh, sigh, sigh. Back to the plan...

Easter Cake

Easter is just around the corner and I would love to try making this cake for the holiday. How cute!

Footloose and Fancy Free

Ahhh, what a lovely day, I got so much accomplished and I found out that I don't have to take summer classes to be on track with my major. Pheww, what a relief! Accelerated chemistry was not sounding fun. I decided to go to the grocery store and pick up a frozen pizza for lunch. I've had my heart set on a frozen pizza for awhile. Weird? Oh well. A frozen pizza while watching and old movie on a rainy April day sounds like a good time to me.

Things I Love Thursdays 6

Hello, and welcome to another sporadic edition of Things I Love Thursdays. Uhm, so maybe this won't be a weekly feature, but I still like doing them. Without further ado...

I know it might sound disgusting, but Peeps flavored Rita's is delish. Believe me, I was a doubter at first too.

Super cute pom pom tutorial. I like pom poms, I think you get a lot of bang for your buck.

Who wouldn't want to stitch up some of these funny veggies? They would be oh so nice on some dish towels. I think the tomato must be repulsed at the idea of eating vegetables, a type of cannibalism to him. Technically he is a fruit though, just saying...

Since I'll be stitching away some veggies, and can't find my pair of embroidery scissors, I need some owl embroidery scissors. Now of course I don't need them, they're just cute.

My children's literature class is causing my to reread all of my childhood favorites, including Make Way for Ducklings. I like how Mrs. Mallard is counting her eggs with her foot. She even looks like she's smiling, a smiling duck. How cute is that? (On a related-ish note, when I was in highschool I thought for sure I would get a pet duck and I was going to name her Dixie. I never got a duck. I guess reading Make Way for Ducklings is my way of vicariously owning a duck.)

Beverly Cleary and Ramona Quimby

Currently I am taking a Children's Literature class and was assigned to read Ramona and Her Father. Growing up I absolutely loved the Ramona series by Beverly Cleary and I especially like the early illustrations of some of her books done by Louis Darling.

(via google images)



This assignment led me to my nearby library to check out several more Ramona books that I remember liking so well from my childhood. I feel a little funny checking out so many children books, but the assigned reading caused me to remember just how much I really like Beverly Cleary.

I decided to write her a letter thanking her for her contribution to children's literature.

The original Ramona, she has since gone through a few makeovers to keep up with the times, but this original version will always be my favorite.

I am doing a presentation on this book. You could say I'm going through my childhood Ramona craze all over again. And that's okay with me.