It has been far too long since I have written! We have been busy around here with the usual summer work. It’s blueberry season right now here in Maine, and it has been a good one. Just ask the birds in our yard. They will confirm that our blueberry bushes were loaded with berries this year!

Some years, when we see the birds eating all of the berries, we will net the berries, but we haven’t had the heart to do it the last couple of years. It just seems like the birds have generally shared some with us, and we have to worry constantly about a bird getting caught in the net. Over the years, we had two birds caught in the net, even though we mark the nets with bright colors and weave bright yarns across the tops. Thankfully, both times, we helped the birds escape the net, but we always worry what would happen if we weren’t home or just didn’t notice a trapped bird.

This year, a family of Robins and a very large family of Mourning Dove have eaten almost every last berry. We got about a quart and a half. I estimate they have had about six quarts so far, so they are not sharing very well this year.

We eat a lot of blueberries throughout the winter, so Ron and I made a trip north to our favorite blueberry farm in the middle of nowhere and spent last Friday picking berries all day. I noticed we were slower than ever before, especially me. Our family is making progress with this long COVID stuff, but it has been hard to spend the summer so tired and so worn. Still, we are slowly getting things done.

We have put up strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, broccoli, cauliflower, and turnips so far. I have also made jams and jellies, and we have eaten something fresh from the garden every single night since the first of June–spinach, lettuce, radishes, berries, and kohlrabi so far. We have also raised and processed 26 meat chickens, and I have 8 dozen eggs in the freezer for winter. I need to get about 4 more dozen.

Of course, because we are so slow at everything (in particular I am slow at everything) I haven’t had time to write. I’m just barely getting by this summer, but I am thankful to be getting by.

We were so slow picking the blueberries on Friday that I marveled we were going to have to make two trips. I was just too tired to pick enough for the winter in one trip. Still, Ron and I were diligent and did our best. We are learning that, some days, that’s all you can do–your best. And we’ll go back for more blueberries this coming Friday.

I feel I should also update readers in other ways because it has been just so long. I’ll start with a Ruby update. She’s as sassy as ever, and she finally un-broodied herself. This is the first summer of her life that I haven’t let her raise a clutch of chicks. It took her nearly two months to accept the fact that there would be no babies this year, but she has accepted. Still, as I was celebrating Ruby finally breaking herself from being broody, Saint-Saens has decided to go broody, as has Petty. Petty is such a good mom. It’s hard to deny her, but we’ll try to plan for next year.

Mary Jane and Rooster are still hanging in there, but Hector has water belly. She is very young, so this means she does not have good genetics, and it’s heartbreaking. However, I did a small drain last week and will do another one this week. Hopefully, we can keep her going and comfortable for a few more months. She’s such a magnificent girl. What a crappy deal she got. I guess that’s how it goes. Sometimes, you just get a crappy deal.

With crappy deals in mind, I had to leave the farm last week and fly to see my brother in Oklahoma because he is so sick. I cannot say a lot here, but he’s way too young. He definitely got a crappy deal too.

Oh, and the night before I had to fly to Oklahoma, we lost our first duck ever. I was devastated. I will have to write more about it, but it was our mean girl. She lived a good long life though, and while I am sure it felt like a crappy deal in the end, she handled it with grace. I hope to handle my death with such grace. I swear, it was like she knew she was moving on.

I hope you are all doing well, and I hope to start writing more this week. I am so glad to be home from my travels and back with my family–the human and furry kind. I somehow managed to sprain my ankle, so it’s forcing me to move even more slowly–and also sit and write a bit.

It feels good to get back to it.