Summer fruit - it's the berries!

I think you know by now how fond I am of fresh fruits and veggies, especially locally grown or hand picked (by me.) This year I'm totally taking advantage of the opportunities afforded to me by picking enough blueberries to stock my freezer for the winter (maybe I've been watching the squirrels for too long?) and treating myself to summer fruit while it's available, such as these lovely cherries:

I found my trusty cherry pitter and here's how that works:

I've got this fascination with kitchen gadgets, especially the old-fashioned, manual kind. I wish I still had some of the ones my Oma (grandma) in Germany used when I was a kid.

You can tell I've been shopping by the full and puffed out skirt of my crocheted Kitchen Kitty (that actually turned out looking more like a mouse.) That's where I store my plastic shopping bags now instead of stuffing them in an empty space between the wall and the the refrigerator (like I used to do.)

I usually do my major grocery shopping at the beginning of each month. You can tell when it's time to go again, because the skirt gets flat and empty as I reuse the bags for the trash.

The produce department looked especially inviting today as they have revamped and reorganized that section and I must say, it looked pretty nice. I complimented the produce manager, who was very happy to hear this. I might do it in a follow-up letter. Hopefully they'll keep it up. She even told me that she'll try to order some organic carrots for me since I use a lot of those.

The strawberries looked nice, so I got some to make a red, white and blue fruit medley with a bit of honey:

That, with a dollop of yogurt and a piece of toast will make some nice breakfasts for the next few days.

These strawberries, however, will last me for a good long while:

These handmade strawberries came to me all the way from Hamburg, Germany. They were made and sent to me by a fellow blogging buddy who is also named Doris and you can visit her at     Babydoll 1962 Kreativ Ecke.  Doris does wonderful quilting and sewing work and has a Google translator on top of her blog, but she also speaks English and is a really fun individual and a very busy Bloggerette Sister of the Bloggerette Sorority.

I have more to show you, but I don't want to bore you. I'm just very happy to have met you all and am really enjoying this blogging experience and meeting so many like minded women on the internet.

For now, I'm content: the fridge is full - the bills are paid (as much as possible), the animals have what they need, so let the snow storm begin! (yeah, right - wishful thinking!)

July 4th is just around the corner; I hope you're planning something fun with the family - or like me, the Gizz! I will most likely go for my usual early morning walk around the lake and then settle in for a Netflix movie while Gizzy snoozes. I have a tentative plan to visit my two friends (the crafty sisters) with a homemade blueberry pie for us to share..we'll see!