Fruits of our labor

We ventured out on another blackberry hunting & gathering mission; however, this outing was not as fruitful as the last. :-( We still had enough berries to share with neighbors on Raleigh Court, so it was worth the 15 minute drive to pick the free fruit.Along with the ripe berry goodness, we all collected a few thorns, scratches, and stained fingertips. Really, we had fun, despite the pain. We did learn that berry stains & blood look very similar. Somehow everyone still managed to smile for the camera. ;-)


The one thing that did not make Miss Millie smile was finding a tick in her ear. She felt something tickling her ear. Upon closer inspection, I found this:

Millie squealed & screamed as I removed the ectoparasitic fiend. (Not FRIEND!) It hadn't even attached itself to her, but the thought of it biting her made her REALLY uncomfortable. She's such a girly-girl!

After the TICK-lish incident, we picked up strawberries from the local farmer's market. At the market, we saw small containers of blackberries for sale for $3.00 each. I am certain the fruit we picked for FREE would garner at least $20 on the black(berry) market...

While in a fruity frame of mind, we also collected some beautiful peaches from our tree in our backyard. The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few?! There is no shortage of taste-testers, that's for sure.