Chronicles of Chicken Scratch: St. Jacob's and strawberry picking

I have a lot of updating to do because I've been slacking in my blogging duties.

My friend, Daisy and I went walking in St. Jacob's. The walk was gorgeous and green. And St. Jacob's is a town I'd love to explore because of the cutesy little shops. I love seeing the talent from the Mennonites that reside here.

Our mapped out trail. It was surprisingly cool that morning.

Apparently, they don't allow people to ride their horses along the trail. Such a sad day.

The lovely river

In this bag, provided by some thoughtful people, were condoms and lubricant. I laughed that people would be willing to have "business time"out on a trail.

Canada day, Greg and I watched most of the match between the U.S. and Germany, and then headed over to the Mitchell's for a potluck. (I'd say BBQ, but the BBQ actually wasn't on...) We played with friends, laughed, and talked, and then Greg and I headed home to watch the fireworks that was literally across the street. I feel lucky that we didn't have to drive anywhere else 'cause the traffic was terrible. The funny/terrible part about that night was the number of cars parked on the lane divider. I didn't know you could get away with this!! A cop on a motorcycle actually had to drive around the street to keep traffic moving because so many people were also parking illegally in the street. The cop was pretty awesome just giving the warning, "Keep moving! This isn't a parking lot! I will have to write you up if you don't move your car!"

On the 4th of July I ended up working 'cause I helped a friend out on Monday by watching her kids on Monday. Fortunately, I didn't have to go to work until the afternoon on the fourth, so I got to pick strawberries with my friend Daisy and her kids. I had a blast picking strawberries, and we were fortunate that the weather had cooled down quite a bit since the hot weather I experienced on Monday while watching kids and playing outside with said kids.

With the strawberries I picked, I was able to make about 10 cups of jam (I made two types: freezer jam made with pectin and cooked jam made with lemon juice and sugar.). I also froze a lot of strawberries. The strawberries were a softer and smaller variety, which in my opinion, are better for jam making then for cutting up and serving on a plate.