Berries, lots of them.

6/14/2018 Syl 0 Comments

The past weeks we've had beautiful hot weather, like high summer.
Strange things happened in the garden.
The lettuce was rained away... just crushed under the hard fast large drops.

The red berries seemed to benefit tremendously from the enormous amounts of water and the long sunny days. And perhaps from the pruning of last year....
They'd grown high up the rose section, twisting between the branches of the two kind of plants, reaching high up towards the apple tree.
It looked like just another year of growth would make my whole garden one complete berry bush.

A few day ago I tasted a few berries and had the sour taste crawl through my mouth behind my ears. Not my way of enjoying the richness of nature. I'm not a sour-lover. No lemons for me, unless I can get them straight from the tree in Limone Italy during a wonderful summer, like we enjoyed so many years ago. The farmer took joy to invite me in his fruitgarden and taste the fruit the lovely little village was named after.
I was 15. Managed to understand the language and was shy, but determined to learn to speak it too.


The lemons were the sweetest I've ever tasted.
They were devine.

So a few days ago these berries were sour, but when I tasted them today they were not sour, but tasted like red berries should taste... for me.

I got a box and started taking them off the bushes.
Each time when a branch was empty, pruning it immediately.
Soon I had to fetch a large bowl, because there seemed to be berries under each leaf.
It was amazing!!

As always I threw some ripe berries in other parts of the garden.
Did so last year and it resulted in a bush at the other side of the gardenpath.

It took me over an hour to get all the ripe berries in the bowl, and still there is a lot on there that need to grow and ripen.

Weighing the harvest: 1,5 kilo!!!!
Never had so many berries.

It took me another hour to get them from the twigs and ready for consumption.

Some berries are used fresh in yoghurt, some have been put in the freezer, so the kids can take a box when they want.

And they all want their share. LOL!

Never had so many berries. But also never had berries so early in the season.


.Click the photos to enlarge them.

The changing me

6/13/2018 Syl 0 Comments

Had a meeting again today.
The past week I was asked to accompany a friend of the heart organisation to an event, to man the information stand.
I agreed. I like to do it, especially with someone nice present.
The subject of the event was not a very well known one: inherited hypercholesterolemia. We're there for the relationship between the disease and heartproblems.
So time to have some thorough reading and good preparation. I like the know what I'm talking about.

During the meeting I asked the people who have the leaflets in storage if they can provide them.
'Order them yourself'.
Oh???
'And in case I would get them in time...how would I get the stuff there? I have to go by bus.

This resulted in a huge discussion. The depotholder refusing to provide stuff, just because he didn't feel like doing it.
I felt lured into activities I didn't want.
The intention was to accompany someone, not to organise it. And I've never organised it, so... Better first walk through the process with someone so I know what to do. That's quite reasonable, as the organisation is very strict in how they want matters to be done, and I tend to improvise and do things my way. (So in a way I have to protect myself against myself.)

It took quite some time, with my thoughts lingering on other issues while they kept on 'talking', and then the chairman stepped in and said he would bring the leaflets to the hospital. If only he knew where to bring it.
Well, as I knew nothing, I couldn't tell him.

A few months earlier I would have told them I would solve it, and would have gone through a lot of stress to get things arranged.

It also looked like I was there alone... none of the others had time. Until one of the other women stepped in. She has to drive an hour to get there.... She's a nice person, so we'll have a good time.

I left the subject with 'I'll mail around'.

Turned out the event was organised by a professional organisation.
I mailed them and was told the leaflets were already there. Was also given the name of a nurse that is our liaison.

Makes me wonder if I had learned to stick to my limits, was stubborn, or had some strange feeling of knowing things would work out without my effort?

All in all I can give plenty of attention to reading about the subject of the event.

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