Thank you Cee for hosting this challenge!
Categories: flower of the day nature
singlikewildflowers
Welcome to my blog! My name is Esther and I'm so happy you are here. I'm an avid nature photographer and a daydreaming thinker. My posts revolve around photos of nature's beauty, homeschooling adventures with my 2 kids, sporadic reflections on my child's heart condition, Bible reading reflections, gardening feats, and other mish mash things. Hopefully you'll leave encouraged, pensive, or smiling at the simple things of life. Thank you for stopping by and hope you'll find some interesting posts to read!
sing like wildflowers 
Delightful photos for today. Thanks 😀
LikeLike
Thank you!
LikeLike
Sounds like a fun time!
LikeLike
It was very fun! I wanted the kids to have this experience. I still remember doing this with my family when I was in junior high school.
Most of the trees in the front were picked over in the front part of the grove. The back area had more cherries but most of them were high up. It’s the latter end of the cherry picking season.
We picked 5 pounds. Elliot, my picky eater, began eating some. This is a huge plus because he likes to eat only what he eats. Now we have a new fruit in rotation.
At a fruit stand nearby, we bought 12 peewee avocados were $1. Amazing deal although I felt bad that they weren’t making a profit by selling them this cheap.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good for Elliot and they are good for you … lots of melatonin too and will make you sleepy if you eat enough of them. I love cherries and we have them in season right around this time, July is peak. Michigan usually has the Traverse City Cherry Festival – people come from all over to this festival, but it is cancelled due to COVID-19. They have “cherry pit spitting contests” … that’s a big thing at this festival, a Cherry Queen and I understand that you can buy anything and everything that is made from cherries!
LikeLike
Ohhhhh, I learned something new from you about cherries!! I had no idea cherries contained melotonin. Love it~ We’re actually eating them right now. They are so sweet and I wish we had picked more.
The cherry festival sounds like fun, especially the cherry pit spitting contest. I wonder if those contestants practice at home. So many fun things are canceled this year…lots of missing out. Better to be safe than get COVID.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I agree – there are people who take tart cherry extract mixed with water or other liquids for gout, or arthritis, or they may eat cherries for the same reason. There is melatonin in cherries so that are supposed to make you sleepy.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I must eat more cherries!!! I had no idea a little red fruit had so many health benefits. Wish they were easier to find in stores, or maybe the season for cherries is short. We have 1/2 pound left from the 5 pounds we picked. I may go back with the kids to pick more.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, lots of benefits. I use the canned tart cherries the rest of the time when they are not in season. I like them just like that or mix them with yogurt or pudding too.
LikeLike
Love love cherries! The cherry picking sites are closed for the season this year. So many pickers.
They probably still see them at fruit stands from its farms, but the drive can be a pain to make. I’ll settle for the ones at Costco.
You mentioned the cherry spitting contest at the festival, and I told the kids about it. You can imagine what happened next…lol.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Costco works – no long drive to the fruit stands and they may be out of cherries when you get there. Last year I took a little trip to the country after I got lost going to the Sunflower Festival. I have no sense of direction, but I copied the map info from Google maps (no smartphone or GPS). It was a nice trip in the long run and I wrote a post where I reminisced as my parents and I used to go to the county farm stands all the time starting late August to buy those nice beefsteak tomatoes and other veggies that were so good and so cheap.
That Cherry Pit Spitting contest is a big deal in Traverse City. I hope you did not have light-colored rugs or carpeting during said cherry-spitting contest. Did you referee?
You were sorry you mentioned it.
I looked to see what the record was for spitting – the story was from the year before but it the cherry pit was spit a distance of 58 feet!
https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2018/06/29/cherry-pit-spitting-contest-michigan/738764002/
LikeLike
Costco is our go-to for almost everything. You can’t beat the quality and price. I went to Costco once when I was single and didn’t know why people shopped there often. But my husband makes a run every 2 weeks. lol. I miss wandering around the aisles and looking at all their goodies. Don’t know when we can go back and do that.
Oh right, you must still use printed out version of Google maps. Those are useful until you make a wrong turn and it doesn’t update you on current location. I’ve noticed that I learn the routes better if I get lost once in a while. Even the navigation has its dead spots, then I tell the kids we’ll drive around and explore the new area. (happens very infrequently)
The cherry pit spitting contest was interesting. They managed to spit some in the bowl and some just dribbled out as they tried. I was the pick up seed person. hahah It was pretty hilarious! But 58 feet…wow, that’s some serious distance.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I can’t imagine spitting 58 feet … how in the world? They often have videos of the competition as it’s a big draw. I think it is usually around 4th of July. Yes, there was a fork in the road – horrors as what do I do when it was not on the directions and someone in a pickup truck was laying on the horn. So I went, but the wrong way. Oh well. That frustrated me and it was in a rural area and the houses are far back from the road so I did not feel comfortable going up and asking and no one was sitting outside. I have since bought a paper map, but don’t know that it will help very much … the price of a paper map – almost $9.00! They used to be free at the gas station for goodness sake!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I would freak out if I got lost in a strange place and didn’t feel comfortable. Glad you got a paper map to guide you in the right direction. I used to print out the Google map directions before my trips. Have you considered a navigation that you attach to your window? You type in the address and it gives you step by step directions. No need for a smartphone.
$9 for a paper map?! It better be good and sturdy.
LikeLiked by 1 person
No, I have not considered a navigation device – I only really go out to larger parks on the weekends – maybe I could do that when I am retired, but I don’t like to take the expressway so only go on surface streets, which, if you are going a really long way, gives you all the more chances to get lost on the twists and turns. I was appalled at the price – I stuck the map in my grocery cart, never looking for the price (stupid me) as the last time I saw a paper map, my father was looking at one we got at the Sinclair Gas Station (the one with the big dinosaur out front) and it was free!
LikeLike
If you do travel more, a navigation device may give you a peace of mind. Most thing have gone up in price! I guess that’s how things work.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, that’s true and I don’t have a printer as I don’t use one for work. My printer is attached to an old Vista desktop downstairs and I wouldn’t turn on that computer as it’s no longer supported by Microsoft. So I wrote down the directions in longhand. Frustrating!
LikeLike
That would be frustrating! For a non planner like me, I’d have trouble keeping track of those notes. And then I’d think I was so clever by using shorthand and not understand it later. Yes, I can imagine myself doing that.
You could take a picture of it with your phone. If that would mean less writing for you…
You should write about these experiences in your blog. That would be interesting for other people who rely heavily on technology.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I actually did write about it the day I got lost … I ended up finding a Metropark that I was going to map out for myself. I have an annual Metropark pass and so just went in and got some nice wildflower pictures that day. But I missed the Sunflower Festival and I paid in advance for it … but it was a beautiful Summer day and the last line of this post said I did not take the wrong fork in the road after all. P.S. – I have a flip phone and I think it has a camera, but I’ve never used it, nor texted with it.
LikeLike
I read your post! I love the conversational tone of of it. Thanks for sharing the link with me.
I hope you are having a good Sunday!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, I do try to be conversational in my posts – rarely do I get super serious. I am sorry I didn’t respond back last night. I actually put myself on a limited computer screen time on the weekends to get some things outside/inside, however, my walking yesterday morning, and exuberance outside/inside had me not land here until around 8:30 and I was nodding off not too long afterward, so I shut down my computer and the light. However, I crawled under the covers and the fireworks continued til about 11:30 or later. Then I worked late tonight – difficult staying off here and being timely and caught up on WP!
LikeLike
You’re tone is very personable!
I get behind on my responses too…please don’t apologize. I love hearing back from you, but I don’t want you to feel like you have to. It’s hard to keep on top of it all when there’s so much to do.
Well, I hope the fireworks stop for your neighborhood after this weekend! You’ve been dealing with those loud bursts for a while now.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The fireworks are really out of control – constantly from as soon as the sun goes down until midnight. They have been shooting them off since mid-May. That is just crazy. If you want to go to bed early, might as well forget about it. I think it is rude and inconsiderate to do this and it is not safe either – these are huge firecrackers they are setting off. The police aren’t doing anything about it.
LikeLike
That’s a lot of fireworks to endure!! I hope those people get the clue that after July 4th, they should stop. Sorry you had your sleep disturbed for a long time. i just read that getting startled by fireworks can be emotionally upsetting.
Hang in there…one more night to go and I hope you can enjoy the bright lights! hugs…
LikeLiked by 1 person
I just went onto the Facebook neighborhood chat forum and for the people who dared to complain, at least 100 people told them to move. And they don’t have a right to complain after all we’ve endured in 2020.
Hopefully no fires or accidents – I think they can go to midnight and I hope they don’t continue to Labor Day as they usually do.
There are so many fireworks going off, the smell of smoke is wafting inside through the A/C … I normally try and turn it off for that reason (and hope that is the only reason) but it is way too hot right now to do that. Thank you – I hope you are right Esther.
LikeLike
People can be vicious on online platforms.
There was a lot of fireworks in our city too. None of them were city sponsored, but individual homes were blasting them off. Maybe people were blowing off steam with the months-long shelter in place. It smelled like smoke here too.
I’m considering getting a bladeless fan. The air conditioner cools the place so much that I’m tempted to wear a jacket. Wouldn’t that be silly?!
Hope you are having a good start to a new week!
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s what people in the City forum on Facebook said … “we’ve spent so much time indoors, we’re entitled to enjoy ourselves!” So a form of rebellion too I think. I put on a long-sleeved shirt as I was just chilled and I have the A/C set to 76 which is not cold at all. But I am sitting here in one place during the workweek and it gets chilly. Is that a Dyson fan? I’ve seen the ones that don’t oscillate advertised; they stand horizontally like a tower and are very quiet? You have a good week too Esther.
LikeLike
I agree. People letting off steam, being rebellious, and just rowdy. This quarantine is affecting us in different ways. Some people are going nuts about the need to wear masks too. It shouldn’t be a hard decision since it’s a small price to pay to stay safe for you and others. Have you seen the news of the lady at Target who threw all the masks off the rack? It can bring out the worst or the best in us.
I think it is a Dyson fan. Your description sounds right. It looks like a big oval loop. Must check out Costco.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, I don’t understand it at all. Our Governor is thinking of restricting places opened and rolling back to a lower level as we topped the 6,000 death mark today in Michigan. I did see that lady at Target – it made no sense, did it? I also also saw the guy who went a little crazy at a Costco and he was yelling and screaming. We have a storm rolling in – very nice, since they said “chance of a sprinkle” and it is raining pretty hard now … I may be shutting down earlier than I thought. I don’t like to go on the laptop in a storm … I’ll see what happens.
LikeLike
That’s a high number!! California has spiking numbers too. Ugh, I hope we all make it safely through this pandemic. Just never been in a situation like this before. 2020 is a historical year.
Those people on the news are just so nuts! Misplaced anger and frustration.
Another sprinkle and possible storm?! Again. Please take care and hope the power stays put. That’s a constant inconvenience for you.
LikeLiked by 1 person