Cherries!

I have been anticipating the arrival of our cherries this year for awhile now. I had big plans for cherry preserves, cherry pie, eating fresh picked cherries.... A couple weeks ago, the cherries started ripening and I knew the time to pick would be coming soon! Occasionally, I'd go into the yard and sample a couple that were ready. Earlier this week, however, I started noticing a few of the cherries looked moldy.

Hmm, strange.

Sadly, this mold stuff started to spread to a majority of the cherries. We are guessing that it is Blue Mold Rot:

• Blue Mold Rot – Most critical disease affecting cherries. It is caused by various molds and begins as a small, round brown spot on the fruit. The pulp underneath this brown spot is moist and a light brownish color. As blue rot mold progresses in cherries, it turns white and forms a bluish-green residue on the outside ultimately rotting the entire fruit.

Today, Todd and Tobey came over to help us pick through all the moldy cherries to get a few good ones. We got 6 quarts total. Not too bad, but when I consider last year's bounty (see last year's post here) it makes me sad.

A Few Good Cherries

With 3 quarts of cherries each, I'm hoping to at least make a small batch of preserves and Tobey was talking about making a couple pies.

Madi was sad too because she enjoyed eating the cherries as they fell from the trees.
Hopefully next year we won't have this problem. Until then, I will be trying to figure out what causes this Blue Mold Rot.

Sportster in Appomattox.

So I just got my bike on the road after doing some pretty extensive work. I took it for a ride on Appomattox, VA - that's right, where the Civil War ended. Don't tell the locals as I am not sure they know! It is a nice place with rolling hills and winding roads. I ended up getting lost but it didn't really matter as I was not that far from home. It was a blast riding the bike.

Jesse is 30!

Jesse turned 30 this May 15th. Buying gifts for Jesse is always difficult because, even if he tells you what he wants, he usually ends up exchanging it for something else. I've learned to just let him pick out his own gifts, but this year I couldn't do that. Not for his 30th birthday! It had to be special... So, I decided on a gift that couldn't be exchanged or returned - a surprise. Planned a couple months in advance, I decided to take Jesse to Falls Church, VA to see Mason Jennings in concert. I didn't tell him what we were doing, only that we were heading towards DC because he drove part of the time. : )

"Where are we going?"

We made a stop at this really neat antique shop on our way there where Jesse got a cool oil painting.

Jesse and his 1968 oil painting of sailboats.

Jesse finally 'figured out' where we were going when we pulled up to the venue. His only prior guess was that I was taking him to a Capitals game, but he wasn't disappointed.

Jesse in front of The State Theatre

The concert was great and Jesse told me it was his best birthday ever.... success!

Notice the couple posing for our picture behind us

Jesse is 30! Continued....

But the birthday festivities didn't end there!  No!  We had to do something special on his actual birthday too.  This time I let Jesse pick....  Friday it was gourmet hamburgers on the grill, for which I made a modified version of this recipe.  They were amazing!

Followed by dessert of mint chip ice-cream and Sprite floats (yum!) and watching The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I cried... a lot. 

And that still wasn't it!  We carried this celebration on over to Sunday and we had some friends over for fish tacos and birthday cake.  I'm proud to say the food turned out really good and everyone left full and happy.  Thanks to Paul, Deb, and Heika for their assistance in the kitchen and Jordan for his help at the grill.

Zion and Isaiah watching Shrek before lunch

Getting the fish ready!

Heika and Isaiah enjoying the fish tacos 

The man of the hour with his German Chocolate Cake 

(I forgot to get candles)

Harley Sportster - In-depth!

So I have been working on the bike for about a month now. What started as replacing leaky oil lines has grown into a much more in-depth project. I had no plans to replace the cams with Andrews V2 cams, or replace the ignition with a single fire programmable unit. But here I am in the process of doing those things. I hope to have it back on the road in the next week or so.

First Growth!

It's been one week since our garden was planted and already we are seeing some new growth. It's so exciting. I didn't mark where I planted things, so I can't remember what a lot of these will be.... I think this is the corn.
Tomatoes:
Green Beans:
Squash
Broccoli... or a weed?: