Evening Chores

Evening chores are much like morning chores, but without the urgency.  The day is winding down versus gearing up.  As I walk a more leisurely pace to let out the chickens and collect eggs, I take deep breaths and take in the late afternoon sun.  Once the eggs are collected I relish in harvesting berries which despite the extreme weather are turning out to be a bumper crop.  As I pick them I can feel the warmth of the sun in the berry.  There are few things as heavenly as warm berries right off of the vine.  In the last two days we have picked about 7 pounds of Blackberries and Boysenberries.  I have made a berry pie and I suspect a very large pot of jelly is in my near future. 

During the evening chores I allow myself to be distracted by the light.  I  jump up, grab my camera and snap photos, leaving B alone for a few minutes during our latest succession planting to rows in the garden.  I hear the kids wide awake voices squealing in delight as they play with the new Mini Rex bunnies that came last night.  They are such sweeties.  They are litter mates, a blue buck and a broken doe (the adjectives referring to their color :)  The names settled upon are Polka (the buck) and Dot (the doe). 

 see how her markings are smiling at you?  I was the first to spot this pattern, the second auspicious thing I've come across this week! :)

Then as a cooler wind kicks up and we hear the distant sound of thunder we eagerly decide dinner based on what young fruits are just ready to pick.  We do a lot of stir fry this time of year and tonight's installment will have a small eggplant, a couple green peppers, handful of green beans, kohlrabi, swiss chard and chicken.  Yes, evening chores are good for the soul.