Sour cherries. Yum! The German matron was exceedingly friendly. The fields below the cherry trees were totally clear of cherries. How tidy! I thought. THere were no birds to be seen and there were no holes in the cherries. THey just hung there on the branches in incredible profusion, millions of them, bright red, almost orange red, such a pure red, not dark and bluish like the sweet Byng cherries we picked two week ago. The trees ranged in precise rows and columns and had been cut back meticulously so that ladders would be unnecessary. A tall person could just about reach the tallest branch. I used the ladder anyway, snatching cherries by the handful - they easily popped off their brittle stems and some even left the pit behind while all the flesh came away. I filled a gallon pail in under an hour - 12 pounds for $8.40; she used an ancient bathroom scale like the one in my Mom's old house.
On the way home we dropped into two roadside fruitstands. This is what impressed me about the layout of my new home city - many orchards within the city limits. However, the old country road is actually a highway through town and people are riding in their RAM3500s - fifty thousand dollar pickup trucks - at high speed between their lakeside condos and the enormous shopping centres. As I picked through trays of the first apricots picked locally, the first field tomatoes grown here, transparent apples (for pies) and Sunrise apples, big and tart and bursting with freshness.
Judy's taking Rory to the Lower Mainland this weekend to share the bounty with her family. I'm staying here to take tickets at the Comedy Festival. And some sun on the beach - towel, lotion and sandwiches. What a to do list!

New blog. Lost the first one. Don't forget to make sandwiches!
Kudos to Patrick Blake, first Quippy to have a blog. Ye Olde Phart.
New here? Blogs are "Web logs", a good place to keep your to-do lists and Internet Favourites - or to share comments on the stuff you find there.
To-do: physio; shopping, liquor store (make appointment at Michael's Beer Factory), go pick sour cherries for pie, and do it before the birds get to them! Apricots are out now. Recycling. Throw out those old magazines (Wired, Microsoft Certified Professional, Adobe Magazine). And just trash those old software programs - who needs 'em?

See my other blog Sprinklers for some bug stories.