Friends and food - the basics.

Talk about a day spent in nature, and not in the usual sense either!


No, we didn't go hiking, swimming or anything of that nature. We did however, once again, feel like the pioneers.  That too seems to be a theme.  There is, apparently, something about this lifestyle that brings you back to basics, or the 'old' way of doing things.  Not complaining at all, it's pretty cool.


Day started pretty cold, but the sun was finally shining brilliantly and it was bound to warm up.  A wonderful change from the past several days.  S had to head back into town to pick up that part for the heater that had gone missing yesterday, and he took Inventor with him.  Analyzer went berry picking with S, our neighbor, berry picking best buddy and adoptive grandmother to boot.


Taken on a different berry picking day, but this is S chatting and berry picking with us:




Anyway, Analyzer and S were specifically going after Sarvis berries and currants.  We have an abundance of both here along with several others as well.  Whirlwind and I headed out to the picnic table where he diligently worked with his play dough and moon sand.


After quite a while I started wondering where Analyzer was. Since we had had a bear in the area not long ago I was, admittedly, getting a bit nervous.  After locating her and our neighbor S we joined them in the harvest.  Until then I had pretty much stayed away from the berry picking expeditions, not for any particular reason, just had better things to do I guess.  Let me tell you, there is really something to wandering around picking ripe berries off the bushes!  It just feels so primal, so natural and most importantly, so yummy!  I really was surprised at the abundance of ripe berries that were available to us.  I would think the bears, birds and other animals that roam around here would have gotten to them before us.  It was as if more and more berries were ripening as we were picking and picking.  Despite eating so many, we did manage to amass quite a harvest along the way. Analyzer wants to make a jam, but the thought of cooking down fresh, ripe WILD berries is quite horrifying to me. Why destroy perfection I ask? So, I'll need to come up with a raw recipe to utilize them in, preferably some kind of raw jam since that's her desire.


As harvesting drew to a close by mid afternoon, it was time to move on to yet another primal and basic task:  Making bread.  Specifically, pita.  We had mentioned our homemade pita bread to our neighbors M&S earlier in the week and had decided that we would have a day of pita making right here at the campground.


So....we gathered up all the necessities, spread out at M&S's campsite and began the process.  As some of you know, it is *quite* the process.  We spent about 5 hours in total making them and then of course an hour or more enjoying them along with B&K, our other neighbors who had returned from their bike ride.  About 100 pita's were made in total, but I believe only about 40 were left by the time we were done with them!  There's a reason I make a ton of them all at once.


Kids helped too :-)






There was something pretty spectacular about kneading dough outside, chatting with friends, with the sun shining down on us all the while looking out over the blue blue lake.  Again, primal. Basic. Down to earth.  So fulfilling.


After working hard but enjoying every minute, the boys and I headed back to our RV, or as we call it, home, and took some time to relax and hang out.  S and Analyzer took the canoe out for a spin and were lucky enough to see Beavers busy in their dams and several circling them and jumping out of the water at them!


About an hour later we all headed back to M&S's campsite for a campfire, friends B&K included.  After a couple hours of chatting by the fire a wonderful day finally drew to a close.


These pictures were taken on a different night (we had many), but you get the idea :-)







We've developed a real family out here and they make every day spectacular!