7.06.2010

Cherry Picking

Last Thursday afternoon, I had just convinced Aidan to lay down and take a rest with me while we listened to The Penderwicks audiobook when my neighbor called.

"Molly? Joe here. Why don't you come over and pick some cherries. We've picked all that we want and you can pick the rest."

I know it's a sin, but I covet my neighbor Joe's fruit trees. I dream of an invitation to come over and pick his fruit like a sophomore girl dreams of an invitation to the senior prom. Tired as I was, I couldn't possibly take a nap when there were cherries across the street waiting to be picked.

cherry picking

cherry picking

cherry picking

cherry picking

So I picked and picked some more. I pitted until my shoulders ached and my hand cramped. I poured over my Ball Blue Book of canning and toiled over boiling hot pots of sugary cherries. Fortunately I had a little help. George helped me pit cherries, he went to the store to buy more canning jars, he set up the canner on his beer brewing stand (boy oh boy, did that speed up the boiling process), and processed the jars in the water bath after I filled them.

When we were all done, he even humored me with a few kisses for the camera so I could recreate in a photograph the Nikki McClure print I recently framed for the kitchen.

Picnik collage

That man is a keeper. I still can't believe we've been married a dozen years.


done with cherries

Now it's official, we're done with cherries for the year. I think that is how it should be when eating local and in season. You get your fill of a certain fruit just as its growing season comes to an end, and you're ready for the next fruit coming into season. Bye bye cherries, hello peaches. The great thing about preserving is looking forward to a taste of the previous season and a preview of the season to come. Come October, I'll crack open a quart of cherries, make a pie or cobbler, and we'll taste summer all over again and dream of having enough cherries on our own trees next year, maybe even enough to call and invite a neighbor over to pick their fill.

49 comments:

  1. loved this - especially the life imitating art - it's wonderful on so many levels.

    and those cherries were so bright red - lovely!

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  2. that photo of you two,,im so jealous, I miss being married,and wish I had a good man *sigh* you are truly blessed and I love that photo

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  3. I do love your posts! The photography is big and bold and I like that!

    Yes, your DH is a keeper! Good job!

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  4. I'm mooning over those photos. Cherries are my absolute favorite, and those look divine.

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  5. So wonderful! And we just celebrated a dozen, too!

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  6. Lovely post Molly, my hubbie and I have been married for a baker's dozen ;)

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  7. I love everything about this post. I sure wish we had cherries like that here. My husband and I hit twelve years in October which is pretty insane considering that it seems like we should still be 21 years old.

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  8. oh, my your awesome molly!
    loooooving this! i can't stand it, that print you made is EXCELLENT!!! I hope it will be enlarged and framed in your kitchen!
    (so fun to see you did go and make that rake/towel hanger!) xo

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  9. lol i was so taken by you re-creating that print that i rushed right through the post! now i see that you *did* frame it for your kitchen : ) awesome.

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  10. lol i was so taken by you re-creating that print that i rushed right through the post! now i see that you *did* frame it for your kitchen : ) awesome.

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  11. Love the photo of you and George so much -- more than the charming original you were re-creating!

    And. Those. Cherries. Once again you have made my mouth water! Can we trade houses for a while? You can have my next door neighbor who cheerfully chicken-sits when we're out of town, and I can have your generous cherry grower. :-)

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  12. rosesmamaJuly 06, 2010

    I picked and pitted three pies worth of cherries from the pick-your-own farm, and put them in the freezer. *Then* I remembered that I wanted to save the stones for a bedwarmer pillow. Ah . . . maybe I'll remember next year . . .

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  13. Oh my goodness! You are so lucky to get to pick all those cherries! I am so jealous! And....I absolutely LOVE the photo of you and your husband! It is adorable! Great post. I really enjoyed it!

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  14. I absolutely love the beauty of this post: from the red of the cherries to the sweet kiss you guys are sharing.

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  15. Love cherries, love Nikki!!!
    Enjoy all the fruity goodness and your sweet man!

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  16. Wow! And look at all of the wonderfulness that came about from that imprmptu knock on your door!!! Thats a lot of cherry canning you did AND an amazing picture that came out of it. Weehoo! Here come the peaches!

    :)Lisa

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  17. Molly this is awesome in so many ways. I don't even know what to say!

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  18. i love that so many hands made this happen for you - your neighbor and george. awesome.

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  19. you know i love you, right?
    and that george. good man.
    and the penderwicks!!! love it all.
    xo, tt.

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  20. What a great post and great photos. We picked cherries last week also and I too feel a little ready to move on...to nectarines! Molly, sometime could you post about how you make your photos large-size in blogger (similar to how you helped us with the headers?) They are stunning and I am a little fed up with the teensy standard photo settings blogger defaults to. Thank you!

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  21. AnonymousJuly 07, 2010

    Beautiful. All of it.
    We're going to take a long drive next week so we can pick berries for canning...seems kind of ridiculous to have to do it that way...oh, well!

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  22. we are heading out the okanagan to pick up our cherry fill for the season. we usually freeze the cherries - rather than canning them.

    I can hardly wait.

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  23. I took a class on Shakespeare once where the professor explained the Elizabethan philosophy towards marriage... that the love between the couple creates a stable unit from which to make the world a better place. Looking at what you and George have built--in the time you’ve been together--has made me a true believer. Love really does make the world go round!

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  24. Great post! I think George is a keeper too! See you this weekend.
    Love
    Dad

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  25. that neighborhood you've become a part of...how special. I think I'm most jealous of that.
    The Penderwicks is our FAVORITE!! we love to listen to that book during a long car trip!
    it looks like you have a new piece of artwork to frame!

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  26. AnonymousJuly 07, 2010

    love. love. love.

    you never cease to amaze me with your talents!

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  27. Oh to have so many cherries you can preserve them - we have about 20-30 a year which taste like heaven and are eaten in a few minutes - unless the birds get them first! Then we start waiting for the next year.....

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  28. Oh that is sweet: the photography, the fruit, the kiss.

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  29. Delicious! Thank you for sharing this slice of life.

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  30. Those cherries look so pretty! Congratulations on a dozen years!

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  31. Stunning photo of you and your man.

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  32. That picture of you two is amazing! Love it, love it!

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  33. Lovely post.

    I'm enjoying cherries now, too, but they came to me in very Southern California from Oregon by way of my supermarket.

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  34. AnonymousJuly 07, 2010

    love love this post. Cherries are my most absolute favorite and still, I have yet to have one. All of the cherry trees bordering our property lost their blooms to rain this year....very.... very sad. How lucky to have a neighbor leave that many for you to choose from. And Ohh I love the kitchen picture. I too am fortunate to have a canning helpful husband. I may have to look into beer brewing ....the boiling process takes forever!
    I really enjoy your blog, thanks!
    -Katie

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  35. amazing photos, molly! Love the colors of the cherries in contrast with the black/white.
    What a kind neighbor you have to offer up all those cherries! I am envious of your stockpile.

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  36. Mmmmm, cherries and juice drizzled over ice cream sounds yummy about now! Your pictures are absolutely gorgeous. I'm over from A Friend to Knit With and looking forward to spend some time reading thru your lovely blog!

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  37. AnonymousJuly 10, 2010

    the cherries - pretty sweet, but you and your guy's love story AWESOME! I am a sucker for love stories. The real kind of love stories. So happy for you guys. My guy and I have been together for almost 8 years, and every day we share our still fresh excitement for being together. It's an amazing thing to be happy every day, with the person you love.

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  38. what an awesome lot of cherries!!! we've still got a week of cherry abundance - although farm-bought instead of neighbor-picked! and those cherries are FULL of love from you and your guy!!! what a great man!

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  39. Everything about this post is simply wonderful. Life is often best with a bit of spontaneity. How nice for your neighbor to leave you so many cherries! Life imitating art ~ beautiful. Looks like it was a great day!

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  40. I saw your blog was followed by a friend of mine named Jennifer, so I decided to have a look.
    I love your blog. It's very inspiring. Thanks for sharing your life.

    I'd like to follow you too, but I can't figure out where to click. I'll figure it out eventually. ;)

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  41. we are in the middle of the winter down here so i am doing just that - opening those jewel filled jars of summer sunshine. your cherries look amazing!

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  42. what spectacular cherry photos - mouthwatering - thank you!

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  43. A sweet life! And cherries in a jar that when you pull them out this winter might remind you yet again of the sweetness of your life.

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  44. what great photos you took...cherries inspire many great things.

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  45. oh.my.word. i can't even begin to tell you how much i love this.

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  46. ah, la dolce vita. :^)

    congratulations on your happy marriage!

    xoxo

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