Welcome to my eclectic journey of my life and delights. This year my theme is surrendering my writing pen to the true author, Jesus Christ, while looking forward to the future, reflecting on the past and dancing through my journey.




Saturday, July 14, 2012

A Bike Ride Treat

Yes, my bike is pink...I live in a total "male" household and this would keep them from riding my bike!!


Grabbing the bikes from the garage (yes, mine needed tires pumped up and dusted), Benjamin and I were off for a bike ride before the heat beat down on us. I was adding more sand into my sand pail...one scoop for exercise, one for memories and one for inspiration.  We were going to add even more scoops with the inspiration we would find.  Off we went through the trails, past the huge pecan trees, loaded with pecans ripening for the fall.


Around the hiking trail, we were gaining speed and laughter as we came around the corner to our inspiration.


Muscadine grapes.  Wild grapes falling off the vines.  Memories went rushing back to days at my grandmother's farm and picking wild grapes. We stopped. Benjamin got off his bike and we started to pick grapes.  We filled the bag that held our water bottles.


Benjamin kept saying, "this is fun!"  I was excited over the possible jelly and juice I would can with these  free grapes.

The sun beat down and Benjamin's curiosity waned, so I took him home.  I grabbed my hat...yes, the one which limited my climbing through the trails while camping.  I would announced, "No, I can't go that way... my hat won't fit!"  It sure covers my face and eliminates the heat.  So with hat and bag, I went back by myself.

What abundance!!

Be honest... did you think of this scene from I Love Lucy?  I did.
What joy!!!!!!

I didn't have to stomp my grapes...just toss them into the food processor.  Press them through cheese cloth for jars of juice.  Bring juice to a boil and add limited sugar and pectin....put in my favorite jars....jelly!
Yes, you have to wear gloves with these grapes because they make you itch...THAT childhood memory came flooding back with the itching.

Juice and then Jelly....I still have a quart of juice left.


Now I will not tell you if I was successful with my jelly jelling...but I will say that we put a huge scoop of inspiration into our sand pail.  We now have half a bucket of sand...now to enjoy filling the second half of the bucket as summer starts to wind down.  What fun it was to bring back past memories and tastes of my own childhood days as I remember sights and sounds around my grandmother and mothers' tables.  Now my children will have the same.
Have you had an unexpected inspiration this week?

27 Joining in with more words:

Pom Pom said...

Wow! I love this family story that just happened, Janette!
I wish one of my local friends would make some jam or jelly and give a jar to me. Your jelly is beautiful!
You are a good mama!

Nikki (Sarah) said...

I love that your bike is pink!!! And those pics of Lucy are funny. It would be so cool to have a grape stomping fight and then get hosed down. :) We haven't used our bikes yet...the tires still need to be pumped up. Maybe this weekend.
Wishing you a fun weekend... :)

Vee said...

What a treat! I love how you're adding sand to the sand pail. Hope that you dump it when it's full and start all over again. Benjamin looks so adorable gathering the grapes. It reminds me of that song from church so many years ago...jump on the grapes, press down the new wine, give thanks to the Lord forever...

Farm Girl said...

How nice, I am really enjoying your word pictures this summer. I really love that you found those grapes. That is amazing. There were these people that came here from
Burma that I talked to, they said, this is the most amazing country, you have food to eat every where you go, it just grows by the side of the road. I started looking around and noticing what they saw, and it is true. I was reminded of that when I saw your grapes and your jam. Just there for the picking.

Christine said...

I am so happy that you are sharing your idea and experiences with your sand pail list! When you get creative, the excitement happens. MEMORIES!
What a beautiful trail and an excellent bike!

(Yes, that Lucy episode was THE best!)

Debbie Petras said...

You are creating wonderful memories for your Benjamin. And it's great that you are enjoying these moments with him. Laughter and fun are wonderful.

I love that "I Love Lucy" episode and still laugh so hard when I get to see it. A classic ...

Love you,
Debbie

Theresa said...

I love your pink bicycle :) What a special memory you created with your Benjamin. We enjoyed the beach the other day and I remembered fun summers when I was a kid heading to the beach. Such fun! I love that episode of I Love Lucy too- hysterical!

Shelley said...

EVERY girl need some PINK!! Whohoo! Oh I LOVE that you have Pecan Trees nearby (to be honest - never heard of them ... the trees I mean ... not the nuts - lol) and FREE grapes - wish we had some of those too. Growing up in England, we use to pick wild raspberries and black berries from the side of the country lanes near to where my grandparents lived - we would come home with hands and mouths packed with color! What great memories you are creating ... enjoy and be blessed!

Shelley
PS Gotta LOVE Lucy!!!!

Thanks for popping over to visit Spilling The Beans - you comments always encourage me :)

Tanna said...

Oh, how I remember those muscadines when visiting my MaMaw's house!! And, the jelly! Sweet memories you stirred for me, too, Janette. I am so glad you are scooping that pail full!! blessings and hugs ~ tanna

Sandy said...

Nothing like those grapes straight off the vine or in jams and jellies! I love them! I remember my mom having the counter full and loving how the sunlight from the kitchen window glistened through the jelly jars.
Glad you're enjoying your summer. Benjamin is so cute!
I remember that Lucy episode. It, like all the others, was great. Why can't we have TV like that now?
xo

Sue said...

Yes your sand pail is really getting full, janette,and you have the photos of memories, and the bounty of your labor as proof in the pudding! It is so refreshing to see a child find so much joy in the simple things of life!
It is about time I rolled my bike out of the garage, the last time I tried, I barely made it back home. lol Enjoy your weekend.
Hugs,
Sue

Lisa said...

You creative girl you! I know your jelly is going to be delicious and Benjamin will have sweet memories every time he has a PB&J.:)

Lea @ CiCis Corner said...

What a wonderful Mother/son outing and the best part, that scoop of memories.

My Hubby and son love muscadines and will eat them straight off the vine. I've never made jelly of any kind. Guess now that I'm almost 60 years old, I should give it a try.

Blessings abundant!

Kathleen said...

I love bike riding! And if I were surrounded by testosterone, I'd have a pink bike too. Smart girl!

Blueberry & raspberry season is upon us here in WA State as well. I'm not so inclined to can, but I sure gobble them easily enough.

Is there any Lucy episode that wasn't just a crack up. This one was so good, rivaling the candy-making episode. Makes me smile just thinking about it.

Cecilia Marie Pulliam said...

I am so jealous. I want a bike. I've been bugging husband, but no luck yet. We have miles of trails around our city, 20 some of them follow the Green Belt - a tree lined trail following the river. Perfect for walking - or biking!

Beautiful pictures, Janette. And I can almost taste the jelly!

my little cottage said...

nice post thanks for sharing looking for to visit more...blessings

Trisha said...

I LOVE your bike, Janette! :)

What wonderful memories you've made here. And that I Love Lucy episode is one of my favorites, too.

Benjamin is so handsome!

myletterstoemily said...

hey luci! i adore that episode and die
every time i watch it. i wish i could
exchange a cool breeze from here for
a tiny taste of your muscadine grape
jelly.

oh, and my bike is bright green with a
pink bottle holder. we would look very
cute. :)

Rebecca said...

My mouth is watering! And yes (I think you already know)....I DID have unexpected inspiration this week.

Mine is more visual than taste-ful.

And MY bike is sage green and lavender/purple. Def. a gal's bike!

Vickie said...

I LOVE muscadine jelly. It's my favorite! Well, if it didn't set up, you can always use it for pancake syrup - think how great that would be!

What a good memory for little Benjamin and his momma! You know - he'll ALWAYS remember that, Janette!

Debbie said...

I love it! I have a thing for winding trails so when I saw the picture of yours winding and thought about how straight the path seems to be on our local walking/bike trail, I got a touch of envy. True story!

I'm nuts for the pink bike, too.
And for the grape and jelly adventure as a whole.

Spunky!!
Isn't this sand pail thing fun? Let's consider a bushel basket list for fall. Seriously, what do you think?

Catherine said...

Dear Janette, That is the best gift you can give you children, good memories.
Blessings dear. Catherine

Sally said...

Wild black raspberries were our berry of note. My dad replanted some around their retirement home and we have enjoyed many a gift of jelly from them. I hope this batch jelled well, but grape ice cream syrup is good too.

Angel said...

Oh, yum! I haven't had those kind of grapes since I was a kid. What a fun day that must have been.

Brenda Lazzaro Yoder, said...

Unexpected inspiration was at a benefit put on for a friend of mine who has breast cancer. It was an amazing turn out, and a beautiful celebration of life. Thanks for helping us see the inspiration in the simple things!

Anonymous said...

This post reminded me of the time when we lived in Oakely Ca.. on 6 acres. There were wild grape growing along the driveway and we had a treat -indeed! But I did not do as you did here putting-up jelly - just made juice.. but what a fun adventure you and your son were on.. This one "I Love Lucy" episode I had forgot about it .. good for a laugh - so silly and fun!
Hugs, for more time on the bikes!

Anonymous said...

I used to have a grape arbor in my yard at my first house. It was prolific and I made lots of jelly every year. And juice.
I remember the itchy hands!

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