Cherry Season

 Tart cherries are these bright red pie cherries.  Of course they ripen during the week we have consistent temps in the 90's with high humidity.  My husband and I picked 17 pounds one day this week.  The next day I pitted them... I do this by hand so the cherries will be round and plump in my pies.  If I plan to make jam, I use a hand-crank pitter which chews them up a bit.  The 17 pounds yielded 10 quarts by the way.  We will enjoy these throughout the winter in cobblers and pies.

 

Here is my granddaughter, Emily, picking sweet cherries.  Notice the juice on her chin.  Her daddy had to remind her the best way to eat them... not by little nibbles, but rather pop them in your mouth all at once, then spit the pit out.  She got the hang of it right away.

 

Raspberries ripen nicely in the summer heat as well.  We eat them on our cereal and on ice cream with chocolate sauce dribbled over them.  They never seem to make it to the freezer.  Delicious summer bounty! 

Senior Center Location Extraordinaire

Here is our local Senior Center funded by the Commission on Aging.  It is situated on the shore of West Grand Traverse Bay of Lake Michigan.  The beach is fabulous.  The facility is small, built in the 1960's and our county population has grown considerably since then.  It is in need of renovation, but there is talk of relocating.  I just joined this fine group of people and attended the first of weekly summer yoga classes held on this beach one early morning last week.  What a delight!

It had rained during the night and the sky was brightening in the east.  To the west is the Great Lakes Maritime Academy and the large Coast Guard training ship, plus a couple of small private boats.  My vote is to stay put and renovate!