Bountiful harvest

It was another busy summer weekend, hooray! The weather this month has not been horrible, and I’m super excited about that. August usually has numerous stretches of unbearable days, but luckily this year we’ve had several good days in between the icky. Today is possibly one of the nicest days ever.

Saturday was pretty nice, too. JeT and I went with my old college roommate and her parents to pick blueberries at Eastover Farm in Rochester (owned and operated by the Hiller family since 1912). Tons of berries everywhere! We picked 6 pounds and pretty much stayed in the same spot the whole time. (I went back today and picked a few more pounds. In the hour and a half that I was there, I only picked from three bushes.)

Saturday was also M’s birthday party (her actual birthday was Thursday), which was a lot of fun. We played a pop culture trivia game. I am no good with trivia. I don’t know anyone’s name. Under the pressure of the competition, I nearly forgot Alan Rickman’s name for goodness’ sake! It was a super fun game, though. Thanks to The Bohnsternator (I’m trying to come up with blog names for you all) for putting together the questions and for moderating. Rrrrrr (you know, like pirates?) made us all wear hats with our team names on them, and photographs of ourselves, in case we forgot what we looked like. Our team was called The Noblets, after the character Chuck Noblet, played by Stephen Colbert, in Strangers with Candy. (See more photos of that evening here.)

Leaving the party was a bit of an adventure. Unfortunately someone’s house a block over was on fire. The streets were filled with police cars and fire trucks. Our car was not parked on the same street as the house fire, but it was just around the corner. Near a fire hydrant. So, we were blocked in. One of the neighbors came over to move her car so I could wiggle out of the space between the curb and the fire truck. I ended up having to back up the hill, maneuvering around the fire truck, and a police car. I panicked a bit because all these people were on the sidewalk watching me. Weird. But I’d rather have to do some awkward driving than have my house burn down, so I’m not really complaining.

Sunday afternoon we drove out to western MA for a Great Big Sea concert. They are from Newfoundland and they rock! We picked up Blake (can’t think of a good name for him), picked up SEA from the Eric Carle Museum where she volunteers on Sundays, got some dinner from this great restaurant in Northampton, and made our way to Look Park, where the concert was to be. We parked and then began the trek to the outdoor theater.

We started walking towards one particular pavilion only to find that there was only a handful of old people listening to Kenny G type music. Didn’t seem like the type of crowd, nor the type of opening act appropriate for the awesomeness that is GBS. So we asked the uniformed folks in the golf cart where we should go, and eventually made it to the correct location.

The concert rocked. They played all the hits. (Or as they say “all the hit.”) I danced until my feet were dirty and sore (no shoes! plushy grass!) They are so much fun, and this venue was a great way to showcase their talents. They fit perfectly in an outdoor place or in a pub. They make me want to go back to Newfoundland. The opening band was pretty good, too: Stephen Kellogg & The Sixers. They did this great pop culture medley set to one of their folky tunes. It ruled.

All in all a fantastic weekend. I’m seriously enjoying this summer. I usually hate summer, and I’ll probably hate it again before too long, once this gorgeous weather goes away. I don’t mind the rainy, overcast days, but hate, hate, hate! the hot, humid ones. Days like today, though, are absolutely perfect.