harvest

This afternoon I had my best blackberry harvest yet this year. I hadn't gone out for a day or two, and managed to get a full pint of berries. Many, many more will be ready soon.

I have to watch for snakes, of course, and have a long walking stick that I need for walking on the steep terrain. I also use the stick to poke around for snakes and to move weeds aside so I can get into difficult places.

No snakes today - in fact I've never seen one on my berry hunts - but today I did manage to piss off a nest of hornets. One got me on the index finger; I shook it loose and it hurt like hell for a few minutes. Fortunately I'm not allergic to bees, wasps or hornets. I took a Benadryl when I got back to the house, but by that point there was no evidence of any sting on my finger. Just an occasional minor twinge of pain.

Our water heater conked out a couple of days ago. I can boil a pot of water on the stove so I have hot water for dishes, but we can't take showers until the landlord comes to have a look at the water heater.

And I stopped in at a store where I had filled out a job application last February, just to say "hey, I'm still here," and they told me that I have to call their main office between 8:30 and 2:30. Lisa went to school with the owner; maybe that will help. Plus, I was told that they will soon be opening a hardware store. I think I would like a job there.