Weekend's past. Profiting off fear

So last Thursday night, I made up the table with china and to keep the cat off the table, I covered it with another tablecloth.

It worked!

It was a very nice dinner.  Ryan liked his gift of a PS3 game controller and Jen liked her gift of various coffee beans.  She's a coffee connoisseur.  

Meri joined us for a while, but sat at the counter and didn't eat with us.

As soon as the table was cleared, our first company (in a LONG time) showed up.  One of Robb's high school buddies on his way through.  He was staying over that night.

Then while I was out on a walk, my brother-in-law and his wife arrived.  They were here for the weekend to help their son organize his college stuff for a trip to Arizona where he found a job!  They're taking a bunch back home with them too.

That's the nephew, his mom and his girlfriend.  Oh and their dog Blue. 

Josh JUST graduated with a degree in landscaping and noticed our tree in our patio area, apparently for the first time.  

"Hey!" he said, "What a great Service berry tree!"  

Wha?...  

The last 22 years that we've lived here, we always thought the berries were poisonous on this tree for humans.  He pointed out three other trees in our front yard that are, but not this one.  

Who KNEW?!

Well, I guess he did.

Service berries were a staple in the American Indian's diet for like, since... ever...  I googled it. 

 So no one else other than Josh and myself sampled the berries.  They didn't want to spend the next few days sick.  

Yeah, I didn't die!

So on Monday morning, I spread out several sheets under the tree and harvested enough to fill two gallon sized plastic bags, when all processed.  There is still a LOT left on the tree.  

After picking off all the stems and flash freezing them on cookie sheets, both bags are tucked away in the freezer for future smoothies or just to munch on.

yummm

Now a days, every time I walk past, I pick off a few and eat them.

On Saturday night, Leon and I met up with Josh, Carli and family and played mini-golf.  Leon was a complete goofball and the group of people 5 holes away were on our heels pretty quickly.

Leon "won" with 96 points (and that's being gracious).  I came in 2nd place from the other end of the spectrum.

We're going to have to go there more often so Leon can improve his game.

There was an ice cream truck, just outside of the mini golf course.  We had to wait in line for a LONG time to get our ice cream, but it was worth it.  They pour out the cream and ingredients on a cold stone and then roll it up. 

The bowls of ice cream looked like 5 fat fingers.  Much like  my fingers look today after having eaten that.

I carbed up a BUNCH this past weekend and hopefully will be back to my prior last week weight by the next weekend.

We'll see...

AND last but not least, I hooked up the sprinkler for the boy.  He's having a blast with it.

He might be having to pull fresh mown grass off his ankles but at least he doesn't care when it cools you down.

As a contrast, here is a Facebook memory that popped up in my feed from 5 years ago!

STILL the sprinklin' fool!

Last night I announced that I was going on a walk and Leon asked if he could come along.

SHURRRE!

It turned into a meander.  I got my steps in and then some, but no heart points whatsoever.

He learned all about tar used in street building and brought back a few bits that he wants to melt and paint with.

Who was I to say no?!

Tar art sounds amazing!!

Stinky but amazing.

We'll see what happens there.

Anywho, back to the grind.  Got lots to do over my lunch today...

OH!  and I scored a 2nd Instant Pot off the local swap page!  I just KNEW online or in person garage sales would produce a couple...  It was all the rage last fall and I'm sure some people are getting sick of them or just too afraid to open the box.  

HA!  Their fear is my reward....

bwahaha...