In Which We Find... A Birthday

Today is The Boy's birthday. I asked him what he had planned to do today, and he said he wasn't sure. This weekend is Amateur Radio Field Day (funny cuz it lasts all weekend) and he and Mr. Man went yesterday, and then came back and brought Ms. Thang because I had a gig to play at... and he had originally planned on being gone all day. Turns out they were packing up at noon so he decided against going. When he asked me what I had planned for today, I told him I wanted to go strawberry picking.


Strawberry season normally lasts through the middle of July. Last week we had a severe thunderstorm on Monday that brought about hail.. and damaged the strawberry crops all around us. If you look at my photo, you can see the hit marks on the lower left berry. They are forecasting having the fields open until the 4th.. but they aren't sure. I wanted to get in before I missed picking all together, so he said we could all go together. In honor of his birthday, we stopped at Kimball's and got ice cream on the way home.

Because we have never been strawberry picking before, we had no way of knowing that Mr. Man and I are both allergic to strawberry plants. Not the fruit, because we both eat strawberries all the time. I make jam in the summer with purchased berries, but this year I wanted to pick them first, and then jam them up. Turns out you can have a contact allergy with plants and still be able to consume the fruit. Because Mr. Man was into the bushes up to his armpits picking, his rash was much more severe than mine. Nothing a little Benedryl won't clear up, and now we'll know better for next time.

Next weekend we'll go to my MIL's house and celebrate birthdays for The Boy, myself, my brother in law, and my BIL's fiance. After 15 years of knowing her, I can finally celebrate my birthday on my own, but she manages to sneak it in now with everyone elses. (eyeroll) The sky is darkening and we are supposed to get storms later. I think I'll go make some jam.