RUG HOOKING BLOG

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I'm a mother of four grandmother of seven and great grandmother of three. I live with my husband in the house that we built with the help of my brothers and will have been married for 57 years this February.

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

FEELING GUILTY

Yep, I'm feeling a bit guilty for not posting. I have just too many things going on that I can't seem to be bothered to select what I want to blog about.

I went and checked the river bank yesterday and I picked some fiddleheads.  A lot of bloggers have never heard of fiddleheads so I thought that I would make mention of them here. Our farm has a riverfront property so we can pick fiddleheads to eat in the spring. These delicacy can be found in the fresh vegetable isle in grocery stores and are pricy since they are labor intensive to pick and clean.


You can click on the picture to get a closer look.

Sorry, I didn't had my camera but this is a picture I took of fiddleheads on May 19, 2011  They are all washed many times until the little brown coverings are all removed.  Maybe I'll do a better documentary on fiddleheads next time.

If we don't pick them early, people go on our land and pick them before we have a chance at picking for ourselves and it's not fun.

Yesterday I picked about 21 pounds and it took me a little over 3 hours counting the time to go and come back by car.  I gave away all to family and kept 3 pounds for ourselves. I may go back to pick again and will take my camera this time

I had  forgotten to take my camera as I was just going to check if they were ready but I wish I would have taken it with me because  I saw a big fox watching me for a while and I saw a cormorant bird on a log in the brook that connect to the river. I watched it for a good 5 minutes and it just stayed there. I had never seen one in our area before. It was pretty cool and I saw an adult eagle in a big tree scanning the surroundings.

Today I planted some beets in the rain, and pruned one of my thorniest Grootendorst  rose bush using a pair of leather gloves to protect my hands... Very pretty when in full bloom.



Here is a older  picture of  my Grootendorst as it's just starting to bloom. This is a 2011 picture as well. You can see it's covered with buds ready to bloom.

The grass is starting to green up and the spring flowers are popping up here and there. Nothing spectacular yet.

Thanks for stopping in. I appreciate your comments.

JB








28 comments:

  1. i bet the fiddleheads are tasty! new, tender growth. your roses are beautiful, too. neat to see a fox and a cormorant, too! a cormorant may stop here on occasion, but they're pretty rare here. much larger lakes in the area to attract them more. :)

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  2. That's a lot of fiddleheads! How do you cook them? Fried in butter?
    The rose bush is spectacular. I love that lovely light pink.
    Sounds like you had a good time watching the wildlife along the river.

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  3. Oooo, I'll have to check the stores tomorrow night. I didn't realize they were out already. I love them with a little butter and a splash of vinegar

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  4. Oh my gosh can I relate! I so get how you feel. And appreciate that I'm not the only one feeling a little too much on my plate right now.
    I love how you get to pick your own fiddleheads:) So cool.
    Peace to you in all of your being,
    Jennifer

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  5. Good fiddlehead haul! I love them so much wish I had a place to pick.
    Cathy

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  6. Thank you, Julia for showing how the fiddleheads look like. That was quite a big harvest for you. Sometimes something interesting always choose to appear when I forget my camera.

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  7. I've not heard of them do this was really interesting. If you could compare them to another vegetable, what would they raster most like? Oh no, that's mean that people pick yours!!! Someone snuck in and stole all the apples off our tree one year, my Mum was waiting to harvest them and I think it was my neighbour over the wall who must have taken them all as we are a terraces house so it could only be them (and lady had admired them) We were really disappointed.
    Your bush is beautiful and hurrah for planting the beets!!
    Lovely to see your post Julia. X

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  8. Ah, don't feel bad! Your posts are wonderful and welcome. We are here whenever you want us!
    As always this is a great post; they all are. I would love to check out those fiddleheads! They are interesting to look at, so pretty and green.
    Have a great week, whatever you do! HUGS!

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  9. You certainly keep busy. I could use some of your energy. I always enjoy your posts.

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  10. I am so happy to see a picture of the fiddlehead ferns! I've never seen them before. I never seem to have my camera ready, either. Lovely rose bush! xo Nellie

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  11. My goodness, you can not feel guilty about lack of blogging....you are one of the busiest/hardworking ladies so any time you have to relax...do...even if it's not near the computer! I've seen fiddle heads at the market and yes very expensive. Thanks for sharing the photos.

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  12. I've never heard of fiddleheads, but I love most of Mother Earth's bounties.
    It's about to get lovely there. You should get a phone with a camera because the best camera is one you have to capture those moments that would otherwise go un captured.

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  13. I had fiddleheads ferns one time when I was a kid. I don't think I appreciated the taste. I think I would now. They look lovely and good.
    I love that you described what you saw while down at the river. That sounds really nice and I think it sounds, in my mind, wonderful. To be in a place like that. I love the sound of water. Seeing the birds and the fox sounds wonderful too.
    I hope you have a lovely day Julia

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  14. 21 pounds?! Wow! I've heard of fiddleheads, but never knew you could eat them. What do they taste like?

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  15. Hi,
    I have heard of fiddleheads, but have never eaten one.
    I bet the fox was beautiful.
    Have a blessed day,
    Carla

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  16. Julia-- never in my life have I heard of a fiddlehead!! Do they taste like a spinach? They look like a young fern! This is totally new to me-- I don't even know if they grow around here-- must investigate further!

    Don't feel bad because you are too busy to blog! Life happens... Honestly, I do well to blog about twice a month. I don't know how people find the time to blog every few days. They must have lots more free time than I do!!
    Xoxo
    Vicki

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  17. Count me as one of the people who have never heard of fiddleheads before! I think blogging slows down as the weather gets warmer. People are outside. I'm blogging/reading blogs to put off working...

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  18. How wonderful to go out into nature and bring back dinner! Would love to see that curious fox! I would miss not hearing about your adventures...I blog when I can, and am always happy when friends come by to say hello.
    Robyn

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  19. Every time your daughter and I pick fiddleheads on the river bank or the creek bank I think "you wouldn't be doing this in Florida". Gators and snakes.

    Most dangerous thing I've seen is broken glass.

    Bummed that I can't pick this year, but I'll soon get fixed so I can pick next year. Thanks for bringing some to us. Our kids could pick and bring them to you if they weren't so darned lazy.

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  20. If your readers want to know more about these tasty things, they can read a bit here about the Ostrich fern (though it's not a very comprehensive article).

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matteuccia_struthiopteris

    If they look up the "fiddleheads" article on wikipaedia it covers a bunch of different ferns that I mostly can't speak about (including the one we have here). But if you see cooking instructions that say they can be eaten raw or when still crispy, that's just totally false. You need to cook them thoroughly until they are soft. Otherwise you can get sick.

    Last year Jackie and I picked about 40 lbs in two hours. Wish I could pick now, but until my surgery it's impossible. :(

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  21. Older blog post on Jackie's blog that also has fiddleheads. She has cooking instructions in the comments thread.
    http://onethreadtwothread.blogspot.ca/2011/06/fiddleheads.html

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  22. Hello! I'm visiting as a friend of Jennifer's. I admire your hard work! Fiddleheads are yummy—I've had them with garlic and butter, a light saute'...they don't need much. Garlic heads (at the end of their cycle) are also a special treat. I think I would have gone over and kindly approached my neighbor, asking her to share the apples and you might bake her a pie. Bet she'd never do it again!! but if you don't say anything, she'll be back next year. I garden in Portland, Oregon and blog about everything! www.life-change-compost.com.

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  23. You are a wealth of knowledge ~ not only did I learn about fiddleheads from you but also the cormorant bird, which I googled.

    As far as blogging, I also feel guilty when I don't post something (like tonight) but am trying to accomplish something so that tomorrow my blog will have a little more substance and interest. Not to worry my dear friend, we will always seek you out.

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  24. Mmmm... I love fiddleheads though haven't had them on years. We would visit friends in Maine, and always enjoyed a meal of fresh perch and fiddleheads! YUM! :-)

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  25. I've never tasted a fiddle head, what is the flavour like? Do you butter & salt & pepper them like brussels sprouts? I've eaten so many different veggies but not that one. I'm behind in my blogging too Julia but I'm glad you blogged about these fiddle heads, with past photos of large pots of them. Spring is now here & everything about winter will soon be a memory. Enjoy this long weekend, I know I will because I'll home again at the cottage. Yes! I'm looking forward to see the plants bloom & come to life. I'm bringing two white lilacs & a pair of white bleeding hearts, both have taken to full bloom in there pots. Next year they'll be slower to bloom as spring arrives later than south western Ontario. Enjoy your long weekend!
    Hugs,
    Cynthia

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  26. This blogger has never heard of Fiddleheads either - your roses look beautiful and I'm sure they will be just as lovey thus tees as well! You are definitely a busy farm girl so I appreciate when you take time to post!

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  27. i have not heard of Fiddleheads before. It looks different. Very good color it has...

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  28. I have never heard of fiddle heads but am off to google more info! I love that blogging introduces us to people like you in places so far away and we get the chance to learn about the differing lifestyles - fiddle heads and all!

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