Summer With a Cherry on Top....Mom's Cherry Squares

A life without love is like a year without summer. ~Swedish Proverb

Spring literally flew by for me with hardly a moment to think, let alone time to reflect and write a blog post. I missed you all though.

I started working at my gardening gig on Earth's day, April 22nd. An appropriate day to start working with plants and helping our customers plan their garden don't you think? 

Here's a shot of the north end of our garden centre

Inside our greenhouse

My favourite place....the veggie section

I was blessed to have some GREAT co-workers who made coming to work FUN!

Another amazing co-worker...making life in the veggie section even better

When you would pay your boss to work, you know you have found the right job....more beautiful co-workers

The garden is the perfect place to transform......here's a butterfly on our marigolds

 

And marvel over endless beauty

So yeah Spring flew by immersed in Kale and Flowers....check out my glasses...more about that later

 When I wasn't working at the garden centre, I was trying hard to be a good mom but gosh is it ever a balancing act. I think the kids kind of like me though, as they gave me some thoughtful Mother's Day gifts in May; handprints, flowers, poems, a gift certificates good for chores like lawn mowing and more. Did I mention that I have great kids?

 The rest of May flew by in a blur, with a 4th birthday party for our twin daughters at the end of the month. The theme was "Bugs and Butterflies" which was a big hit with Kathryn and Victoria.

This butterfly cake was super easy to make...just ask me about it.

Victoria is trying to hit the ladybug pinata I made for the party...now that would have been a blog post unto itself!

After the girl's 4th birthday on May 20th, it was a quick slide into June with a mad dash to plant my own veggie garden. It was quite a challenge keeping it weed free though....I did eventually spend an afternoon and weeded it and promptly put freshly mowed grass clippings around the plants to keep them moist but also weed free. Stay tuned for a more updated picture of the garden in posts to come.

I REALLY like the location of all the plants this year....I did LOTS of research into companion planting this year...note e basil next to the carrots and tomatoes....the onions and marigolds are all around the outside of the garden which hopefully will create a barrier for insects

I was blessed to have my oldest sister visit. I love it as she knows exactly how to help....she always heads straight to my laundry room when she arrives...AND since she is a master at organizing and decluttering, she always brings me hand-me downs.

Ta Da....new hoodie and shoes!!!....don't you just love hand me downs?

My generous sister B with Victoria and Kathryn

  June arrived and flew by in a flurry of piano and voice concerts, a piano exam, soccer games, final school exams, year end parties and beach days and our traditional music school Country Fair. It ended with Will's 6th birthday party at the Science Centre. I can't believe our little guy is 6 years old!

Will's rocket ship birthday cake that I made for him for his Science Centre party

Who knows what his future will be? When asked recently what he wanted to do when he grows up he said, "An engineer and a chef." ....maybe he will be both


Will's actual birthday, June 25th fell on the kid's last day of school. We celebrated the beginning of summer with a slurpee. Yes, our family is healthy, we drink green drinks, eat lots of veggies and stay active, but we all enjoy a slurpee now and then too.

Welcome Summer!

Summer arrived and we headed to Okanagan lake for a week of camping. What a week! We experienced thunder showers, epic high temperatures (39 celsuis...and yes there are people in the world who think Canada is COLD!), in which Katie was sick with heat stroke, most of us came down with swimmer's itch and finally there was a camp fire ban since the temperatures were extreme and our Province is so dry. Boo! as our one of our favourite things each day is to have a crackling fire in the evening in which we can toast our s'mores! So Yummy!

Here are a few pics of the highlights...

Oh Bliss....the water was the perfect temp

 

Will took part in a "learn to fish" program put on at our campground

Happy Campers

Mitchell came out for the first weekend and brought his guitar....he's so talented

Hiking up the beach trail and taking a moment to snap a picture

Harrison went into town each day for a basketball camp so was only with for short amounts of time....but enough time to enjoy the experience of being in the great outdoors and appreciate a real bed.

Grace balancing on the paddle board. She took lessons and is a natural1

  

David and I behind our campsite....see the lake in the background. Gorgeous!

Now you know why I didn't have much time to blog this spring and early summer.  Life has been full of work, milestones memories and wonderful experiences. 

Another highlight, was when the little kids and I picked our first big harvest of cherries from our two trees in our backyard. The trees (a Lapin and a Lambert) were loaded and we even had enough to share with others this year. That is always a nice feeling when you grow food.

I have so many memories when I pick cherries. My first is when I was a teenager living in the Creston Valley, known for its productive fruit trees. I made a nice sum of money picking cherries one summer and got a really good tan...back in the days when a tan was something to be coveted.

Another memory was when I was 25 and my step father had just passed away in April, leaving my mom with a large house and property to maintain. My sisters and brother in laws got together one weekend in June and picked cherries from her mini orchard. I thought I would never look at another cherry again but it was really nice to be able to hand mom a bit of money from the cherry sales at the local farmer's market.

I hope my kids have a few nice cherry picking memories. For many years we picked the cherries hanging over the fence from our neighbour's tree (they gave us permission and they never picked any cherries) We would get enough cherries from our side of the fence to be able to freeze a nice lot of cherries and we always made my mom's cherry square dessert each year. Now that we have our own trees, I hope our little ones create their own memories. 

I am trusting that summer will continue to unfold with grace and ease. Picking cherries and taking the time to make my mom's Cherry Square recipe was a nice start. If you are looking for a lovely, easy cherry dessert this is it. Add a dollop of ice cream or whipping cream and you have something really special to serve your family. Here's one of our family's summer dessert recipes....


My Mom, Ethel's Cherry Square Dessert

Filling Ingredients

5 cups of fresh pitted cherries (this is the only time consuming part of this recipe)
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar


Put the above ingredients into a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and then simmer for about 20 to 30 minutes. Mash a bit and then add

a mixture of 1/4 cup cornstarch with a bit of water...enough until you have made a paste.
Add the cornstarch paste to the cherry mixture. Stir it in well.

Simmer a bit more until mixture is clear

Let cool

In a large bowl add:

1-3/4 cup rolled oats
1-1/2 cups all purpose flour...I use 3/4 cup of whole wheat and 3/4 of white flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 cup of brown sugar or sweetening ingredient of your choice
 Optional: 1 tsp cinnamon

 Cut  into this mixture,
3/4 cup of cold butter or margarine

Lightly grease an 8x8 baking dish....I used a 9x13 but the squares were not as deep

Press 1/2 of the rolled oat/ flour/butter mixture into the baking dish

Spread cooled cherry filling over the first layer

Press the remainder of the oat/flour/butter mixture on top of the cherry filling

Place in pre-heated oven 375 degrees for 35 minutes

Serve warm with a dollop of whip cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt.

Absolutely great cold too! This dessert doesn't last long around here.

A piece of my mom's cherry square dessert on her "Forget Me Not" china.....love you mom!

I hope this blog post brings you up to date on life around Lakelin Reach (our urban homestead) and your summer also unfolds beautifully. 

Recently my sisters and I visited a lavender farm...more about that in future posts and this was a quote that was in the garden....if I were a tree, I think I would be a cherry tree. 

Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.

Blessings from Hope