AUGUST 10 - From Blackberries to Wineberry, and Points In Between

There's nothing gets you up in the morning faster than flashing police car lights strobing through your bedroom window, and that explains why I had an early start to this day. We didn't know why this car was stopped in the intersection for ever so long - no sirens, no activity besides the lights, but when 6:30am rolled along, I headed out for a walk through the school yard/park, just to see if the drug dealers they may have been after had ditched their backpack full of money. No luck. However, I did get a nice little stroll in, which resulted in two wet feet - from the  Morning Dew  in the grass- tra la la.

However, that left me home and wide awake at 7am. So I decided to take Breehy (my bike, for New Readers who may not know who Breehy is) and look for some early morning blackberries. There were tons of them ripe near Mud Bay yesterday, but I never had a bucket. I didn't have a bucket this morning, either, but found a nice little Salt Beef Tub in the cupboard - the 4lb ones that Safeway sells for $20, which explains why we don't buy it very often. However, if it can double as a berry bucket it can help pay for itself in the long run.

So off we went again - up 134, down 91, across King George Blvd, and up to 94, then down 94 past the back of the hospital, where I saw a horde of blackberry bushes several weeks ago.

Now blackberry bushes aren't the friendliest plant alive. They have huge stabbers -

-that just love to reach out and rip you to pieces. It's best not to wear sandals and shorts while picking them - in fact, full body armour would be preferable, although probably not so comfortable in hot weather. Also, there are many spider webs, bumble bees and other wild creatures buzzing around, and God only knows what kind of slithery or fast-footed creatures live in the growth beneath the bushes. So if you don't want to scratch your arms, feet or legs, or get a possible spider web in your hair, or have a rat or a snake slide over your feet - stay at home. (Am I scaring you? Good. There will be more for me.)

Alas. As you can see, there weren't very many ripe here, so I took a little path run and found a huge grove of them ripening on an unused trail - got about 2 cups of them -

 - enough to make a nice batch of muffins. I will go back maybe next week to see how they are doing.

Now I want muffins.

About 10 o'clock we left again, this time with a destination in mind -Wineberry Fabrics , which is on the  corner of 152 Street and 64 Avenue. This was the third time I've ridden (rode? rided?) to 64 Avenue, but this time I went down King George Highway and turned left, so all new hunting grounds. For once, I didn't get lost, or confused (well, at least not about the route.)

Riding along 64, we passed the Bell Centre for Performing Arts , where I guess one gets dressed up all La De Dah to spend a Classy Evening Out. I can't remember the last time I got all La De Dahed Up (and not because I was drunk either, I know how some of you think - it's just been soooo long ago.)

After the 9km that Google told me to expect, I came to the little strip mall where Wineberry is located. Like a lot of places I find in Surrey, there was no bike rack for locking Breehy - but I found a fence that did the job. The gracious ladies at Wineberry told me I could bring her in, but goodness only knows what her tires run over in the course of a day, so I declined. After all, it was only yesterday we passed two horses, remember? I don't think I hit any horse poop, but just in case ....

I dropped in and had a great chat with Shelley and Brenda - aka the A-Team. If you're in the area, drop in and see all their beautiful fabrics and yarns. 

So sorry about the quality of the pics below, they don't show true at all. The store is bright and wonderful, the fabrics are lovely, and the sample designs are very tempting, even to someone who hasn't sewed anything since Hot Pants in the early 70's. Check out Shelley's blog  As The Spool Turns here.

 Lovely touchable yarns, and some beautiful scarves on display in the corner.

After I left, I did a quick walk around the strip mall. I checked out a Butcher Shop where the proprietor, after tearing himself away from his flat screen TV, told me there would be lots of Ham Bones for my Pea Soup available in the fall. So that means I have to make another trip in a couple of months time. Meanwhile I just have to make do with Pork    Hocks.  

Now I want Pea Soup.

I was actually very happy and surprised to actually find a Butcher Shop in Surrey that actually sold pig parts - the ones I've come across must be either run by Muslims or Hindus, who consider pigs unclean. However, they sell goat meat - go figure. A goat will eat anything - just ask Paddy McGinty.

Now I want Pork Chops.

The sun shone a lot hotter as I headed for home, and the strangely clicking sound/feels from my right knee warned me to take it easy, so it was no question of what to do when we saw ICE CREAM 64, which had just opened recently. Here one can get it all - ice cream and Indian food, even Indian ice cream.

I chose another Screamer - I figured if I try every Screamer in Surrey, I'll be able to recommend the best one to my guests when they visit. This one far outshone the Pizza 64 one I had yesterday - the ice cream wasn't lumpy and the slushie wasn't gritty. Very Yummy. 

And what would go well with a Screamer on a hot day? A Samosa. I know there was potato and green peas inside, anything else would be a mystery to me. The dipper tasted of lime, so it did actually team up well with my Lime Screamer. I'm not sure if it was small for a Samosa - it seemed small - the picture has a loonie in it for size reference. But it was very very good indeed.

As I kept riding/walking, I came across more blackberry bushes - but alas, never had my salt beef pail with me. But - I did have my empty Screamer cup, and a baggie with damp paper towels for wiping my sweaty brow, plus a bottle of water. So, a quick dish wash and wipe, and presto! the perfect blackberry picking container - and when that was full, I just turned the baggie inside out and used that too.

It didn't take long to fill up my containers, so then it was straight home, past some pretty growing things.

 This one puzzled me - two satellite dishes way way down on the tree. I wonder if the wildlife here have TV's?

 Just thought this was pretty.

I have no idea what they are, it's from a big tree. I hope it's not a rare form of poison ivy, or something else hazardous to one's health. If so, guess I've had it.

And closer to home, this pretty tree. I don't know if the brownish things will pop up as white flowers, or if they are seed pods. I just thought this was way cool.

 
Thanks to Google Transit maps and my incredible smrtness in figuring out how to screen save, find in Paint, and transfer to this page via Windows Pictures - here is today's 18km trip. Of course we have to add in the 3 kms from this morning's Black Berry hunt, so that is .... mmmmm ..... add that... divide that... multiply .... subract .... 13 miles. Just a short jaunt, really.