Okie in the Bluegrass: Blackberries & Snakes

Saturday morning after my chores were done I decided to head to the pasture and pick some wild blackberries. I have plans for those blackberries and, by golly, the birds aren't going to get all of them before I can get my fair share.

So me and the dogs got to picking before it got too hot. And yes the dogs picked blackberries, unfortuanelty they didn't put them into my bucket but kept them for themselves. Selfish little beasts. :) At one point there was a row of dogs next to me with their heads buried into the bushes.

Thank goodness they could only reach 2 feet off the ground!

Puppies still picking blackberries, whereas, the dogs are headed to the other side for fresh berries.

Scooby Snack

At one point while I was picking I got a strong sent of cucumbers. My cucumber vine was 100 yards away and it is barely surviving, so it wasn't my plant making this scent. I had heard an old wives tale about copperheads secreting the scent of cucumbers when they feel threatened, and I know there has to be snakes in the blackberry vines, so not wanting to get tangled with a snake I backed away quickly and moved to some other bushes.

Now the cumcumber smell might be an old wives tale, but I can't figure out what would have suddenly made that smell where I was. And I didn't want to take any chances.

Snakes have their place in this world, I would just prefer we didn't travel in the same circles.

A small tangent - this spring when searching for something in the attic I came across a snake skin in one of my boxes. I dropped that box and beat it downstairs...QUICKLY! When I got downstairs that overwhelming feeling of "You are going to have to deal with this because there is no one nearby that will move that snake skin for you" came over me. Hand to forehead...sometimes I really hate being an indepentant woman.

And...this was one of those times I chose to ignore the problem. I made sure I got what I needed, but I waited for my Dad to visit and dispose of the snake skin. There are just some things I would rather not have to do. I can dispose of animal caracasses everyday but one snake skin creeps me out.

Where the cucumber sent was coming from. I didn't want to explore any further.

After changing locations I proceeded to fill my bowl with juicy, wild blackberries and I only had to give up a few to the mooches with puppy breath. I can't wait to make cobbler, cake and jams. Yum! Now the temperatures need to cool down so that I can get back into the kitchen without sweltering.