Recent achievements

[luzula]

Total amount of words on my current fanfic: 60,000
Woohoo! \o/

Total hours recorded and edited on my current podfic: 4 hours 40 minutes
I'm on such a recording spree...

Liters of blueberries I have picked: 7
I suppose these are properly bilberries in English, or blaeberries in Scottish. : ) Or Vaccinium myrtillus in Latin, or blåbär in Swedish. This year there is an unbelievably good crop of them! We have only picked a tiny fraction of what's in the woods around us.

Liters of wild strawberries I have picked: 1.5
I have actually picked a lot more, but those went straight into my mouth and were not measured.

Amount of chanterelles picked: only a handful, but they were good!

Days spent with my mother with only minimal quarreling: 27
This is probably the most impressive one! *g*

Still at the family summer place, probably the best place to be during a pandemic.

Comments

[chestnut_pod]

That sounds exceptionally idyllic!

[luzula]

It is! Very different from my usual summers, which I spend traipsing about the country, but I'm actually enjoying it a lot.

[regshoe]

Oh, I'm jealous of that berry harvest! I have a tiny patch of wild strawberries in the garden which I've been enjoying occasionally. I also went for a walk this morning and took the opportunity to note patches of blackberry bushes for later on in the year—hope that'll be good...

And that certainly is progress on the fic—and the podfic :D

[luzula]

It's so great that we don't have to buy fruit anymore, but can just stuff ourselves with berries instead. Mmm, yoghurt with blueberries.

I hope there are lots of berries on your blackberry patches!

And that certainly is progress on the fic—and the podfic :D

Yesss. *is all proud*

[jesse_the_k]

I'm very impressed with your output, and then delicious input to keep you going.

According to our national agricultural agency, that species is called a whortleberry, which sounds like something from a cartoon. They look to grow even lower down than blueberries, if that picture from Denmark is accurate.

[luzula]

I'm very impressed with your output, and then delicious input to keep you going.

Hee, that's a good way to put it. : )

I'm pretty sure that photo you linked to is not Vaccinium myrtillus, which has slightly serrated leaves and a bit more pointed leaf tips. It looks very much like V. uliginosum, which has that leaf shape and also very typically that blue-green color on the leaves. But I am mystified that such an official-looking website would have an error like that, which makes me question myself!

[jesse_the_k]

Given that scientific honesty and completeness has not been paramount in U.S. government agencies lately, I'll go with your interpretation.

As long as they're all edible, they look delicious!

[luzula]

Well, if the species in the photo is the one I think it is, then it's edible, but not that delicious. : ) The one's we've picked are totally delicious, though!

[isis]

Impressive output! Impressive input!

I love wild strawberries but they are not quite ripe here. Chanterelles don't show up until autumn.

[luzula]

Appropriate icon. : ) Huh, you must be far south of me, but maybe the wild strawberries are later because you're up in the mountains? And yes, chanterelles mostly come later here as well--these are the very first ones.

[isis]

Yep, it's an elevation thing.

[nnozomi]

So many words and so many berries...lovely on both counts.
(Now I'm picturing you and your mother with one of those workplace safety signs: "Days Since Last Quarrel: --". I hope relative peace continues!)

[luzula]

Now I'm picturing you and your mother with one of those workplace safety signs: "Days Since Last Quarrel: --".

Hee, that would be hilarious. And thanks for the good wishes!

[feroxargentea]

Ooh I'm jealous. Our bilberries aren't ripe yet. (They're called whinberries locally - it's one of those words where the missus and I stare at each other in bafflement and wonder if we're talking about the same thing, but they're definitely the same.)

[luzula]

Oh, interesting. There are whin-bushes in various Scottish things I've been reading, and when I looked that up, it appeared to be the same thing as gorse?

Wikipedia says: The bilberry (especially Vaccinium myrtillus) is also known by a number of other names including blaeberry /ˈbleɪbɛri/ in the Scots language,[2] whortleberry /ˈhwɜːrtəbri/ in southern England,[2] and w(h)imberry or w(h)inberry in Derbyshire, along the Anglo-Welsh border, and south Wales, amongst other places.

Whatever you call them, I hope you have time to go picking some when they ripen!

[lyr]

Glad to hear you're tucked away someplace safe and good right now, especially with minimal quarreling. And gosh, that sounds like a delightful bounty of berries!

[luzula]

Thanks! I hope to continue not to quarrel, and it really is a lovely place to be. Now to pick more berries... : )

[hyarrowen]

It all sounds completely idyllic. A most impressive list of achievements.

I remember picking bilberries as a kid; they grew in the local country park, much beloved by Tolkien - a hilly area of lowland heath (if that makes sense). We'd scramble about on the steeper slopes and pick these tiny berries. I can't imagine picking seven litres of them.

Hope the productive burst continues!

[luzula]

I have also chopped a fair amount of wood, which I enjoy a lot.

Growing up near a park beloved by Tolkien makes you sound very cool. : ) I am up to 11 liters of berries now, it's quite pleasant to pick them while proof-listening to my own podfic recordings...

[hyarrowen]

Wood chopping is v therapeutic.

Here's a picture by Tolkien of the park- I was born just to the left of the picture and my parents worked in the factory (now gone) as youngsters during the war. There are more houses now but the hill and the fields just below it are still green.
https://annasmol.files.wordpress.com/2018/01/kings-norton-from-bilberry-hill.jpg?w=791

Eleven litres of bilberries is a LOT of picking and a lot of pies and probably quite a lot of sugar - I remember them as being quite sharp in taste. Must admit I prefer wild strawberries but bilberries aren't bad!

[luzula]

Ooh, nice. And it's even called Bilberry Hill!

Eleven litres of bilberries is a LOT of picking and a lot of pies and probably quite a lot of sugar - I remember them as being quite sharp in taste. Must admit I prefer wild strawberries but bilberries aren't bad!

I mostly eat them as they are, in my morning yoghurt, with no sweetener but some raisins. To my mind, they are not sharp when properly ripe. Although we also made some delicious blueberry pancake. : )

[seascribble]

Sweden has different blueberries? I did not know! Is the smörgåstårta that looks like a dessert cake but is actually fish a real thing?

That is so many days to spend with one's mother in any capacity, let alone without fighting, my goodness. *gives you an award*

[luzula]

We do have different blueberries! Or, well, they're Eurasian. I actually thought they grew in Canada as well, because we have so many species in common in the boreal zone, but apparently not. Anyway, they're delicious.

Is the smörgåstårta that looks like a dessert cake but is actually fish a real thing?

Yep. Besides fish (smoked salmon) it usually contains a mayonnaise-based sauce, sliced boiled eggs, crayfish and various salad vegetables such as tomatoes and cucumber. I like it, in moderation.

*triumphantly holds up award*