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16 October 2014

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Blackberries

It's been a while, sorry. It seems two out of every three bloggers come from Lewis, so time to redress the balance.
Outside our kitchen window (which I don't look out of that often, as I have delegated most of the washing up) are some blackberry bushes. We have been anticipating the fruit for some time, and were a bit worried when we headed south for a week (last year I made a chair, this year I managed a spatula (no pic)) that they would have gone by the time we returned, but no, they were still there in their redness. Because I was washing up for a week (he was detained by his mother, she had 'one or two wee jobs needing doing') I spotted some black fruit and once all the dishes were clean, I took one outside and made it dirty again, though not very, as there weren't really that many fruit. In fact, when I went out every day I only got a small handful of fruit each time. But never any from less than one foot up or any in view of the sky. I am sharing my blackberries with the hens and the starlings! Having spent a long time planning blackberry dishes I headed off on my (his) bike to get some extra unhenpecked fruit. I headed for the village and used the uphills as an excuse to stop and pick berries. This bike was cheap from the Argos returns place and has suspension. Our roads aren't bad enough to need it now, but it doesn't have an off button. So when I'm not sitting on the seat it looms high up above the pedals and is nearly impossible to get my leg over, I almost need a mobile mounting block! As soon as I lower my slim lithe figure (very little truth in that description) the seat drops so much my knees take turns being level with my ears. It has 21 gears, except the top 7 aren't available, something needs tweaked (hit with a hammer) so I can pedal in top very easily but can't build any speed up downhill yet. I'm scared to tweak (hit with hammer) it because a) it isn't my bike b) so far the chain hasn't come off and I've done nearly ten miles, which must be some kind of a record.
So the blackberrying still wasn't that successful. I went the other way up the road, without the bike but with the dogs. Now if there is a blackberry 'hedge' it will have two sides, so having picked all I could reach from the roadside I climbed the gate to get at the other side. In this field are some miniature shetlands, it is an enormous field, but they are curious and they had walked along with me when I was on the roadside. In the field they got interested in the dogs. The white one likes running, so as they chased after him he ran up the rocks and kept his distance, but the black one didn't like that game. She dashed back out of the field and followed me along the road. Trouble was, the field is a lot lower so I couldn't see her. Every time a car came along (twice) I had to re-assure the driver the dog wasn't abandoned. Drivers feel silly talking to blackberry hedges. With no dogs to chase the ponies had to settle for following me and observing, or trying to help. It was a bit like an obscure dance where everybody weaves in and out in a very complicated pattern as every good bit with lots of berries had a pony in front of it. I got a lot of blackberries, but I think I may have taught the ponies to eat blackberries so there may be none left when I go back.
Posted on NiconColl at 22:14

Comments

Nice to hear from you Nic.

Carol from IBHQ


What a very entertaining post! I hope the blackberries tasted good after all your efforts, but the antics of dogs and ponies surely kept you amused. I BOUGHT blackberries yesterday in the supermarket...

Jill from EK


Good to hear from you Nic! # Blackberry pies?! If you have to work for them, I am sure they do taste better. We got our blackberries AND blackberry pie from the neighbors, and they were quite good too (their coconut pie and German chocolate cake are not bad either). In extremis, there is blackberry cobbler in the local eating house in English (I plead innocent: I did not name the village). Being without prejudice, I shall confess to attending mass (being Papist) in Frenchtown. # Nic, I assume the wild blackberry bushes were not thornless. I guess it must have been hard to distinguish between the juice of the fruit and the blood which should have rightfully gone to the Red Cross. Are wild blackberries sweet or rather sour?

mjc from IN, USA


And weren't they a lidl expensive too...

Flying Cat from no free brambles hereabouts


all the length of the lane in front of my cabin-bramblebushes line the way up to the point where it meets the main road only i don't pick them:

carol from goodbye blackberryway--


You have free fruits on your doorstep and you don't use them??? You've been living in furrin perts for too long...

Flying Cat from standing back in amazement


Enjoyed the post very much, Nic. I was wondering if the Lewish group had intimidated all the other islanders...Would have loved to see the interaction between the ponies and the dogs. Our neighboring horses always come over when I am playing frisbee or ball with the Border Collie. Enjoy the blackberries!

thelovelyOutlander from dreaming of highlands and islands


Enjoyed the post very much, Nic. I was wondering if the Lewis group had intimidated all the other islanders...Would have loved to see the interaction between the ponies and the dogs. Our neighboring horses always come over when I am playing frisbee or ball with the Border Collie. Enjoy the blackberries!

thelovelyOutlander from dreaming of highlands and islands


I always remember that they were better picked after the first frost, have you had frost yet on Coll? Not many round here due to the poor weather I suppose but then again they thrive on being burnt at the end of the year, or so I'm told. Missed getting over to bike and camp on Coll this year due to a chest infection (in July!) that's what I get for rambling in the Lake District in early Julvember in the rain....no not naked rambling just wet wet wet rambling. Missed my Burger too for my homeward journey, hope you are all well, I thoght the blog had dried up or were you all recovering from the Coll Show?

rambling keckers from Chryston


You could pop over to France, FC. Carol from over that way, has the new owner taken possession yet, or do you have use until your departure for NZ? By the way, Carol, not harvesting blackberries in front of your house should be a criminal offense. Don't tell me you have raspberries and blueberries running wild as well?!!

mjc from IN, USA


MJC:i don't care much for blackberries-no wild raspberries but loads of wild strawberries in the woods behind house in june and july--now i'm stuffing my face with -----GRAPES yup,they're being picked now! xx

carol from still here


Taught shetland ponies to eat blackberries, I think not! In my limited experience the little blighters will try to eat anything from fingers to coat buttons purely on the basis that they might be nutritious. My almost lifelong aversion to equestrian pursuits can be trace back to a nip from a shetland when I was five. Thereafter I decided that boats were inherently safer.

Hyper-Borean from The stable


Is it logical, I ask you...

Flying Cat from what's wrong with bicycles?


The joys of blackberries and even more appealing - homebaked pies. Although one cannot compete with your adventures in order to extract blackberries. A delightful read and look forward to even more along the way.

island poet from Mull


Boats are inherently safer than horses? I assume you mean ocean crossing small sailing boats? So many sailing boats for sale in Papeete, and you did not grab yourself one when you had the opportunity. In my younger days, when I passingly thought that ocean sailing would be fun, I learnt that for various reasons good deals could be had in Tahiti on sail boats. Is that still so? How about yours Barney? Did you acquire it in Polynesia? Personally, I think there is nothing safer than trotting on a Belgian in the country side.

mjc from IN, USA


Fpu says she never thought of that option...

Flying Cat from walking alone like cats do


rambling keckers from Chryston there's a few blackberries along the "black path" beside the new surgery. On Coll there's pretty good pickings at the back of Burnside, shame I didn't get there either this year never imagined I'd be standing in front of folk (lots of them) and publicly addressing them, when in the past it took me all my time to ask for a ginger beer!

Foofoo from Glasgow


Are blackberies the same as brambles? I remember my Granny making jam/jelly from brambles gathered in Coll.

Alsofu from happydaze


Boats are inherently safer mjc. I stand by that statement. Boats are not sentient and therefore incapable of malice or dangerous inquisitiveness. As to cheap boats in Papeete it only serves to prove the old wisdom that the crew will give up before the boat does. I almost bought a Herreshoff 28 in Port Vila which brings us neatly back to Ruth and, "The Road Not Taken.' Are you awake at the back Puddlejumper.

Hyper-Borean from Steerage


Mjc, no, "Beatrice" was purchased in Sweden, much more prosaic. Accordin to my son, who once sailed from the Canaries to the Bahamas, ocean sailing is for the birds, mostly boring and pretty uncomfortable. Which reminds me of Mark twain's assesment of the Horse: "dangerous at both ends and uncomfortable in the midlle". He also wrote: "why spoil a nice walk with a game of golf?" But you probably knew these gems of wisdom already.

Barney from Swithiod late again again




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