Today was an unexpected slow day at work so Hannah and I drove over to Pigeon Hill Wildlife Refuge to pick blueberries. You may take all the berries you can find if you pick them by hand (rather than raking). After an hour we had about a quart of berries – enough to do some baking this weekend when rainy weather keeps us indoors.

We were alone out there this morning and the mist gave the whole experience an eerie feeling.

Back home where the sun was shinning, we started in on the berry bushes surrounding the pond. Our systematic work at thinning the trees has allowed wild blueberries to get more sun and finally bear fruit. And I wanted to get to them before the chickens, ducks or bears.

Speaking of bears, we saw lots of bear poo disturbingly close to the house (yes I took pictures that I won’t share here). It’s a little startling to see evidence of bear activity especially since we have yet to see one in the flesh – not that I’m complaining!

Hannah and I hiked up into the Back-40 in search of the blueberry patches there. The logging we had done the other winter has opened up the landscape and I was hoping to find more berries to pick. I became distracted along the way trying to snap pictures of these dragonflies.

Hannah lost interest and headed back while I continued on my search for dragonflies and berries.

I finally found the berries up on a hill, but in the process of picking them realized how far I’d walked. It felt awfully lonely out there with the sounds of unknown critters rustling in the background. Coyote? Bear? Probably a chipmunk, but I decided to leave the few berries there to the wildlife and head for home.