Wild blackberries and Hashuki

Feb 10

I am so happy today.  We walked down our drive, around the corner and up the driveway to the neighbors’s property.  This is our routine. With apple in hand we were on our way to feed Hashuki, our neighbors beautiful tan horse.  We don’t know the horse’s real name, but Elijah named her Hashuki (which according to him is Japanese for horse) and the name stuck.  Hashuki meets at edge of the meadow, sticks her sweet head through the hole in the vegetation over the fence and we smile and pet her and try to feed her.  She doesn’t like carrots.  Today we were trying an apple, but Hashuki didn’t come.  That was ok because on the path I noticed that the wild blackberries were ripe.  Not all of them, but some.  I have had my eye on them since last week.  I’ve picked one or two and popped them in my mouth while rambling down the path.  But today there were a significant number of them.  I am happy.  I LOVE picking blackberries.  I love feeling like I am living off the land.  Within minutes I had gathered too many to hold.  Achilles went back to the house and brought me a bowl.  We continued down the lane, the boys playing tag and throwing rocks, me happily absorbed in my blackberry picking.  Then it began to rain.  It was lovely.  We walked back to our house and arrived soaked through. Wet and happy I made us blackberry smoothies. 

Homemade blackberry smoothies from the berries I picked

Hashuki our friend the caballo

Our patio where we eat all our meals

View of the volcano from our back yard