It's Black Raspberry Time!

No, I'm not making black raspberries out of wool this time. I wanted to show our abundant crop this year. Rach loves the black raspberries that grow wild on our property. She considers them hers because she's the raspberry picker and the raspberry eater.
For the past week, since they started turning ripe, she goes out every single day to pick a bowl full . She eats them as she picks and throughout the day, she eats from the bowlful that she's picked, only to start new the next day.
Well, she missed a day. She wasn't home the entire day on Friday. Yesterday, she was overwhelmed with the crop, easily picking 3 quarts full.
I've given some to the neighbors earlier in the week, but now, there's so many out there that I need to do something with them. I probably will freeze them but in the meantime, I started looking for some recipes.
Black raspberry muffins! I made them last night and we ate them hot out of the oven.
Soooo good!

It's kinda funny because Rachel's favorite picking spot is right next to the cherry tree.
I didn't get a single cherry this year because the birds discovered them. Before they were ripe, they gone. The birds were so busy stealing our cherries, they didn't notice all the ripe, juicy black raspberries!
They tasted really good with my coffee this morning too!
There's still lots to pick so I'll start giving them away to friends and relatives now.
And speaking of GIVE AWAYS! .........

Every once in a while, I do a give away on Ebay, just for my customers, to show my appreciation for their business. I haven't done once since Christmas, so it's really past time.

Since I have a blog now, I thought it would be fun to combine the two and offer a super nice giveaway that will be open to both my blogging friends and to my Ebay customers.

That picture above is the pattern for my all time favorite penny rugs.

In July, I'll do a give-away for the finished wool Gourd Penny rug.

In the meantime, I'll blog step by step the entire making of it. Actually, I'm thinking of making two of them at the same time so that I can keep one for myself.

I used to have one ... loved it so much that I kept it out all year! I sold it to a begging customer though. I regretted it instantly and I still regret it just because it was so incredibly nice.

I've lost count of how many of these I have made and sold, but it's at least 12-15 of them.

I love making it and unlike most patterns, I don't ever get bored with making it. It's probably one of the most difficult things that I make too.

Do you see in the picture how there's very little open black space? Everything, all the vines and leaves and pumpkins, have to be place just perfectly, otherwise the pieces won't fit. I have a way to do it so that it all fits.

I have a few orders to finish up and a few things to finish making to list on Ebay , so hopefully by the end of next week, I can get started with selecting and dyeing the wool.

Happy weekend everyone!