Blueberry Pickin'

Hello everyone! Firstly, I would like to apologize for being completely MIA for the past month or so.  I don't have any excuse other than I have been extremely busy.  I am going to school full time and working part time, so all of my free time (which is very little) is spent doing homework, exercising and enjoying the beautiful summer Victoria is having!

I am going to try to blog more often now, but don't be surprised if they are a little bit sporadic, because that is how my life is at the moment!

So let's get down to business.  Today was my first day off in about a month and I was SOOO excited about it.  I wasn't even sure where to start.  I wanted to do EVERYTHING.  That's how excited I was lol.  I slept in quite a bit (until 8:00 am, which is a sleep in for me), got up and enjoyed some overnight oats with fresh berries and then Francis and I decided to go blueberry picking!

It was a gorgeous morning/afternoon to spend picking berries.  It actually got extremely hot.

What I loved more than anything about these berries is that aren't sprayed and are a very good price.  We got about 6 lbs for $16.  Pretty darn good if you ask me.

There were a few others there, but it was pretty quiet - just the way we like it.  

We definitely picked the best berries, even the owner said so himself ;)

kind of an awkward pic I know...best one out of the loot though, which says a lot ;) lol

On the way home we stopped by a few different markets.  Our first stop was an absolute gem, one that we've been to before.  We started off by getting a large flat of raspberries, a container of blackberries and local corn.  As Francis was picking out the corn, I was looking around at the fruit and came across sunrise apples from the Okanagan.  

I WAS SO HAPPY! I can't even explain how happy I was.  The only one who knows how ecstatic I was is Francis.  I think I may have squealed a little bit so I'm sure he has some amazing impression he can grace you with if you ask him one day ;)  Yeah...I really love apples.  Those of you who know me very well know how obsessed I am and how I wait ALL YEAR LONG for sunrise apples!!

Anyways, enough of that.  We also stopped at a market, where we picked up a HUGE bouquet of local flowers for such a steal and sampled homemade chia chips and hummus!

When we got home I washed up the berries and put some in the fridge and the others in the freezer.  

Here's our loot.  We also bought a local tomato!

Aren't these absolutely stunning? I made two HUGE bouquets out of them.  After a few chores at home, Francis and I both whipped up some lunch.

I had a California Burger (Amy's) topped with an almost too ripe avocado, spicy hummus, rice crackers and greens.  Topped with a simple dressing made of fresh lemon juice, lemon zest, honey and olive oil. Absolutely amazing.

Francis and I spent the afternoon wandering around downtown, then we made out way to the mall for a little browse.  We made a delicious chicken dinner with the local corn we bought at the market this morning and brown rice.  

After dinner we watched the Olympics while our tummies settled before heading out for an evening run.  We decided to go to Elk Lake, where it would be shaded and nice and cool (Victoria hit about 30*C today!!).  It was shaded, but it wasn't very cool.  It was a mighty hot and speedy 6 km.  We both really enjoyed it, though!

When we got home we had cold showers and lots of ice cold water before changing into our comfies and settling in for the night.  

Overall, it was an amazing day off and I am so happy I got to spent it with Francis!  Can't wait for the next one!

Goodnight,

Amy

xo