Early summer: Radishes, Strawberries, Cherries... and the July Paris Letter

Each morning I walk out to my cherry trees and CLAP CLAP CLAP. Birds scatter after feasting on my cherries. They tend to eat all the cherries that are one day from perfection, beating me to the punch by 24 hours. Enough was enough. A tall friend came by, climbed up the ladder and harvested what was left. CLAP CLAP CLAP.Yield: 2 jars of compote from 2 large cherry trees.So I went to the cherry farm nearby and bought more. Then made a pie and sat outside to eat it in front of the birds. Take THAT.Even though yields were down, the cherry trees are a delight. They blossoms in spring, follow with fruit in early summer, and provide shade for the rest of the summer. CLAP CLAP CLAP.Before I mashed my bowl of cherries, I made a painterly study of them.I added radishes, which I'm glad to report, birds don't like to eat.It is nice to be hanging out in Norfolk County in Canada. It is called "Ontario's Garden," and it really is living up to its tagline. I moved away when I went to university and never fully moved back until now. Back then I was more interested in socializing with my friends to care about the charms of Pick Your Own Strawberry signs. Plus, I didn't have wheels or money for any of it. Even last year when I was here, I was too tired with chemo treatments to venture far. But now I'm back, baby, full head of curls, a few scars, wheels, time and energy.Bring on the berries.I don't even dare tell you what I spent on strawberries for fear that my husband will read this. But he likes the jam. He also likes the pie I made yesterday so I'm not telling you how much those cost either. It's not that either of these fruits is expensive, per se. It's more about volume. So. Many. Berries.As I was pitting cherries yesterday, feeling the breeze from the lake waft in, I was thinking about how much fun I was having. Pitting cherries! It was a delight. I suppose the birds did me a solid by eating most of my harvest. I might not think it so fun if I had thousands of cherries to pit. As I was pitting said cherries, I was pondering how we don't make much time for fun these days. We buy things for fun but we don't use them. Instead we buy more storage solutions to house the fun things. I've been really concentrating on not buying for fun but instead playing with what I've already purchased. (Flats of fruits aside.) Lucky for me, I've got a great teacher who knows how to have fun:Yes she's dressed as Santa's Little Helper, and yes it's July. But it still fits... in all the ways. Today we went to the cemetery and had the best time. We weren't there to visit anyone. It's just a nice shady place to go for a walk. We came across a baby bird who was as curious about Amélie as Amélie was about her. So I softened my stance on birds. They aren't all cherry hungry scallywags. Back in Paris, I visited the cemeteries in summer because they had the most shade. This of course, is said to change. Paris is planning to plant more trees to keep the city cool as world temperature rises. It can't come fast enough.Speaking of heat, here is the art for a July Paris Letter. Find this and more in the shop:I spotted an art student drawing this lamp once. It was so good.A very nice shady day activity.If you'd like a Paris Letter, go here.